Create a new blogpost called 'Introduction to Radio' on your Media 2 Coursework blog and complete the following tasks:
BBC Sounds
Read this Guardian feature on the launch of BBC Sounds and answer the following questions:
1) Why does the article suggest that ‘on the face of it, BBC Radio is in rude health’?
It has half the national market, with dozens of stations reaching more than 34 million people a week. Radio 2 alone reaches 15 million listeners a week and for all the criticism of the Today programme (“editorially I think it’s in brilliant shape,” says Purnell), one in nine Britons still tune in to hear John Humphrys and his co-presenters harangue politicians every week.
2) What percentage of under-35s use the BBC iPlayer catch-up radio app?
Younger audiences are listening to more audio then ever before.
3) What is BBC Sounds?
It will bring radio livestreams, catchup services, music mixes and podcasts together under one roof.
4) How do audiences listen to radio content in the digital age?
Listen to it on their smartphones or tablets.
5) What does Jason Phipps suggest is important for radio and podcast content aimed at younger audiences?
The man tasked with making this work is Jason Phipps, a former Guardian employee who joined as the corporation’s first commissioning editor for podcasts earlier this year. He says there is a need to reconsider the entire tone of how the BBC tells stories, shifting away from rigid formality if it wants to attract the precious under-35 audience: “It has to be a warmer, more story-led journey. You need to report the very personal experience of it.
6) Why does the BBC need to stay relevant?
the BBC was banned from creating online-only podcasts for competition reasons, meaning it is now making up for lost time, Shennan says. To this end a “few million pounds” a year will be given to commission podcasts purely for an online audience.
Now read this review of the BBC Sounds app.
7) What content does the BBC Sounds app offer?
Music, news, drama, documentaries, true crime, comedy – if you want it in your ears, you start with the orange button. The app lets you click through to any live BBC radio station, but it also offers you other forms of listening, from podcasts to playlists.
8) How does it link to BBC Radio?
he app lets you click through to any live BBC radio station, but it also offers you other forms of listening, from podcasts to playlists. You want music to cheer you up? Here’s a big beats hip-hop playlist “to keep you moving”.
9) What are the criticisms of the BBC Sounds app?
Sounds is easy to use, though I found the programme information a little tricky to access, and the search – as ever with the BBC – isn’t sensitive enough.
10) Two new podcasts were launched alongside the BBC Sounds app. What are they and why might they appeal to younger audiences?
Beyond Today, presented by Tina Daheley, is an attempt to mimic the New York Times’s successful The Daily programme, and the two shows I’ve heard aren’t bad. The first, about whether the UK has enough money, had too many audio tricks; the second, about an Iraqi Instagram star killed for being too provocative, was very good (though the word “flaunt” should be banned, especially when used to refer to women). It would be nice for the programme to refer to actual breaking news, as in The Daily’s “here’s what else you need to know” end section, but it’s not a bad start. A few days after the Beeb, the Guardian launched its own daily, behind-the-scenes-of- journalism podcast, Today in Focus, which I’ll review next week.
And End of Days, exclusive to the Sounds app, is a gripping tale. I hadn’t realised that many of the Waco cult victims were from the UK, mostly recruited from the Seventh-Day Adventist church. End of Days talks to their families and friends. There are moments when you want more specifics (the first episode is vague as to what David Koresh actually talked about), but it’s a very interesting show.
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