Unit 1 Research Techniques For The Media Industries

Content

This is a list of resources that are needed to run a radio show:

Computer, 2 Mixing Desks, Money, Time, People, Microphones (A set), Radio Studio (Sound Proofed), Voice Recorders, Specific Radio Software, Editing Machines, Compressor,Transmitter, Receiver, Aerial, Connecting Leads for Aerial, Students, Station Manager, Producer,Presenter ,Communication Skills,Technical/ Editing Skills, Good Time Management Skills

These are some important costs that need to be taken in to account when setting up a radio show:

Per day, MCPS must be paid for copyright work. The MCPS pay the composers for the radio play of the songs.

Per day, the PRS gets paid and the money goes to the performers for every play of their songs.

OFCOM to broadcast an RSL (restricted service license) for two weeks & 10 days

Streaming Costs to PRS- £60-£70 for two weeks

Viability

In order for the radio show to be successful, we could scale down by involving a small group of students because it would be less to manage, therefore easier to run and would cost less. A way of paying for things that are needed could include the money received from advertisements.

Audience

The types of different ways that the audience would be able to listen to include being able to connect to the radio station online- live, through podcasts from previous shows, radio station etc. This gives a wider variety of listeners, as not all people have access to a radio, or the internet but most people can use at least one. For example, an older listener would be more likely to listen to a radio, whereas younger listeners spend a lot of time online- so it would be convenient for them to have a site that they can go to.

Competitors

The competition from local or regional radio stations has to be taken into account when deciding what type of show you are going to play, what style of music and themes for the shows you will have etc. Some of the popular radio station around the area include; Galaxy, Real Radio, Radio Aire. Research into the style of shows they play should also be done in order to get an idea of what competition is out there. From there you can create your own style that will be different to theirs.

Quantitive Research

The types of research that should be carried out when setting the up the station include things such as stats, patterns etc. This type of research can be carried out in different ways, either online- sites such as Rajar, or by carrying out market research you can find out what type of things people like to hear on the radio, in order to create an idea of what would be most popular and get the most radio play.

Qualitative Research

Qualitative research must also be carried out in order to find out why people do things (e.g listen to Terry Wogan) creating questionnaires or blogs online can be made to find out why people like to listen to him, what is good about him etc.

Secondary Research

Extra research should be carried out to find out information that people have already found out. By looking around the internet for different information- such as blogs, wikipedia etc, you can find out what people want to listen to & what is popular, such as the top 40 charts.

New Radio Station in Pudsey

I decided do some primary research to find out what various students thought about the possiblity of a new radio station in Pudsey, and what benefits they thought it would hold for them and the rest of the community.

Task 1 (P1,M1,D1)

What is the population of Leeds?

There is a total of 715,404 people in Leeds which makes it the third largest city in the UK.

What percentage of Leeds are female/ male/ old/ young/ employed/ unemployed?

There are 369570 females and 345834 males in Leeds (census 2001). From the ages of 0-15 years the population is 143091, 16-74 years is 520479 and from 75+ years there are 51832 people. The number of employed people is 306670, and the number of unemployed people is 17280.

What is the population of Pudsey?

There are 87286 people who live in Pudsey (census 2001).

References:

Where i got the information from-

I went to the library and was told to find the Geography section, after the receptionist looked up a book that i would find useful, and she said it would be on isle L 914. The author of the book was Ed J Burrow. The publishers are Cheltenham & London, and it is from 1970. The page is 13.

Task 3 (P1,M1,D1)

What is the most listened to Radio Station in England?

The most listened to station in England is Radio 2, which has an average of 13,424 listeners per week and people tune in for a total of 159,270 hours in a week (in total)

How many hours per week does an average person spend listening to the radio?

Which Regions do Galaxy cover?

The regions Galaxy Radio cover are the North East, Manchester, Birmingham, Scotland and the South Coast.

What is a Restricted Service License?

A resricted service license enables people to run their own radio station legally. There are two different types of RSL- short term & long term. The short term license allows you to broadcast for a maximum of 28 days & a maximum of two licenses per year, whereas a long term license is usable for up to 5 years.


How much would it cost to purchase a restricted service licence for one month?

Before you get the RSL, there is an application fee of £400. After this, the fee is charged per day and for one month i worked out the cost to be £980


What is PRS/MCPS/PPL?

PRS allows you to broadcast music whilst making sure that the artists get paid whenever their music is played.
MCPS are paid for copyright and the royalites of this are normally paid to the composer, songwriter or publisher.
PPL license allows radio and tv stations to legally use sound recordings & music videos whilst live.

How much would the PRS/MCPS/PPL copyright cost?

PRS copyright would cost £62.42 per day
MCPS copyright would cost £70.93 for upto 28 days
PPL copyright would cost £35 per day

How much would it cost to hire a transmitter for one month?

The cost of an RSL transmitter kit for a month is £345.00


What would the total cost be?

The total cost of everything for one month is £4123.69

References:

http://www.radiquip.co.uk/1_hire_centre/cat_pages/10090.htm
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radio/ifi/rbl/rsls/rslapps/rsl_notes010808.pdf

Task 4 (P1,M1,D1)

I asked a group of 25 sixth formers what they thought the average amount of time they spent listening to the radio was per week, and collected the data.

Radio Questionnaire

How many hours per week do spend listening to the radio?

What Radio Station do you listen to the most?

What is your preferred method of listening to the radio?

Task 5: Terry Wogan

Terry Wogan has been famous for his Irish charm throughout the UK since the late 1960's, and is now often referred to as a 'national treasure' by many media figures and listeners. He is most famous for his work with 'Children In Need', and he also presented a breakfast show on BBC 2 named 'Waking Up To Wogan'. In 2005, this show had approximately 8 million listeners, and Wogan was the highest paid presenter on BBC Radio- earning over £800,000 per year. This show was vastly popular for two reasons- the first was because of the level of audience interaction; they could phone, email or write into the show. The other reason was simply due to his personality- he would often fall from the topic, creating a more informal atmosphere- incorporating witty jokes and banter with show producer Paul Walters. This more informal show meant that it appealed to different audiences types and age groups.

Task 6: