Unit 1: Analysing Media Products and Audiences.

Vlog 5.

Welcome back to med ed in this education vlog I will be talking about how Big John @ Breakfasts impact and effect on the audience, How BJ@B represents individuals and the audience, Legal and ethical issues such as performing rights, copyright, royalties and PRS And role of regulatory bodies.

Big John at breakfast main audience consists of female aged between 25 and 45. The advertisements on big john at breakfast and the topics spoken have an impact on the audience as it makes them want to have a certain body image and encourage people to spend money on the products advertised. 14:31

Passive Audience Theory is the idea that the media injects ideas and views directly into the brains of the audience like a hypodermic needle, therefore, controlling the way that people think and behave. 15:29 (opinions)

Active Audience Theory is the idea that the audience have an active role to play in the understanding of, and creation, of meaning within a media text.

Hallam FM uses a two-step flow, this is where big john pays close attention to the mass media and its messages and then interprets them in addition to the actual media content. 7:25

Basic stereotypes and representations used by big john at breakfast are used for the Hallam FM logo because the logo is pink which is stereotyped to be a feminine colour and Hallam FM have more female listeners than men, the negative stereotypes presented on the show are targeted at men, as they are the minority. 3:39

The show reinforces age stereotypes with adverts and topics spoke. 0:06

For example, the show has adverts for young adults, which warn against drinking too much alcohol. 0:40

The show reinforces gender stereotypes by speaking about topics such as what women buy men at Christmas and what men lie about at Christmas time. 3:39

The car dealership advert reinforces gender stereotypes as a man is talking rather than a woman. 1:10

According to Tessa Perkins, 1979 Stereotypes are not always negative, this is quite true of Hallam FM’s Big John at breakfast as they don’t necessarily promote any negative stereotypes, however the topic in which Big John and his crew portray men as liars is negative and reinforced dominant ideologies.

Continuing to reinforce dominant ideologies (overarching ideas) about men and women? Laura Mulvey (1975) suggested that women are objectified in media text, this is true as big john and the other men on the show talk about women and how they should look, the advertisements on the station reinforce this. 16:24

Big john at breakfast has to have licenses for the content they put out on the radio; they have a license with PRS (Performing Right Society) who are a company who deal with representing the rights of over 100,000 members in the UK. They license organisations to play, perform or make available copyright music on behalf of their members and those of overseas societies, distributing the royalties to them fairly and efficiently. They promote and protect the value of copyright.

Big John at breakfast would not be allowed to play all of the latest music without the PRS license and if they did they would be breaching copyright, which could lead to Hallam FM being sued and prosecuted, for example because BJ@B has the rights to play the tracks in the charts they are able to play songs by artists such as Avicii. 3:30

RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) is used to collate listenership and audience data.

OFCOM (Office of Communications) and the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) regulate radio and TV content. Both are government approved, independent regulators for the UK communications industries. Big John at Breakfast doesn't break any of the codes as he doesn't promote sex, alcohol or violence.

The British Committee of Advertising Practice have regulations just like the ASA and OFCOM. The BCAP disallows radio shows to be misleading or portray negativity. An example of a show that breached the regulations was 'Danny Dumps' that was closed by OFCOM due to the theme of the show being a man calling people and insulting them.

Vlog 4.

Welcome back to med ed, in this educational vlog you will be learning about the advertising and distribution of Hallam FM and the radio show Big John at Breakfast.

The target demographic age of Hallam FM’s audience is 25 – 45, so it is important that the station is advertised in places where these ages will be likely to go.

Hallam FM use traditional advertising methods such as having printed ads in newspapers and magazines, for example in the magazines created by the conglomerate Bauer Media, who own Hallam FM.

have sponsored stands at both football stadiums, Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United.

Hallam FM also sponsor Ponds Forge which is very well known leisure center.

Many top names in various fields such as beauty products and theme parks are in sponsorship deals with Hallam FM which allow the Hallam FM audience to win competitions, and prizes or earn discounts. This advertises the radio station and the show.

Various websites advertise Hallam FM, such as YouTube and Facebook.

the Hallam FM shows are distributed via the radio, smartphones and The internet, this is a great way for Hallam FM to widen its audience and have more people listening in on all of its outgoing content. One of Hallam FM's most successful shows BJ@B is accessed all over the South Yorkshire area but not just by the radio, they have the ability to access the show on their smartphones and the internet which is extremely useful for people who want to listen in on the show who aren't in reach of a radio.

