Radio 1 Essay

How is the BBC 1 Breakfast show encouraging user interaction (750 words)

The BBC Radio 1 Breakfast show mainly targets a range of young listeners, using a mix of music tracks. This is what entertains and engages the audience to listen. The target audience is 15-29year olds, sometimes targeted at younger teenagers because of the songs played. In lesson we listened to timed segments of the Breakfast show, we found that a high percentage of the songs were British artists and many of the various competitions such as: Tickets to the FA Cup, Cricket World Cup, hang out with the 1975. Also, on Radio 1 Breakfast show there are no adverts so its non-stop tracks and discussions to keep the audience entertained which would obviously appeal to a younger audience. We also found that they would play 3 songs and then they will have a small discussion or a quiz or a competition to fill in the times so that it isn't just purely one thing. However, during our segment they had an interview with some NFL legends to advertise Super Bowl 53 and in another segment, they were interviewing a Radio 1 representative. They also play a game called Radio 1 Jan Slam which is a quiz game to win prizes. When Radio 1 brought in Nick Grimshaw he was expected to boost the ratings due to his celebrity status and young people connection. However, Radio 1 Breakfast show suffers a heavy rating fall, but Greg James gave the Breakfast show a boost when he joined and took over from Nick in 2018 after Nick lost 9.37 million listeners a week. However, Greg James added 231,000 listeners in the final three months of 2018, averaging a weekly audience of 5.11 million including those aged 15 and older.The BBC Radio 1 website consists of the latest music tracks, it also includes live music and mixes, such as live lounge, where artists sing covers of other people’s songs; the official chart, Radio 1 playlist, ‘what’s new’, news, sport, weather, iPlayer, sounds. Analysed podcast: “A journey back into fake Britain” Greg James plays a game by ringing lots of callers and firing random questions, in which they have to respond with the first thing that comes into their head without panicking or thinking too much which obviously boosts user interaction. The idea is that the person on the end of the phone is under pressure, which makes it more entertaining for the listeners. These questions are unusual which engages the audience because Greg James can be known as a fun, younger guy, friendly. Another part of the podcast presents him asking viewers what they listen to, to help them fall asleep or just simply relax. This is effective in receiving more listeners because it shows that the radio presenter has an interest in what their fans like and dislike. People want to get involved because Radio 1 is listened to by a wide target audience. Greg James had been promoted to the Radio presenter for the morning breakfast show. This is due to the fact that Nick Grimshaw’s audience figures had dropped whilst he was still the presenter meaning that they had to get someone new for the audience to start listening to it again. Radio 1 figured using Greg James in the morning would increase the number of viewers which is exactly what happened. He is very popular with the audience and this is consequently shown through his social media. When researching Greg James’s social media, I had seen that he had posted a screenshot of a BBC news article stating 'Greg James boosts Radio 1 breakfast audience by 230,000'. This suggests that people would rather listen to Greg James presenting than when Nick did. He also posts humorous images and tweets across all of his social media. Some posts are duplicated across a few different types of social accounts, such as Instagram and Twitter for example. A reason for this could be if some viewers don’t have a certain type of social media due to preferences of how it works or is set out. Greg James’s social media differs from Radio 1’s due to the fact that the radio show has to look professional/have a sense of organisation, but still ensures that it ‘entertains, informs and educates’.The Radio 1 Weekend is going to be held in Swansea. It consists of well-known artists attract radio’s young audience and also attracts others who are not listeners of radio 1. Therefore, this event can attract new listeners who would be persuaded by the good artists in the line-up. The event is said to be as good as Glastonbury since the line-up is very popular. Previously, the event has been held all over England with a new location every year to attract its listeners all over the country. The line-up always includes a few popular acts to attract listeners with new artists as well as to show new music just like Radio 1 do on shows.