Presentation on Bulletin Comparison

As apart of an upcoming assignment we were set the task to create a presentation based around two different news bulletins which we previously watched. The first bulletin was from BBC Newsbeat which usually is around 15 minutes long with detailed information about multiple articles from hard-hitting to local news. The target audience for BBC Newsbeat is 15 to 25 year olds which is shown through young radio presenters and the style/type of stories which are broadcasted; the majority of the stories have a younger feel to it and are less serious, often about music and sport. The second news bulletin which I watched was from Heart which is a station aimed at the older audience from 22-44 year olds. Heart is a lot different to BBC Newsbeat as its more serious and the topic of stories are aimed at the older audience and what people of the age range would be interested in. The news bulletin is shown nearly every hour for around 2 minutes and is very fast paced but informative. Often stories shown on Heart are local or charity based which promotes obviously the charity but also Heart as a station, also a lot of the stories are hard-hitting but weren't shown in the BBC Newsbeat bulletin like the murder of teenager Alice Gross.

 

Radio Industry Research Task

The radio industry is divided into BBC Stations and Commercial Stations.

Task: 15 minutes - Research and answer the following on the BBC:  Do not use Wikipedia and reference your sources.

1. When did the BBC start broadcasting Radio? 

The BBC first started broadcasting in 1922. 

http://www.radiocentre.org/latest-industry-news/the-bbc-launches-radio-1-and-radio-2?slide=1

2. When and why did Radio One start broadcasting? 

Radio One started broadcasting in September 30th 1967 as a direct response to the popularity of the music being played by pirate stations such as Radio Caroline, which had been outlawed by Parliament in August. 

http://www.radiocentre.org/latest-industry-news/the-bbc-launches-radio-1-and-radio-2?slide=1

3. What is the Licence Fee and how much is it? 

The licence fee is an official record of payment required in in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts, or the possession of a television set where some broadcasts are funded in full or in part by the licence fee paid. The licence is sometimes also required to own a radio or receive radio broadcasts. 

The license fee costs £145.50 for colour and £49.00 for black and white.

4. What is the Royal Charter? 

A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate.

5. What is the BBC Trust? 

The BBC Trust is the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation. It is operationally independent of BBC management and external bodies, and its stated aim is to make decisions in the best interests of licence fee payers.

6. What is the BBC’s Mission? 

To enrich people's lives with programmes and services that inform, educate and entertain.

7. What is the difference between national and local BBC radio? 

Local BBC radio station will focus on news and events of the surrounding area, but not necessarily only local, they will go more in depth on e.g. accidents, that you won't hear about on the other side of the country.

National radio focuses on news and events that have an impact on the entire country (e.g. the primary elections is national news, while the voting of a city counselor will be local news).

8. What percentage of the population listen to BBC radio?

66% of the population listen to BBC radio. 

Task 15 minutes – Research and answer the following on Commercial Radio – Do not use Wikipedia and reference your sources. 

1. When did Commercial Radio first start broadcasting in the UK? 

Legal commercial broadcasting began in the United Kingdom in 1972.

2. What was the name of the first commercial radio station? 

The first ever commercial radio station was KDKA which was launched on November 1920.

3. When did Capital FM start broadcasting? 

16 October 1973.

4. Who owns Capital FM? And what other brands does this company own? 

Global Group owns Capital FM, they also own Heart, Classical FM, Gold and Smooth FM.

5. What percentage of the population listen to this organisation’s stations (all brands)? 

6. How is commercial radio funded? 

Commercial radio stations are funded through advertising revenue and their broadcasting licenses are awarded by Ofcom.

7. How many commercial radio stations are there in the UK?



8. How many companies control the majority of these – who are they?

The largest operator of radio is Global Radio which bought the former media group, Gcap Media. It owns Classic FM and London's most popular commercial station, 95.8 Capital FM. Other owners are Bauer Radio and UTV Radio, which mainly own stations that broadcast in highly populated city areas.

Story Treatment

Copy: this is where the only voice you hear is the newsreaders. It's a story with no audio attached to it.

Clip: this is where you hear a 'sound bite' from another person, who isn't another reporter. It may be part of an interview. E.G Robbie told us he's thrilled to have a daughter (cuts to Robbie saying how thrilled he is).