Hallam FM is distributed via DAB digital radio unlike some radio stations who are still using the analogue AM and FM radio this means that the radio station is being broadcasted over a single wavelength and that it will only allow a single channel per wavelength. Most Digital radio stations are distributed via Multiplexing, this is the most modern way to access digital radio. Multiplexing is effective and efficient for radio stations to distribute their content because unlike Analogue radio stations, DAB radio is broadcasted by computer code which is called binary, this can be compressed to very small sizes allowing more than 1 radio station to broadcast in 1 spectrum. When multiple programmes are squeezed into a single spectrum it is known as Multiplexing and not only is it easier to broadcast but it also gives the listener more choice of the radio stations they listen to.

Vlog 3.

Hi welcome back to med Ed. In this educational vlog we’re going to analyse the internship of Big John @ Breakfast.
Did you know the gender ratio for Hallam FM is 51% female and 49% male and the target demographic age is 25 – 45? Big John at breakfast is the most popular show on Hallam FM so the target demographic would be the same.
Gender Ratio means the percentage of male and female
Here is a basic audience profile I created for a person in the target demographic age for the show Big John @ Breakfast.
My name is Sharon; I am a fun and energetic 28-year-old women. I work as a medical doctor and earn £60k a year. Every morning I enjoy listening to Hallam FM while driving to work because I enjoy the topics they talk about and they make me feel involved in the show. I also like the music played on Hallam FM. I have a good income so in my spare time I like to go shopping. I love designer clothes and going to the cinema to watch the latest romantic and comedy movies. I have a rich lifestyle so I enjoy eating in all the top restaurants in my city and going out to the best bars and clubs.
People listen to Big John @ Breakfast because they play good music, talk about fun topics and make you feel involved in the show
There are a number of theories about why audiences consume media products
John Hartley (1987) suggested that media producers must enter into a relationship with their consumers.
Ien Ang (1991) suggested that producers create invisible fictions or imaginary entities before creating a media product.
One influential tradition in media research is referred to as 'uses and gratifications'. This approach focuses on why people use particular media rather than on content.
　
Denis McQuail (1987) suggested that there are four main reasons why people use media.
Personal Identity – own behaviour, modelling personality. –
Personal Relationship – basis for conversation in social situation.
Surveillance – finding out information about something.
Escapism – entertainment, using media to ‘get away’ from real life.
The way Big John @ Breakfast provides listeners with opportunities for Personal Identity is by the way they advertise for example they advertise Subway, which tells us where to eat, It also tells us what to watch in the Cinema when they advertised the Hollywood blockbuster ‘Gravity’.
The way Big John @ Breakfast provides listeners with opportunities for
Personal Relationships is when they have competitions when people can call into the show and speak to the presenters and other people.
The way Big John @ Breakfast provides listeners with opportunities for surveillance is when they advertise because this gives listeners information for product or services which they might not know about. Another way is the news and headline reports because it gives listeners new and interesting information.
　
The way Big John @ Breakfast provides listeners with opportunities for escapism is the topics they speak about, the news and stories they tell on the show and the music played.
　　
Jeremy Tunstall (1983) – media consumption theory.
Primary – really concentrate on media
Secondary – use whilst doing something else
Tertiary – in the background/subliminal
Now things have changed – owing to new technologies radio is now primary.
The audience of Big John @ Breakfast can interact with the show by phoning in, texting the show and emailing.
The way Big John @ Breakfast market their products is by using a Marketing Theory – AIDA.
　
A - Attention (Awareness): attract the attention of the customer.
I - Interest: raise customer interest by focusing on and demonstrating advantages and benefits (instead of focusing on features, as in traditional advertising).
D - Desire: convince customers that they want and desire the product or service and that it will satisfy their needs.
A - Action: lead customers towards taking action and/or purchasing.
You can apply the theory not just to the adverts but also to the station itself for example the show may connect with certain types of people.

Vlog 2.

Today Med ed talking about Hallam FM and Big John at Breakfast. Hallam FM is a subsidiary/independent radio station, launched in October1974 and owned by Conglomerate Bauer Media who also own Magic, Kerrang and Viking who follow the same corporate structure.. Hallam FM broadcasts to Sheffield, Doncaster, Barnsley, Rotherham and Chesterfield. It is the number one local commercial radio station for South Yorkshire and the North Midlands.

