LO1: Report

Unit 19 Report 

Introduction 

In this report I have been required to look into different Audio Products, podcasts, radio shows, radio dramas, jingles and more. I have been asked to look into each audio product specifically and in detail for example looking at target audience, purpose and more. This consists of doing research into each audio product and then writing a report about comparison between different products looking at the same things as before such as frequency, production process, content and meaning.  

1. Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel on BBCR1 Breakfast Show with Nick Grimshaw - Podcast. 

2. The Archers Radio 4, from a 1984 episode - Radio Drama. 

3. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1 - Audio book. 

4. BBC radio 2 - jingle. 

5. Cheryl Cole on BBCR1 with Nick Grimshaw - Music radio show. 

 Purpose  

Podcast 

The purpose for a Podcast is to entertain the audience and to be similar to a radio show with the same style and theme but to be available all the time on the internet or to be downloaded. The main purpose for a podcast is to entertain and it does it by making the audience laugh and keeping them involved and interested for example talking about specific things that can be of interest like new films that relate to the guests, for example the film "Sex Tape" is coming out and the two main stars feature on this podcast which would interest the listeners. Comparing the purpose of a podcast to another audio book such as a Music Radio show, they are very similar because they both have a purpose to entertain the listeners and both do it in a similar way by normally having guests on the show and containing similar themes and topics of conversation such as recent events and things that are soon to be released.  

Radio Drama 

The purpose of this Audio book is again to entertain like the Podcast of Music Radio show but in a different way and style. The Radio drama is to keep the listeners entertained but with a fictional or fact story and narrative, whilst the Podcast or Radio would be to make people laugh and let them relate to the topic of conversation on the show. The difference between the purposes is due to genre, as in one is a drama to entertain and the other has a comedy theme. Looking into the comparison between different audio products I think that this purpose relates to the Audio book the best. They both have the same style an theme of entertaining people for example they both are more serious and have a narrative theme to them instead of just being improvised conversation.  

Audio Book 

The purpose of the audio book is to entertain the listeners but is also for people that can either not read for any reason for example is blind. it is in the narrative theme of entertaining instead a comedy sketch or a comedic conversation that is heard on the radio show. Comparing the Audio book to the Radio drama, there is a slight difference in purpose because an audio book be for product recognition for example giving the franchise and author promotion whilst the Radio drama is just to entertain people. I think that both of them are to help people that struggle for example its reading to people who cant and I think that the radio drama is for people that either cant see the TV or don’t access to one. 

Jingle 

The purpose for this audio product is unique compared to the others due to the length and style for example this product is to cause brand recognition and is to put the name and slogan of the show or station into the listeners head so they don’t forget it. looking at other audio products they are normally longer and are to entertain such as a radio show or Radio drama. whilst the jingle is quick and a lot shorter. I think that this can be more effective due to a quick reminder instead of a long show that you could forget about. The musical theme to the jingle can help with the purpose because it would stay in your head like a song that you cant stop singing whilst the rest of the audio products are talking and are narrative but this is musical.  

Music Radio Show 

The purpose for this audio product is to entertain the audience I know this due denotation of the conversation on the show. Making jokes and talking about the guests on the show. This is connoting the entertaining purpose. I think that this product is the most popular and successful and is important to get the correct purpose. Looking at this product comparing to other audio products to this one, there are different styles and put together different and are given to the audience in different ways but have a similar or same purpose, they are all to entertain the audience and another purpose also is to advertise for example radio shows and podcast are to advertise the guests on the product as in films there are in. 

Form & Style 

There is a Variety of different forms in these Audio products but all similar styles. for example looking at the first audio product which is a podcast, that is a different form to a radio show due the timing that it is. For example the Podcast is recorded and can be downloaded and played, but the radio show is live on air and can sometimes be found on the internet. But if we look at the style of the podcast and show, they are similar. They both consist of guests on the product that will entertain and inform the listeners, for example celebrity guests that are coming onto the show, this connotes that they use the guests to bring more listeners in due to the demand of them. Also in the show The Denotation of the conversation in both of these audio products such as jokes and up coming things this connotes that they are trying to keep the audience entertained and interested.  

