Radio: Life Hacks

Analysis

1) What do the titles The Surgery and Life Hacks suggest?

• they suggest solutions and advice into youth dilemmas of the digital age 

2) How are the programmes constructed to appeal to a youth audience?

• these programmes are constructed to appeal to a youth audience as they talking about relatable content for the youth, bring in special guests that young people are known to like as well as the presenters talking about their personal experiences.

3) What does the choice of presenters (Cel Spellman and Katie Thistleton) and Dr Modgil suggest about the BBC’s approach to diversity and representation?

• Cel Spellman and Katie Thistleton and DR modgil are all from different parts of the UK and therefore have different accents which suggest diversity within the UK and representation 

4) Go to the Life Hacks iPlayer page and analyse the content. What does this suggest regarding the Life Hacks audience and what the BBC is hoping to achieve with the programme?

• the content offers relatable information aimed at a youth audience 
• this suggests that the BBC is trying to appeal to a young audience by adaptation 

5) Go to the Life Hacks podcast episodes page. Listen to a few episodes of the podcast and explain how the topics may a) appeal to a youth audience and b) help fulfil the BBC's responsibilities as a public service broadcaster.

• A:  the topics discussed are popular amongst young people such as social battles that young people face 
• B: the BBC's remit is "inform, educate and entertain" and the podcast aims to reinforce the BBC remit

Audience

1) What is the target audience for BBC Radio 1?

• The targeted audience for BBC Radio 1 is people aged from 15 to 29 

2) Who is the actual audience for BBC Radio 1?

• the  actual audience 32 years of age.

3) What audience pleasures are offered by Life Hacks? Apply Blumler and Katz’s Uses and Gratifications theory.

• diversion : stormzys interview
• personal  relationship: celebrity content
• personal identity: the presenter with a Birmingham accent- reflects diversity and personal identity 

4) Read this Guardian review of Life Hacks. What points does the reviewer make about Life Hacks and the particular podcast episode they listened to?

• how enjoyable  the podcast was mostly because of the fact that a popular celebrity stormzy was able to connect with the audience effectively 

5) Read this NME feature on Radio 1 listener figures. What are the key statistics to take from this article regarding the decline in Radio 1 audience ratings?

• Radio 1 usually has 9.2 million listeners a week, however it only now has 9.1 listeners week which is significantly lower than before
• Radio 1 has also lost 200,000 weekly listeners since may

Industries

1) How does Life Hacks meet the BBC mission statement to Educate, Inform and Entertain?

• Life Hacks informs young people about the problems and issues they face on levels physical to emotional/ mental

2) Read the first five pages of this Ofcom document laying out its regulation of the BBC. Pick out three key points in the summary section.

•  to inform, educate and entertain the public aswell as support the creative economy across the UK. 
• Ofcom’s role is to provide robust, fair and independent regulation
•  the BBC Board must lead the BBC to fulfil the Charter’s aims. 

3) Now read what the license framework will seek to do (letters a-h). Which of these points relate to BBC Radio 1 and Life Hacks?

•  the obligation of the BBC to reflect the full diversity of the UK population. "We are requiring the BBC to put in place a new commissioning Code of Practice for Diversity, approved by us, by April 2018"

4) What do you think are the three most important aspects in the a-h list? Why?

• A- The people must be culturally and socially aware of the world
• H: The BBC having to reflect diversity that exists all over the UK
• C: The bbc should work to be more diverse in terms of its channels for it to broaden it audience 

5) Read point 1.9: What do Ofcom plan to review in terms of diversity and audience?

• ofcom plan to examine the 'on-screen diversity' of the BBC’s programming

6) What is Ben Cooper trying to do with Radio 1?

• ben cooper wishes to turn bbc radio 1 into a multi-platform business that keeps a consistent pace and maintains relevance.

7) How does he argue that Radio 1 is doing better with younger audiences than the statistics suggest?

• "You have a target age of 15 to 29, but nothing is measured for under-15s but everything is to death beyond the 29 target, which means, using averages, you are going to get skewed much older,” 
• he says. “I think it is an old-fashioned metric for an old radio industry. You have the maths against you.”

8) Why does he suggest Radio 1 is distinctive from commercial radio?

• radio 1 doesn't have adverts that breakthrough the content which means the audience have more exposure to radio 1's own c content 

9) Why is Radio 1 increasingly focusing on YouTube views and digital platforms?

• the younger audiences have a stronger appeal to digital platforms which means radio 1 needs to therefore focus on digital media outlets and diversify 

10) In your opinion, should the BBC’s remit include targeting young audiences via Radio 1 or should this content be left to commercial broadcasters? Explain your answer.

• i think that because of the growth of the digital age, the bbc's remit should include young audiences as they will be the  ones to carry the listener count for their content