Πέμπτη 27 Μαρτίου 2014
Critical Evaluation MED327
Dionysios Mantis
In
my three year journey into the radio education, I noticed some major
changes, not only in the way I criticise thinks, but also broadened
my horizons in how to move in my future radio career and showed me a
different way of thinking and acting. To be honest, my routine does
not involve radio much, as less and less radio stations seem to
complete me as a listener. This happens because of my strange taste
in music and my cynicism in the playlists as a listener, not as a
radio practitioner. But throughout my music involvement there were
and are stations that make me feel really energetic everytime I
listen to them. Absolute Radio, Planet Rock, HardRadio TX, KHHT, WAAF
107.3 ,MA are some of the stations that had and have the most
powerful playlists I have ever heard on radio. Uncompromised,
non-repeated and hard rockin'. As one can assume, most of my
influences came from American radio stations and presenters, such as
Tomy Vance, and also from British Pirate radio such as John Peel and
Radio Caroline, Radio London and of course Radio Luxemburg, which was
the first pirate radio to broadcast in Old Albion.
In
this part of the evaluation i'm choosing to analyse Absolute Radio.
Initially named Virgin Radio, the station launched at 12.15 pm on 30
April 1993 in AM and
on
105.8MHz FM in London on 10 April 1995
. On
1 September 2008 it was announced that Virgin Radio would be
rebranded as Absolute Radio. When the rebrand was announced on the
One Golden Square blog, Clive Dickens, Chief Operating Officer, noted
that the station would be "sticking with real music – not
manufactured rubbish – and we’re building on the amount of live
music we do – we’re just going to discover more of all of it."It
provides a blend of album and chart music from the past 25 years and
aim to fill the "hole in the middle" between Radio 1, which
was specifically aimed at young audiences and "gold"
stations offering classic hits.
In
July 2013, Bauer Media purchased Absolute Radio for the price of
£20m-£25m
Absolute Radio is basically an AOR radio station with a demographic between 24 to 44-year-olds, which is also termed as Modern AC due to the hybridisation of CHR and AOR radio stations, combined with the competition created after the addition of Top 40 in FM in the1980's. The term AOR does not always apply with programming. It is considered progressive and free form, thus many spinoff formats exist. They are mostly based on Non Chart album tracks and create a mellower, laid-back tone, bringing the cultural calm of the 70's. As a music based radio station, Absolute Radio's technique is to try to establish sound motifs, go deeper into albums from past and present, keep the repetition low and the listening times spent higher. Its playlists are not only made from old music. Usually in AOR stations most of the percentage of the records are new, blended with the old hits.
The role of the presenter is not major in such terms, but as said before, Absolute radio is a compromised AOR station. So particularly here, there is a major role in the presenters such as Chris O' Connel Breakfast show. Again, they follow the principles for a proper AOR announcement and show broadcast as the presenters are conversational and low key. There is also a high intensity of the shows, which used to happen with intensive DJ personalities, which disappeared after radio became conventional. It seems though, that this energy and engagement was delivered to the presenters, who are highly connected with the playlist, creating a great communication environment with their in-touch personalities who entertain and inform about gigs, music venues, bands or discuss general things.
Absolute's
newscast is limited in hourly bulletins the minimum possible, but the
presence of features play a major role. Except from the special shows
on weekends, the gig updates and the guests, they also add comedy,
rock capsules, special games and competitions always according to the
lifestyle they represent. This is an experimental programming, a
special programming to enhance the engagement with the audience.
As far as
the commercials are concerned, they are broadcasting at least after 5
songs, trying to keep an uninterrupted inauspicious attitude.
Critical
evaluation of Radio Show
Our
radio show aimed to present the local music of Sunderland, how the
scene changed and what was their cultural impact in the area. We
managed to get in touch with big acts such as Frankie and the
Heartstrings, the Futureheads and ex Toy Dolls Drummer Martin Yule.