Wrap: this is where you hear the news reader, followed by a clip, followed by the newsreader again.

Vox Pop: this is where the newsreaders 'crosses over' to someone at the scene, or someone with more expert knowledge on a particular subject - e.g. out reporter xxx has more...

Voicer: this is where the story is enhanced by public opinion. It's a good way to add interest to a story by involving the audience to interact. E.g we asked these students at South Downs what they thought...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-29453755

This article is on the BBC News website under the section of World News. The article is about the Ebola outbreak which is a big talking topic in the news as its a shocking story but also is threatening to the public as its a dangerous and deadly disease which has only recently been brought to the public attention.  This particular article focuses on increased rate of infection in Sierra Leone, the headline is  Ebola outbreak: 'Five infected every hour' in Sierra Leone. The article is a summary of facts and opinions, Save the Children said 765 new cases of Ebola reported in the West African state last week, while there are only 327 beds in the country. Its the world's worst outbreak of the virus, killing 3,338 people so far. There have been 7,178 confirmed cases, with Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea suffering the most. Save the Children says Ebola is spreading across Sierra Leone at a "terrifying rate", with the number of new cases being recorded doubling every few weeks.

Story Treatment for Ebola outbreak: 'Five infected every hour'

Copy: shocking and news worthy issue which means it could be the headline story, a lot of people would be interested and wanting to know about this issue which is why it could be the top story as it needs more time to inform as much information as possible.

Vox Pop: because its such a controversial and shocking issue a lot of people will have opinions on the topic so interviews would be a good element to the report. It also is a story which involves the public so opinions from the general public would be useful, it also makes it a talking topic so could lead to other types of stories.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-29452363

This article is on the BBC News website under the section of UK News. The article is about (at the time) missing 14 year old Alice Gross who had been missing for 5 weeks and been made a big media topic as the public were aware of her missing and every day new stories were shared which was keeping the general public up to date and if any new leads had appeared. This was a breaking news article and was unfortunately sharing the news that the young girls body was found. The article revealed that the 14-year-old's body was found on Tuesday night in the River Brent. She was last seen on 28 August after she left her home in Hanwell, west London. The story also revealed Alice's parents have been "left completely devastated" and thanked the local community for its help in the search and that the post-mortem examination began earlier at Uxbridge Mortuary. The purpose of this news stories is to update the public about an ongoing situation, because the news was found out so sudden a lot of the information wasn't as detailed as it would be the next day, but purely just main facts were shared.

Story Treatment for Alice Gross murder: Police identify body in river

Copy: this article would definitely be the top story as its breaking news and a headline hitting article. Due to the article being so shocking and what the public has been following for days its mostly likely it would have the most air time. A lot of people are interested in this story as its relatable to the public  and its so harrowing the public would want to find out more. Because its breaking news and only certain events have been reported during the next news bulletin the news reporter would update more information which has come to light.

Vox Pop: due to the article being breaking news the presenter would cross over to people at the scene to get more information. Although the presenter would be given updates and a lot of information which the public don't know because the story is so big in the media newsreader from the scene would be used to get first hand information. The vox pop in this story would usually happen in the second news bulletin as this first would break the heartbreaking news to the public and the second would give more information and go to the crime scene ect.

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/local/hampshire-one-of-the-highest-in-country-for-under-18-drink-drivers-1-6333289

This article is on The News' official website which is a website for The News that is the online version of the local Portsmouth based newspaper and this article is under the section 'Health. The article is based around underage drinking in Hampshire. The article reports that Hampshire is one of the highest in the country for under 18 drink drivers, this makes the story a local report as its revolved around Hampshires under 18 drink drivers not the whole countries. The article explains that figures have shown that Hampshire has one of the highest rates in the country for under-18s caught drink-driving. A Freedom of Information request by in-car camera provider Nextbase revealed that between 2008 and 2013, 276 people were caught drink-driving in the county. Of those 276, 74 were under 16-years-old and the youngest offenders were just 14-years-old and were caught in 2008, 2009 and 2011.The total figure for Hampshire under-18 drink-drivers was only beaten by Greater Manchester, which had 409. The article was very short compared to other local reports but it wasn't a headline worthy story just purely used to fill up space in a newspaper.