Looking at the other audio products such as radio drama, and audio book they have a similar form but different style, even though they are both to entertain the listeners, they have more of a narrative formal style. all of the audio products are to entertain the audience, but all have different styles, the unique audio product out of the 5 would be the Jingle because whilst the other have the main purpose to entertain, this audio product is there to advertise and keep the content of the jingle stuck in the listeners head. 

Each one of the Audio products are set differently for different reasons for example the jingle is quite informal because it is supposed to sound friendly and makes you want to listen to the audio product as well as music radio talk shows. The style of the product has a big effect on the formality of it as well as the topic. For example a music radio talk show will be very informal with different guests and as well as funny and entertaining but if we looked at a podcast for the local news then it would be a lot more formal than informal. 

Content & Meaning 

Looking at all the audio products, I think that they are sectioned due to the content. For example the Podcast and the Music radio show are together due to the content of a host and guests. The denotation of the content of these two such as laughter, jokes, topics of conversation, connotes that the purpose is to entertain the listeners and to keep them involved informed and interested. For example looking at the Podcast we hear that the guests are 2 actors talking about there movie coming out soon, this connotes that they want to keep the audience interested and have them informed about the film. Also listening to the Music talk show we can hear that the guest is Cheryl Cole and the topic of conversation is her, and her music at some point this again connotes the advertisement of the guests and guests work.  

Comparing the audio products before to the ones in a different genre, for example the podcast comparing to the audio book, they are both recorded and played back to the audience but listening to the denotation of the audio book you can hear in the content that it is has a narrative theme and quite a serious one, which connotes that it is still for entertainment but has a different and more serious genre. On the other hand listening to the podcast the denotation of the guests making jokes and telling stories connotes that again it is to entertain but in a different way and genre.  

One of the audio products I listened to is a jingle for BBC radio 2, listening to the content of the jingle I think that the denotation of the singing and small phrases connotes that the prime purpose is to advertise, I think that comparing this audio product to the others I have looked at, you can see a difference in purpose and genre, also a comparison in length. Which I think is linked up to the fact it is for advertising.  

Genre 

Each of the audio products have a different genre even though they all have very similar purposes. For example listening to the podcast and the audio book, they both have a purpose to entertain, they are both pre recorded and bought or played from the internet when needed. But the denotation of the story in the audio book compared to the denotation of the laughter and the conversation in the podcast, connotes that they have 2 very different genres despite the fact that every other feature is very similar. For example the content in the audio book has a very narrative and serious genre whilst the podcast has a very comedic or entertaining genre. 

To audio products that have a very similar genre is the audio book and the radio drama, I think this due to the denotation of the story with in the 2 audio products, they both have a narrative them and keep the audience listening. The genre of these 2 audio products in contrast to the other audio products such as a podcasts or the BBC Radio1 shows, seem more entertaining than ones with guests and host in.  

For example looking at the podcast or music radio talk show it could seem very similar to the audience because even though every week they might have different guests on the show and possibly different hosts, it could get very repetitive towards the listeners the same topics of conversation, the same jokes, the same news, just different people every week. But looking at the audio book and radio drama I have listened to, there is an actual story to it making the listeners think about things and concentrate instead of just listening to people making jokes about a new film or song that is soon to come out.  

Target Audience 

The for these audio product change, throughout looking into each one. For example the music radio show is on in the mornings and evenings or even throughout the day. This is because the target audience is adults that are driving to work and from work and some that will listen to the radio during work like builders etc. Listening to the content of the music radio show you can tell that the target audience are the people that would be interested in the content for example fans of actors or singers on the show. Listening to the music talk show that I have chosen to analysis we can hear that it is Cheryl Cole as a guest on the show, so the show is aimed at people that would want to listen to Cheryl Cole and want to know new things such as what she does in her life such as X factor judging or even her new work coming out such as new songs or albums that are going to be released.  