As me and Kevin built good relationship with the interviewees, that
helped us develop a more familiar environment for our interviews. As
Marin and Frankie are both record store owners, I had already build a
client-owner relationship, as I am an ''addicted'' vynil junkie. We
were really excited for the fact that all the people who participated
in the show, were open-hearted, excited, willing to help the best way
possible under busy, midday circumstances. Although some of the
interviews were unable to broadcast due to interviewee's sore throat,
while others avoided us for no particular reason.
My
role in the show was pretty vague, as the whole project was made by
two people. To be more specific, I interviewed the participants,
edited the voxpops, record links, found applicable questions to the
questionairre, developed the structure as well as choose songs for
the show.
The
communication between the team was splendid, as we both had a
specific plan, same taste in music and the same curiosity about local
music.
For
the recordings we used a portable Zoom with extended microphone to
get the feeling of the on-location interview.
Overall
it was an exciting experience, but still there is space for
development. We stood unlucky with some of the interviewees, who in
my opinion could bring more energy and excitement to what has been
said. The elements also bring a professional embodiment to the radio
platform, which seem to add and sustain the energy of the show.
Critical
Evaluation of Radio Research
For
the station proposal, the team had to define the strengths and
weaknesses of the station through SWOT analysis. Our goal was to make
Capital even more successful and more engaging to the audience, as
well as pay attention to their opinion about the station. My role as
a researcher was to print down the questionaire and find appropriate
individuals to participate in the research, as Capitals target
audience is between 15-24 years old and listen to the station to
define more characteristics as a listener and not as a radio person.
Also, through the seminars, I helped to define issues such as
commercials, song repetition, locality and taste of music etc.
The
process was simple and fast without communicative issues, I suppose,
and will lead us to understand more about the listener.
Critical
Evaluation of Module learnings
Overall,
the whole experience of Radio Broadcasting, was nothing less than
unique. An in-depth analysis of the radio business, of ones
personality development as a radio person and also the chance to
visit a real working space with the visit to Sun FM.
The
addition of visitors such as Guy Starkey, Simon Grundy and Paul
Hutton made the module even more exciting, informative and most of
all challenging.
While
doing this module, a student adapts the ability to understand how a
radio person will be able to succeed later, and develop the way he
thinks. Personally, I broaden my horizons and opened my mind, gained
production, programming and research skills, a wide range of
knowledge around radio as a platform, as a communicative tool and as
a part of people's lives. The extensive format knowledge helped me
differentiate a station more clearly than before, which was enhanced
by the listening sessions of particular programmes in class.
Especially with AOR spinoffs, there are so many hybrid formats, which
you can not really term, but with extensive knowledge, these minor
differences started to make sense.
'Radio
is chosen as a lifestyle support system, to help people feel better
as they go about their daily lives. Rather than the peaks and troughs
that people have claimed to experience with TV and the internet,
radio provides a consistent environment themed and shaped to suit the
listener’s needs at any given time of day, and one that is
generally upbeat in tone.’
( Daily Mail, 29
June 2011 )
In
the end, I would like to finish with some writings from John Myers
Book, Team!It's Only Radio, which is a small paragraph from his
chapter called, the Apprentice.
''The
best talent is not a broadcaster on any radio station. Instead the
best talent has not yet been discovered. It is the audience who
always say the funniest lines.... And are much more intelligent than
any so called professional...These people make radio stations come
alive and it is our job to ensure they can tell their story or
amusing tale. To enable us to do that, we need to experience life at
the coalface of radio and take advantage of any training offered.''
References
Bibliography
- Keith, M (1987) Radio Programming: Consultancy and Formatics, Focal Press: London
- Lynch, J & Gillispie, G (1998) Process and Practice of Radio Programming, University Press: Boston
- Myers, J (2012) Team! It's Only Radio, Kenton Publishing: Kent
Internet Articles
''Why listening to the radio gives us more pleasure than watching TV or using a laptop''
(
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2009161/Why-listening-radio-gives-pleasure-watching-TV-using-laptop.html
) (Accessed
on 24/3/2014)
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