Story Treatment for Hampshire one of the highest in country for under-18 drink-drivers

Wrap: this article isn't headline worthy but is an interest to the public as its a local story and does involve the listeners as drink drivers especially under 18 are a big issue at the moment. Due to the article being straight forward and will lack any lead ups it would normal if it was just the presenter talking about it and no use of audio clips or interviews. This article usually would be in the middle of the news bulletin as because its not so important it doesn't particularly matter when it it said, it also wouldn't be told in much detail but just provide a local story for the bulletin.

Voicer: this is the type of article which would use voicer as its revolved around the public. it also allows the public to have their opinions on the topic, with this article under 18's opinions would be used as an against side of the article and to justify young drivers. Other public who would have their opinions are suffers from drink drivers, older people ect.

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/local/reward-of-20-000-offered-after-brutal-valerie-graves-murder-1-6329938

This article is on The News' official website which is a website for The News that is the online version of the local Portsmouth based newspaper and this article is under the section Crime. This article is about a £20,000 reward being offered by Crimestoppers and Sussex Police for information that leads to a conviction in relation to a murder of a woman.The unfortunate death was of 55 year old grandmother Valerie Graves who was murdered nine months ago in Smugglers Lane, Bosham after house sitting for a friend.. The murder happened on December 30th 2013 where she was attacked in her bed with a hammer.The reward will be paid out for information, received through the Crimestoppers anonymous phone line, that leads to a conviction.

Story Treatment for Reward of £20,000 offered after brutal Valerie Graves murder

Copy: due to this article being based around something which happened in the past but brought to attention you'd only need the news presenter to discuss it rather then bringing in audio clips and interviews. If it was a recent murder it would be the main story and the use of vox pop and clip would be used. Because its a murder people aren't really going to have mixed opinions on it so voicer wouldn't be necessary. This type of article would just be told by the news presenter and usually at the end of the bulletin as its an important article as its about murder and the police and its also asking for the public's health so it would need to be shown in a understandable way.

Wrap: although this article is about a murder nearly a year ago but because the police are asking for help again it potentially could be made into a headline story. If it was the main story for example a local radio station they would use wrap. Firstly discussing the background of the story in detail, then switching to a clip which could from the police, the victims family ect, then finally the news presenter who would finish the story with final information.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2777794/Teenager-obsessed-Dexter-TV-series-stabbed-17-year-old-girlfriend-death-dismembering-bedroom.html

I found this article on the Daily Mail website which is the online version of the famous UK newspaper The Daily Mail. This article was under the News section of the website. The article was about a murder of a 17 year old girl which to make it even more shocking was done by her 16 year old boyfriend. Steven Miles committed the blood curdling killing of Elizabeth Thomas by stabbing her in the head and back in his bedroom at home in Oxted, Surrey. The crime got even more horrifying after he dismembered the teens legs and arms before wrapping the limbs in cling film. He even used saws and tools from his fathers tree surgeon business to cut up the body and placed them in bin bags and covered her body in a green plastic garden sheet. The family of the teen victim said 'it's difficult to accept she is no longer in our lives' and 'I place flowers on her grave when I should be putting them in her hair'. It was reported the teen killer got inspiration from the American serial killer based series Dexter, which he openly admitted to being obsessed with.

Story Treatment for Teenager obsessed with Dexter TV series stabbed 17-year-old girlfriend to death before dismembering her in his bedroom 

Vox Pop: this article would definitely use vox pop as due it being a recent murder and it also happening in England it would be the main headline story. In a news bulletin this story would be the first spoken about and have the longest coverage. This story in a news bulletin would most likely start with the news presenter informing the listeners about the shocking crime and then crossing over to someone at the scene or someone who has expert knowledge on the story to gain more information about it.

Copy: this article could be used as a copy story in the news bulletin aswell. Due to it being such a recent story and it may not already have been aired on a news bulletin it could be used as a copy story. The presenter could make it a headline story and use the certain time to just purely tell the listeners all the information which has been brought to light rather then using the small amount of time for audio clips or interviews.

