The Surgery and Life Hacks

BBC Radio 1 - The Surgery & Life Hacks: Blog tasks

Analysis

Listen to the extracts from The Surgery and Life Hacks above and answer the following questions:

1) What do the titles The Surgery and Life Hacks suggest?

The Surgery and Life Hacks suggest that they offer advice and help to listeners. It suggests that they would like to support their listeners by trying to help them. 

2) How are the programmes constructed to appeal to a youth audience?

• using slang "FOMO"-fear of missing out
• talking about mental health and struggles 
• the presenting style is quite friendly and informal filled with banter and positivity
• opportunities for people to interact 
• the music presented is quite mainstream 

3) What does the choice of presenter (e.g. Katie Thistleton) and Dr Modgil suggest about the BBC’s approach to diversity and representation?

It suggests that the BBC is quite diverse and they see the UK as a diverse and equal place for all. This is because Katie Thistleton is from Manchester and Dr. Modgil is half Indian. It suggests that BBC is respectful of all audiences and they try to appeal to everyone.

4) Look at this promotional graphic produced by BBC for The Surgery. How does it construct a representation of a youth audience?

• bright colour scheme-stands out 
• use of hashtag-reference to social media 
• emojis 
• direct question

5) Now look at the graphic from a digital media perspective: how does it suggest audiences are listening to and interacting with BBC broadcasts in the digital media landscape?

It suggests audiences are listening to the radio on their phone through social media. 

Audience

1) What is the target audience for BBC Radio 1?

• 15-29 year olds 

2) Who is the actual audience for BBC Radio 1?

• Only 41% are in the target audinece age range, and their median age is 32.
• 90% white
• 58 % ABC1 in comparison to the population average of 55%

3) What audience pleasures are offered by The Surgery and Life Hacks? Apply Blumler and Katz’s Uses and Gratifications theory.

• Relief - the feeling of support that is experienced as a result of knowing that there is  a place that you can turn to for advice, knwoing that poeple are going thriugh the same as you
• Personal identification - being able to relate to the stories being told and seeing your character reflected in said stories.
• Surveillance - learning about the different ways of tackling the problems being discussed
• Diversion - from the entertainment aspect of the show - particularly met by the new Life Hacks version of the show, demonstrates how the BBC are reinventing their brand to suit the needs of their audinece.

4) Read these Guardian reviews of The Surgery and Life Hacks. What do the reviews praise the programmes for?

The Surgery Guardian review

• Provides "practical advice"
• discusses "teenage life with sensitivity"

Life Hacks Guardian review

• Providing the listeners with insight into the truth surrounding many topics - i.e. Stomrzy discussing discrimination in higher education

5) Read this NME feature on Radio 1 listener figures. What are the key statistics to take from this article regarding the decline in Radio 1 audience ratings?

• Raido 1 lost 200,000 weekly listeners (May 2018 - August 2018)
• Used to attract approx 9.4m listeners a week
• Officially has the second-lowest ever recorded ratings for the BBC Station.
• Steady decline since 2012, a time where they used to attract 11.1m listeners.

Industries

1) How does The Surgery and Life Hacks meet the BBC mission statement to Educate, Inform and Entertain? 

It worked like an agony aunt column in old teenage magazines and took on controversial subjects such as gender identity, sexuality, relationships and mental health. It featured texts and calls from listeners and the post-watershed slot meant adult topics could be discussed.

2) Read the first five pages of this Ofcom document laying out its regulation of the BBC. Pick out three key points in the summary section.

• The BBC must deliver the mission and public purposes set out in its new Royal Charter (the Charter). For the first time, the BBC will be robustly held to account for doing so by an independent, external regulator. 
• It is Ofcom's job to scrutinise, measure and report on the BBC’s performance.
• The BBC is the UK’s most widely-used media organisation, providing programming on television and radio and content online and the public has exceptionally high expectations of the BBC.

3) Now read what the license framework will seek to do (letters a-h). Which of these points relate to BBC Radio 1 and The Surgery / Life Hacks?

• Support national and regional audineces
• Reflect the full diversity of the UK population
• Secure a more disctinctive BBC

4) What do you think are the three most important aspects in the a-h list? Why?

• Support national and regional audineces
• Reflect the full diversity of the UK population
• Secure a more disctinctive BBC

5) Read point 1.9: What do Ofcom plan to review in terms of diversity and audience? 

• That their content reflects the lives of younger and older audiences 
• Diversity in the on-screen programmes 
• How different audineces are portrayed and represented.

Read this Guardian interview with BBC 1 Controller Ben Cooper.

6) What is Ben Cooper trying to do with Radio 1?

• plans to make BBC Radio 1 like a Netflix for Radio 

7) How does he argue that Radio 1 is doing better with younger audiences than the statistics 

suggest?

He is starting out with 25 hours of on-demand “phone-first” content, such as a weekly “Top 10 most-played tracks of the week” programme, but intends to seriously ramp up the hours next year. “In this job, you’ve got to keep across what young audiences are doing. They want content on whatever device they are using, increasingly the phone, when they want it, and that is the key for us to stay relevant and stay young.”

In his five years in charge of BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra, Cooper has supercharged its multi-platform presence. Major successes include the station’s YouTube channel, which now has almost 3.5 million subscribers and more than 1bn views.

While BBC Radio 1 may be blooming nicely on new digital channels, Cooper remains under pressure to bring the age of listeners of BBC Radio 1 down. The target is 15- to 29-year-olds, the average is 32.

 Using figures based on those aged 10 and up, he reckons the most common age of a Radio 1 listener is 18. And for its YouTube channel it is 12- to 17-year-old females. “There is no holy grail of one single digital footprint figure in the industry unfortunately,” he says.

8) Why does he suggest Radio 1 is distinctive from commercial radio?

Cooper talks innovation but Radio 1’s rivals, and a report submitted to the culture secretary that informed this year’s charter review white paper, accuse the station of not being distinctive enough. He bristles at the suggestion. 

“Are we distinctive from commercial radio? Yes we are,” he says. “We will play something like 4,000 different tracks a month, commercial radio plays about 400. 

We need to play hit music to get audiences in to expose them to new music. I think we need to look at the fact that we are no longer competing just purely with Rajars against Capital and Kiss.

9) Why is Radio 1 increasingly focusing on YouTube views and digital platforms?

These are the platforms that young audiences engage with the most and that enjoy using. From this they could increase their target audience and appeal to a much wider range.

10) In your opinion, should the BBC’s remit include targeting young audiences via Radio 1 or should this content be left to commercial broadcasters? Explain your answer.

I think the BBC Radio 1 should focus on appealing to the mass and not a specific audience, this is because it may be limiting their reach and it is better to appeal to the majority.