Comparing one of the audio products to the other such as the music talk show to the podcast they have a similar target audience but not completely the same. This is due to the availability of the podcast for example, the target audience for the radio show is people listening to the radio in there car or at work but the target audience for people listening to the podcast are people that will either be sat in front of a computer all day or people on there phones that can download the podcast and listen though headphones.   

When listening to other audio products I think that the genre of the product makes a big difference in target audience for example looking audio book and the radio drama, they will have a target audience that will be completely different to the target audience for the music radio show. For example looking into the audio book the target audience could be people that want to listen to stories and can not read. Whilst the radio show is to entertain and make people laugh and listen. And also the radio drama is for people that would want to watch TV but can not see. The audio book could be seen as a more educational compared to the other audio products such as the podcast. Listening to the audio book I have chosen to look at it again separates the target audience by age because if it was a children's book an adult would not be interested, whilst a child would not be interested in a more mature and adult radio show.  

looking at the different Rajar figures on each of the radio stations you can see that BBC radio 2 and BBC radio 1 reach more than BBC radio 6 music. This tells us that BBC radio one and two have a much larger target audience than radio 6. This could be because of the time that the shows are aired for example BBC radio 1 with Nick grimshaw would be played in the morning on the way to work whilst BBC radio 6 Music with Russell Brand is played late at night. Due to this the shows will reach different numbers. BBC Radio 1 Reach Is 10,433 whist BBC radio 2's reach is 15,283 But BBC radio 6 Music's reach is 2,084.

Frequency 

The Frequency of the audio product depends on many different things, for example the target audience or the genre or purpose. The audio product Music radio show is to entertain people driving to work in the morning and driving home in the evening so the frequency of this audio product will most likely be every morning and go though the day for the people listening at work till the late evening for the people driving home from work.  

But looking at other audio products such as a audio book they are readings from a story so for example the audio I have looked at is the 7th harry potter book. Each audio book would be released when each book is released. The frequency of each audio book in this case is unknown because there is no date when an author writes a book. unlike radio drama that is released every week like a TV show both similar genres and purposes but completely different frequencies. The Music Radio talk show and Podcast would be released each day, when played in the morning but the radio drama would be a weekly release with each episode.

Production Process 

The Pre production process goes through all of the audio products. Before all of the products are released they need to be checked with legal and ethical issues for example the producers need to check if anything on the podcast or radio show or jingle or drama have nothing in the content that can offend any of the listeners.  

Some of the audio products are released at a certain time and this is due to the content not being suitable for listeners below the age of 18, the content has to again be run by the producers in pre production so that the content is not offensive and that the product is released at an correct and appropriate time.  

In the production of the audio products such as the music talk show and the podcast, a cart wall is used when recording the show, a Cart wall is something that holds the songs and jingles for the radio show when they are recording the show or podcast the hosts use the cart wall to play the correct jingle or song next in the show.   

The difference between the audio books is the post production, for example looking into a podcast we know that it has pre production, production and post production because it is pre recorded to be downloaded by the target audience, but the music radio show is live and the production and post production goes into one, because with a live show you can not look at the content after being recorded and change anything because once it is broadcasted then its out, instead of changing things in post production.  

After releasing the live audio products you can not go back to editing to change the song that was chosen or anything else in the show. there is no rerecording, I think this makes a big difference in contrast between audio products such as the podcast and radio drama compared to the live one such as the music radio show.

During the Process of the production different softwares are used to create these audio products such as audition which is to get the recordings of the presenter and work in the audio if needed and also Cubase which is used to put the jingles and sound effects together. Only some of the software is used depending on if it is live or not, for example you can edit the audio if it goes out live. 

Other things in the production process are regulations and Ofcom regulations says that in pre-production a production meeting would have to address compliance for the audio product. this is to make sure that there is appropriate content before watershed. as well as this the show must also make sure that it does not include any slander about anyone. as well as this the budget, script, live interviews need to be planned in the meeting with producers and presenter to make sure that there is no inappropriate content. Copyright permissions for song on the show would be included as well. Depending if the radio was a community or commercial could change the meeting minutes in the production of the show.