The target demographic of Hallam FM is 54% female and 46 % male with an ABC 1 of 37% aged around 25 – 45 and Hallam’s reach is 361.000 people. According to the national readership survey the demographic categories ABC 1 are upper, middle and lower middle class.

ABC1s will be targeted the most by products as they have the most disposable income due to their occupations.

Hallam FM has won many awards such as the Gold award for the Best personality which was won by Hallam FM presenter Big John.

The show I decided to analyse is "Big John at Breakfast" this is on air at 6am until 10am on weekdays and the genre of this show is Adult Contemporary.

This show is presented by Big John, Becky Hayes and JK and Joel. The show’s basic content covers news in the form of local, national, international and sports events, along with traffic updates. Big John at breakfast is funded by Bauer Media as it is part of the Bauer place portfolio. The show is financially successful due to it’s advertising and creating brand awareness through sponsoring. For example, Hallam sponsor the two Sheffield football clubs, Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United. The radio show I am going to be analysing is a podcast that was recorded on the 2nd December 2013, the show is Big John at breakfast, it is presented by Big John, Producer James and Janine Jones. The purpose of this radio show is to entertain the listeners of Big John at Breakfast and inform them of their morning news, and other information such as traffic updates. The genres are Adult Contemporary and Pop. As the show is on air from 6 to 10 am in the morning, the target audience are people who listen to the radio in the morning , they could be travelling to work, school or anywhere else in a vehicle. At the beginning of a podcast there are many advertisements, the first is from Subway, the person talking on this advertisement has a strong calm British accent which the viewers can relate to, making the viewers can relate to, making the audience feel welcome to Subway, the target audience of the advert are people who are on a diet or who simply want to lose weight (This advert is played at 3:06 in the VLOG). The second advert is from South West Yorkshire and Humberside police and is about drink awareness, this advert was targeted at the ages of 18 onwards, Hallam FM has a target demographic age of 25 - 45 so this is a suitable advert to play during Christmas time (This advert is played at 4:39 in the VLOG). The aim of the advert was to make people drink responsibly.

The third advert is from a local car dealership called Burrows, the point of this advert is to promote awareness of Burrows, this is relevant to listeners who drive to work, in case they have any issues with their car.

The final advertisement advertises a new film in the cinemas called Gravity. This is a good way of advertising as the listener is isolated by the radio and has to hear the information if they're listening to the show, they will become interested in the film and ultimately watch it (This advert is played at 5:36 in the VLOG).

After this there is a pop song from well known artist Avicii, the song is suitable as it is called Wake me up, and it is the first song that is played on Big John at Breakfast, the song represents an alarm clock telling the viewers to prepare for the day. When the song ends, Big John greets his listeners with a friendly "Good morning Hallam FM" and shortly after that he says "You alright?" using a South Yorkshire dialect to relate to the viewers (This clip is at 6:40 in the VLOG). After that Big John tells us the time and the weather that is useful for people travelling to work or at home (This clip is at 6:50). After Big John's quick introduction he starts off the chat with a competition that allows his viewers to interact with him by and makes them feel personally involved with Big John. He asks. seventy-nine percent of men in South Yorkshire lie to their partner about what at Christmas? Then starts to read out some answers that the viewers have texted in. (This clip is at 7:25 in the VLOG). Then, there is a song played which gives the audience time to text in their answers, the song played is a very uplifting and motivational towards the viewers, (This clip is played at 8:02 in the VLOG). A vox pop is used when he calls up the contestant repeats the question (This clip is played 8:15 in the VLOG). The contestant answers correctly and wins a prize (This clip is played at 8:30 in the VLOG). This is a good idea for the show as it gives people more courage to call in and answer questions, after that Big John tells the time and plays another song. During the show Big John talks about topics such as TV and the X Factor, however he specifically mentions Heat Showbiz as it is also owned by Bauer Media (This clip is at 9:17 in the VLOG). Hallam FM do not mention any of their competing brands or products, just before they announce the news, there is a jingle that says Hallam FM news, this is used in every show to maintain the brands image, (This clip is played at 9:54 in the VLOG). Big John uses a sound effect when he says "McFly were there, the crowd went mad", he used a cheering sound effect, this is because McFly make mainstream music that is in the same genre as the show (This clip is played at 10:18).