Radio Terminology

Radio Terms

• News reader / presenter   - this is the main voice of the bulletin – the person reading the stories.
• Bulletin – this is the news  segment from start to finish.
• Reporter – this is another person who speaks in the bulletin but usually from  outside the studio. 
• Location – A reporter may be outside the studio building where a story is happening.
• Interviewer – this is the person conducting the interview. 
• Interviewee – this is the person being interviewed.
• Script – this is what a news reader follows – bulletins should never be ad-lib.
• Cross over to…. – this is the news presenter handing over to a reporter.
• Cuts to…. – this is when you hear some audio from an interview.
• Audio  - this is any other voice other than the presenter – usually pre recorded.
• News bed – this is played under the news bulletin in younger style stations. 
• News intro – this is the opening jingle that often says the stations name.
• Promo  - on commercial stations – a section of the bulletin may be sponsored – such as the weather.

Radio Bulletins 

Capital:

News intro

News bed 

Bulletins

Cuts to

Promo

News reader

Audio

Fast pace

1 audio

1 minute bulletin

Range of news stories; JLS helping local (Southampton) football club, teen Facebook party in Holland goes viral with riot police being called, 15 year old school boy charged with murders of two female police officers ect.

Not so local stories

BBC Solent:

News reader

News intro

Audio

Cuts to

Bulletins

Slow pace

4 audios

4 minute bulletin

Range of news stories: fire in local building, political interview with MP, info on the FA cup, local caravan show and forest festival ect. 

Mostly local stories

Capital 

The news bulletin shown on Capital FM is targeted at the young audience with the news stories relating to that. The style is quick and fast pace, the use of news bed helps with the flow of the bulletin making it instant and straight to the point. The delivery is also prompt and fast paced with the news reader going straight to the point with stories. The news stories used were a mixture of local and not local. 30% of the stories were local; JLS helping Southampton football club relates to the local area but also interests a wide range of audience from football enthusiast to JLS supporters. The majority of the stories weren't local but big news stories which the audience would be interested in, the main stories was about a 15 year old school boy from Manchester being charged with the murder of 2 female police officers; a very shocking and headline worthy story. The bulletin lacked local new stories only having 1 or 2 in the minute long bulletin and the rest being either country of worldwide news. Only one advert was used and that was right at the end before the weather was shown. It was an advert for toilet paper which is under household products so an interest to the audience.

BBC Solent 

The news bulletin on BCC Solent is targeted at the older generation and isn't as fast paced and quick as Capital. The news reporter informs the information in a slow tone, allowing people to hear it slightly clearer. The voice of the news reporter is doesn't vary and is all in the same tone and speed. The delivery is very clear and in depth; the news is reporting with more information. The style is very professional or though she made 2 mistakes, the way she told the news was very serious and informative. The type of news stories said were mostly all local, some of the stories included; information about the FA cup, local caravan shows, forest festival event, interviews with local MP's and staff employment at schools. The stories told aren't worldwide worthy or headline hitting but BBC Solent's news bulletins purpose is to inform people about whats happening locally. There was no news bed which makes news bulletins more upbeat but it wasn't needed as it would of made the news reporting less serious. There was multiple audios and cuts to throughout which gave the audience more information about the stories. There was 4 audios in the 4 minute long bulletin which made it more interesting and informative.

Comparing the news bulletins 

Comparing the two news bulletin you can tell they are completely different. Capital is aimed at a younger audience who although still want to hear about the news aren't maybe as bothered to hear every single detail or stories which are local and slightly uninteresting. BBC Solent's main purpose is to inform the audience, (whom are of on older generation) mostly all local stories and with as much information as possible in the 4 minute slot. Capital have around 30% local stories, 70% worldwide, whereas BBC Solent have 25% worldwide stories, 75% local. The news reporters styles were also different; Capital had a presenter who was more upbeat whereas BBC Solent was very serious. There was no promo or news beds in BBC Solent, again making it more serious but on the other hand Capital had one promo in the minute long bulletin and music playing throughout. The Capital bulletin felt very fast and straight to the point, whereas BBC Solent seemed a lot longer (longer then 3 minutes) as it didn't have some form of music to keep the audience still interested and the type of stories weren't hard hitting or shocking to grab the audiences attention.

Music Formats

Capital South Coast 
Capital South Coast is a regional radio station.
The company is owned by Global Radio as part of the Capital radio network.

