Analysis of Radio Programmes (Scott Mills/Radio One/Drivetime)

In order to successfully produce a radio show it is vital that the correct research is done in to a broad range of radio shows. It is vital because radio stations are established, and it is proven that these stations can attract a particular audience through their well tested means and methods.

Radio Station One: Radio One; Scott Mills' Show

The Scott Mills show, on radio one, is a well established drive-time radio show that has been running since 2004 when the previous drive-time host, Sara Cox, decided not to return after maternity leave.

Audience

Determining the audience is important as we will be able to use their particular codes and conventions when we create our own radio show; as long as this particular audience is linked to the one we plan to aim our show at.

In this instance there are a number of ways you can determine what audience the Scott Mills' show is targetting itself at; mainly anything within the actual content of the show such as the features, the music and the topics discussed between the presenters.

Music is something that can be very particular to a certain audience, for example (through research co-ordinated in other assignments and this one itself) young people, 16-25, tend to be more interested in drum and bass/dubstep/pop/indie etc than an older age range like 30-40. Therefore, from analysing the music choices within this specific show, it is easy to tell that the show is targetting itself at 16-25 year olds.

You can tell that the show is targetting itself at 16-25 year olds because the music is current and fits in with the pop/indie/dance genres that are more commonly liked by people of the 16-25 year old category. I know that this age range is interested in this music as my group carried out audience research to see what the demographics/psychodemographics were of our target audience, we found out what type of music 16-25 year olds like to listen to and at what time of day; you can see these results in the primary research post later on in this blog.

Another indication of target audience are the presenters themselves, they sound young and energetic and it reminds me of a conversation between friends at the pub. Young people are not known for their attention span and i believe this particular style of presenting helps grab this audience's attention through humourous topics being discussed and also relevant news stories, for example on one of the news shows the main topic was gaming and an addiction to gaming; young males are primarily associated with gaming therefore it is a news story that has been selected to directly speak to the audience, it would be no use targetting this story at people in the 40+ catagory as not many of these people are massive gamers.

Pitch/Pace/Projection/Pause

Pitch:

Scott Mills uses upward and downward inflections to start and finish a point, they also make it obvious for the listener when he is asking a question or being conversational. Scott Mills uses increased pitch in certain places, "Hi Becky!", this automatically tells you as a listener that he is being friendly with whoever he is speaking to; in this particular circumstance he is greeting his co-host in the way a mate would greet another mate.

This style portrays a much more relaxed style of show.

Pace:

The pace used throughout is steady, this allows you as a listener to take the conversation in. If the pace was quicker, the listener wouldn't be able to take the information in, or it could portray excitement but in this circumstance the pace allows you to listen.

Projection:

Scott Mills uses the social zone in most of his show, this allows the listener to take in the information in a friendly way; as if you are taking part in the conversation or listening in amongst a group of friends.

In one particular part the projection shifts to the personal zone when Scott Mills talks quietly in to the microphone, "i don't believe their times", in regards to certain people getting fast times in the great north run. He uses the personal zone to convey to the listeners that he is telling a secret, or saying something he perhaps shouldn't say.

Pause:

There are no pauses throughout the show, no significant ones anyway. Scott Mills chooses not to use many pauses in his style of presenting because he wants to keep the audience engaged in what he is saying, and also because if you were having a conversation with a friend, and there were too many pauses, the conversation would seem awkward or perhaps forced.

Mode of Address

The mode of address is how we define the way someone is talking to us, whether it be in a friendly manner or aggressive; it can also define how someone is talking to us, directly or indirectly.

The Scott Mills' show uses an indirect/informal style of presenting. You can tell this is the case because Scott Mills talks mostly to his co-host 'Becky', "Did you get a lolly?" "I didn't pop in". This mode of address is relevant to the style of show, a light-hearted conversational style of show. When the mode of address is more direct the conversation is not smooth, and it can often be more formal, however this particular show feels more smooth and as a listener you can get a conversational feel from the show.

In certain points Scott Mills uses direct modes of address, "well done to those who did the great north run".

When the mode of address changes the projection and pitch also change. I noticed that the projection is lower when he is talking to his co-host, and then when he talks directly to the audience the projection gets louder and the pitch gets higher (upward inflection). This change in pitch/projection ensures that the listener knows they are being spoken to directly.

Show Format

The show format features music, chat and features. All these features engage the particular target audience. The music played is mostly taken from the A/B/C-list from the Radio One website (refer to radio one research); however on friday this changes to "Wonder Years", where Scott Mills plays various songs from previous years and then at around 6pm he plays floorfiller songs that would be found in clubs, signifying the start of the weekend (this also gives away target audience details, people who have finished school/university/work for the week).

Institutional Context

What type of broadcast the show is greatly affects the content/context that the show is broadcasting. In this particular instance the Scott Mills' show is part of Radio One (BBC). The BBC itself is a public service broadcaster so its main aim is to inform/educate/entertain, something that Radio One is extremely good at doing. It is also a national radio show, therefore they have to take into account a varied range of demographics as people from all over the United Kingdom will have access to the show over the radio, this is addressed by featuring news that relates to the whole of the United Kingdom and not just London where the radio studio is based.

A benefit of Radio One being a PSB is that there are no advertisement breaks, and with no advertisements comes no major input from advertisers which allows the Scott Mills' show to do what it wants, within the laws of the BBC's PSB agreement.

Audience Interaction

Audience interaction is a common device used by the Scott Mills' show, it allows the presenters to change the mode of address to direct, and directly speak to the audience. This is done through features such as "flirt divert" wherein the Scott Mills show give out the "flirt divert" number to people to give to people who try and 'come on' to them in a pub/club etc, they will then play the answer phone messages on the show with funny results.

Interacting with an audience helps the audience to feel closer to the presenters themselves; like they are a part of the show in some way.