The way the show is produced is by various teams, such as the script writing and production team. The presenters team decide when they're coming on air and the production team create the jingles and the time table for different shows. There are researchers who research the television and the national/international news and weather, these also gather the information for the competitions such as ,75% percent of men in South Yorkshire lie to their partners about how much money they spend on presents at Christmas time.The playlist selectors decide what music is being played on the show and play them when on air. The social media team advertise the radio show on Twitter and Facebook so they can reach out to a wider audience. Various meetings are held to discuss the different teams in Hallam FM and Big John at Breakfast. After all the meetings have been completed, the show goes on air.

Vlog 1.

In this educational vlog Med Ed will be teaching you about conglomerates, independent companies, radio stations, ownership of a radio company, how they operate as a company, market positions and main competitors. Before we start going in depth, here a few key terms that you'll need to familiarise yourself with.
Key terms:
Here are the key terms,
Production:, this is the process of making media text, for example, making a radio show.
Distribution:, this is the process of getting media text to the audience, for example through radio or advertisements.
Simulcast, this means a simultaneous broadcast, this can broadcast on multimedia, such as radio and internet.
Podcast, podcasts are recorded pieces of radio, these can be put on the internet for listeners who have missed the show or anyone who wants to listen to it.
Convergence, this is when to things come together, an example of this is when Sony, and Ericson came together to form 'Sony Ericson'
Media conglomerate, a media conglomerate is a company who own a large number of smaller companies, these smaller companies are known as subsidiaries. Bauer media is a conglomerate who on the subsidiary Hallam FM.
Bauer media:
Bauer media is a media conglomerate, examples of Bauer's subsidiaries are Hallam FM, Heat, Kerrang, Smash hits and Q.
Bauer Media who also own Magic, Kerrang and Viking these all follow the same corporate structure.
Bauer media's reach is 20million people and the UK population is around 62million people, this means around 1 in 3 people have been reached by a Bauer brand. 70% of all 15 to 24 year olds in the UK are reached by a Bauer brand at any time, that's 5 million people.
NRS Social grades which stand for nation readership survey are an organisation that collate what people read and social backgrounds on these people. This is the NRS Social grades table.
53% of Bauer's audiences are ABC1s, A, B, C1s have the most disposable incomes and are targeted the most by products. C2, D and E are targeted by products such as the SUN newspaper as they have a lower disposable income.
Competitors:
The main commercial competitor to Bauer radio is Capital FM who are owned by British company Global Media. Global Media own Heart station and have recently taken over the Galaxy brand, calling it Capital FM. The other main competitor is BBC radio one and local stations, such as BBC Radio Sheffield.
Products:
Hallam FM is an independent radio station, it is a product of Bauer and is funded by them, it is the number one commercial radio station for the people of Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster, Barnsley and Chesterfield, this makes Hallam FM the most listened to radio station in South Yorkshire.
Hallam FM is a locally oriented radio station which plays adult contemporary music, the station believes that it is number one as it listens to what listeners want.
Here are some key facts about Hallam FM,
The reach of Hallam FM is 361,000 people , gender ratio of the audience is 54% female and 46% male, the ABC1 profile of Hallam is 31% , the target demographic age of the station is 25-45 years old, these statistics were published by Rajar, Rajar stands for radio joint audience research, it is the official body in charge of recording radio audiences in the UK.
it is the number one commercial radio station for the people of South Yorkshire and the North Midlands.
It was launched in October of 1974.
The show is financially successful due to it’s advertising and creating brand awareness through sponsoring. For example, Hallam sponsor the two Sheffield football teams, Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United.
The station broadcasts to many places including Sheffield, Barnsley and Chesterfield.
Hallam FM has won many awards such as the Gold award for the best personality. This was presented to Big John. Examples of other shows on Hallam FM/Big John at Breakfast are 'Old Skool and Anthems' and 'Hallam FM's Friday night party' these are designed specifically to suit the target audience of Adults who listen to adult contemporary music.
Big John at breakfast has more listeners than any other radio station at breakfast in the area.
Big John is a product of Hallam FM and his personality has made him well known in the UK radio industry.
A big part of why Hallam FM and Big John at Breakfast is successful is due to the presenters on the station. Hallam's and Big John at Breakfast's main competitors, capital FM, real radio, bbc sheffield and bbc radio 1 don't have these personalities, and as a result aren't as successful.
On arriving in Sheffield, it is difficult not to encounter Hallam FM, The station is very much integrated into the city via partnerships with some of Sheffield's most iconic buildings, from Ponds Forge to the Sheffield football club stadiums, the radio station is omnipresent and embedded in the cities local fabric.