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Thursday, 4 November 2010

Radio Analysis - Chris Moyles Show

Radio Analysis - The Chris Moyles Show



http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chrismoyles/


Examples of this show can be found on BBCiplayer:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00wgqh4/The_Chris_Moyles_Show_Wednesday_with_our_Karoloke_ticket_giveaway/


Audience:

Shows such as 'Celebrity Raspberry' help indicate the demographic and phsycodemographic of this show's audience. The nature of the very game itself demonstrates that the show could potentially be targeted at a younger audience, this is further reflected by the prize of the game (various mugs). Blowing a raspberry is a childish facial expression commonly found on young children. However 'Celebrity Raspberry' could be a childish past time for a wider audience involving students and more mature adults a like. Initially I would argue that a mug is 'throwaway', joke prize, the type a student would compete for. But with further analysis I came to the conclusion that a mug with a presenters face on it is the kind of prize a fan of the Chris Moyles show would see to have value. I think the type of humour this game employs is one that students would find appealing however I also believe it attracts audience members from the ages of 20-30 too. Other shows with prizes such as tickets to concerts (for example, Aled's game involving finding him to win tickets to Bangor or Radio 1 live) frequently have contestants studying at university or college. This is perhaps because concert tickets are a prize very much attractive to a younger student based audience but I believe this evidence indicates that students are a large section of the shows demographics along with an older generation of listeners as well making the target audience, in my opinion, around the ages of 16-(25-30). RAJAR states that Chris Moyles' show has an audience of around 7.72million listeners.

The show is a targeted at both genders, however there is certain humour that boys will be more attracted to and the 5 male DJs vs the single female DJ do hint that the audience profile may favour the male gender. This is backed up by the fact Chris Moyles has said himself in a 'Daily Record' interview that the show does favour boys to a certain extent. 'Moyles admits that his target audience will be mainly male.' Rick Fulton, August 2002.

The music is carefully limited to modern songs and moderated to only the best tracks. This attracts a younger, music orientated audience keen to keep track of the latest music.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/playlist/

The Radio 1 playlist also helps up and coming artists find a larger stage, they use a separate feature called 'BBC introducing' to publicise  the majority of music. 'Marina and the diamonds' and 'Temper Trap' are just a couple of examples that were introduced using this feature. I believe this further attracts a music orientated audience looking for new music.

The News section of the show does however feature a number of more serious stories that may be of interest to a slightly older audience, humorous interruptions from other presenters do however reenforce my theory of a 16-30 year old target audience. This audience could also consist largely of students judging by the music that is played and the way the presenters, present their voices...

Voice:

As a single sense medium, voice becomes an incredibly important factor of radio (cross platform media mentioned later).
Unlike a stereotypical 'Radio Voice' as featured in the Film 'Hot Rod' by the am radio presenter keen to fund Rod's big stunt (could not find an internet example), (and demonstrated in my later analysis'), the voices of the 6 presenters are much more chatty and informal. Pitch is the rate of vibration of the vocal chords as air passes over them. Pitch is used in various ways when talking and communicating, it can be used for an upward inflection (signifying a question or uncompleted thought) or a downward inflection (expressing a completed thought). It is also true that a lower tone of voice is more comfortable to listen to. The 6 presenters voice's are all well moderated, maintaining a comforting low tone, whilst using pitch and inflection to efficiently communicate: excitement, questions, thoughts etc.


Edward Hall showed us that there are zones of intimacy we maintain around people: 3 meters+ distance is a public zone, 1.5 - 3 meters is a social zone and 0.5 - 1.5 is a personal zone. The presenters in this show seem to have a formation, varying distance from microphones giving the conversation a new level of depth. This also made me feel as if I were listening to a conversation with a group of friends, with people closer to me than others; reflecting many real life formations. This theory that Radio 1 are trying to create some kind of friendship group involving their audience is further argued by all the other subjects for analysis - including the remarkably 'close to ordinary' pitch of voice.

Pace and pause are also key features of a presenters voice. A comfortable talking speed in a general conversation is around 3 words per second, Chris Moyles' presenters coincide with this rule moderately well. I believe the 3 words per second should be taken with a pinch of salt as it were, because in a regular conversation (the style of which I think Chris is trying to mimic) pace is also used for emphasis. The pace the presenters use is not too slow as that may seem patronising and not to quick as to lose diction and risk the audience's understanding. Pause, apart from being used to draw breath, can also be used to emphasise certain points in a conversation. Radio 1 demonstrate the use of pause for a humorous effect. 3 seconds or more of 'dead' broadcast is considered widely by audience members as a technical mistake, so presenters must time there pauses to efficiently communicate their point and yet not lose audience interest or cause confusion. Music beds are widely used to fill 'dead space' in radio shows and while this is also true of radio 1 there are some sections where only voices can be heard. I think this still works because there are 6 presenters, layering the sound and making 'dead space' a less likely occurrence.

Mode of address:

The way in which the presenter addresses the audience is a huge part of satisfying the target audience. Radio 1 have a more informal tone than many other shows and dabble between direct and indirect address. This allows presenters to both talk directly to the audience in a more authoritative manner accurately and efficiently portraying information, and a less direct manner talking amongst themselves maintaining the chatty, friendly feel of the show.

Institutional Context:

As BBC show there is no advertising present on Chris Moyles' show. The show is broadcast not only over FM and DAB radio but is also available online, this widens their audience to not only national but global. Because of this Radio 1 has a wide target audience of which Chris Moyles' show is only meant to satisfy part. This in mind his show must still satisfy a huge 7.76 million listeners, this is why Chris Moyles and his DJs play a variety of music genres and artists, mainly sticking around the Pop genre (because Pop is (ironically) the most popular Genre).

Audience Interaction:

Radio 1 is now a cross media platform, this means the audience can consume and interact with the show in a number of ways. Audience members can text, phone or email the DJ team with thoughts, answers, shout outs etc. throughout the show. They can also log on to the website to view pictures, blogs and much more including videos on youtube and much more. Communication is also enhanced as listeners can follow DJs on twitter, facebook or leave comments on internet media (such as videos). The interaction with specific DJs and the cross media people can now see them on helps the audience connect directly with DJs such as Chris Moyles, this helps create a more relaxed feel for his show ever increasing the illusion of chatting with mates in a social environment.

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