Print screen from Capital South Coast's official radio station.











1. What is the station? 
Contemporary Hit Radio.

2. How do you know this? – give examples 
On the official website for Capital FM the subheading is ‘The south coast’s no.1 hit music station!’ which suggests Capital is a radio station that caters for the more popular music and hits in the music industry.
Again on the Capital website it has a lot of information about ‘popular’ and young artists, 90% of music shown on the website is under the age of 30 which relates to the station being CHR.

3. What area does it broad too?
Around South Hampshire from studios in Segensworth Fareham.

Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations.
Radio 2 broadcasts throughout the UK on FM from studios in Western House.

Print screen from Radio 2's official website.












1. What is the station?
Adult Contemporary.

2. How do you know this? – give examples 
Radio 2 is famous for being the more grown up and mature version of radio 1.
The majority of presenters on Radio 2 mirror the stereotypical listeners; older people, predominantly males.

3. What area does it broad to?
United Kingdom; available worldwide through the internet.

Kerrang 

This is a print screen from Kerrang's official radio website.











1. What is the station?
Specialist.

2. How do you know this? – give examples 
Kerrang radio only play a specific genre of music being rock metal which it’s a specialist.
On the official Kerrang radio website, it has a section about ‘music news’, but which are completely different articles that you’d see in a contemporary hit radio. The music news aren’t popular and mainstream in the music industry.

3. What area does it broad to?
Around United Kingdom.

Notes on Music Formats

Definition of formats: 
A format document sets out the type of broadcast output that each radio station is required to deliver. It encapsulates the character of the service. A service station is obliged to deliver as a condition of its licence.

Contemporary hit radio (CHR)
Adult Contemporary (AC)
Gold
Community (In hospitals and shops)
Specialist (targeting a specific audience)
These define what music a station stereo typically plays.

What defines how a station sounds?

• Music
• Presenters 
• Competitions
• Speech Content
• Production

Radio Stations are media products; they are audience driven. 

Contemporary Hit Radio

Mainstream, popular music which young people usually listen to. 

Songs which are played a lot and build popularity.

UK Top 40 (example). 

Adult Contemporary

 Cross over from CHR, but mostly will play older classics like rock and ballards. 

Songs from 60,s, 70,s, 80,s - limited mainstream. 

Radio 2, Jack FM (examples). 

Hot AC

Radio stations like Heart.

Play both hits from the 80,s but also chart songs - mixed variety of music. 

Targeted at females in there 30's. 

Gold, Classical Hits

Aimed at the older audience. 

Mostly hits from the 60's, 70's, 80's. 

More speech content; not so music orientated, the presenters also speak aswell as playing music. 

Community

Non profit - aimed at serving the community.

Play a mixture of songs but generally mainstream. 

Presenters of community radio stations are often volunteers.

Friendly and casual station. 

In mostly stores and hospitals.

Express FM (example). 

Specialist

Focus on a specialist area of music. 

Focuses on specialist interests, for example religion and certain interests. 

Radio Stations Broadcasting Nationally 

• Specialist 58%
• Contemporary Hit Radio 4%
• Speech 19%
• Gold 18%
• AC 11%

Definitions of the main music formats

Contemporary Hit Radio (CHR)

This stations main aim is to provide information to the people living nearby. They can play a mix of music to cater for a wide range of tastes. They may also feature local artists to. 

Artists usually heard on this station: Miley Cyrus, Pharrell Williams, Artic Monkeys. 

Adult Contemporary (AC)

This station is aimed at an older audience who still like listening to mainstream chart artists. There will be an influence of music from the 80's and 90's through to current hits.

Artists usually heard on this station: Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones, Wham!. 

Specialists

This format is characterized by a certain interest - this could be taste in music, influenced by religion or culture. It could also be determined by other interests including sports ect. 

Artists usually heard on this station: Foo Fighters, Artic Monkeys, The 1975.

Gold 

These stations are listened to by an older audience who enjoy popular music from their generation. Music on these stations tends to date back to the 60's. 

Artists usually heard on this station: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones. 

Community

This station's main aim is to provide information to the people living nearby. They can play a mix of music to cater for a wide range of tastes. They may also feature local artists too. 

Artists usually heard on this station: Any artists which create popular hits.