As others on this list may or may not know, I work in commercial radio in the UK - namely Absolute Radio. And what the BBC "can" and "can't" do is very much in the territory of my day to day work.
Generally speaking I think many commercial radio stations up and down the country are really pleased that Chris Moyles has finally finished his eight year stint helming the Radio 1 Breakfast Show. That's because his show was just that bit too popular amongst older listeners. While it's probably not as simple as Moyles' own age - we can probably all think of older DJs who remained relevant to younger listeners - it's clear that his time has come. It'll be interesting to see what Moyles does next. He's still contracted to Radio 1 until sometime in 2014 so will be doing something else on the network. But he's also trying to develop as a television presenter - something that he's not been enormously successful at so far. He keeps trying though, with a comedy quiz show format on Channel 4 and a dating show on Sky 1. They're both awful in my opinion. It's absolutely true, as Mark and Kevin have both noted, that the BBC has to make programming that appeals to all licence payers (although as a side note, if you don't own a TV, then you don't need a licence and can legitimately listen to the radio free). But the BBC is also very aware of that commercial radio for the most part targets listeners between 25 and 54.Obviously there are commercial services outside this range, but it's fair to say that the majority of commercial radio is directed at listeners that advertisers want to reach. The BBC Trust oversees BBC radio and television, and they look carefully at the audiences those services are targeting. Over the years, the average age of Radio 1 has got older, and that of Radio 2 has got younger. While it might seem obvious that they should meet in the middle and "handover" audience. That's not actually how the trust thinks the BBC's radio services should work. We also now have a couple more BBC popular music services in 6 Music (which probably fits the middle gap, but in a more alternative manner), and 1 Xtra which is at the urban end of what the main Radio 1 offers. The BBC Trust has said that Radio 1 should target 16-29 year olds, and yet the average age of Radio 1 listeners is currently 32. That's well into commercial radio territory, and the Trust (and commercial operators) would rather that the BBC went younger. It might sound like an anathema that the BBC would do anything commercial radio is interested in, but oddly enough, there's a lot more work done between different parts of the industry than you might imagine. Only today at an event celebrating the success so far of digital radio in the UK, the BBC's head of radio was talking about commercial opportunities that have opened up in the new digital world. There's also the issue that the BBC has national FM coverage for its popular music services, while commercial radio only has scattered mini-networks of local services. What would you listen to? A well funded ad-free music service, or a less well funded advertiser supported commercial service? It's not a fair fight. So that's why there's this kind of understanding. And that's at the heart of what Radio 1 is doing. Indeed, radio in the UK is beginning to struggle to get younger listeners using the medium. So it's actually essential that a strong Radio 1 gets people interested in radio and not just YouTube and Spotify! And to at least come back in the direction of television, I'd say that the same is kind of true for television. There are some kinds of shows that the BBC *could* make for BBC1 that would be very popular, but they leave them to ITV1. Then look at sport, where the BBC and ITV sit down with the Euros and World Cup football tournaments and carefully divide up the matches between themselves, each counter programming non-male/sports programming against the other's football to leave viewers with a choice! So there you go. A whistle-stop tour around the politics of British radio. Adam -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
