LO1: Task 1: KTA 5: Vlog 1: Media Institutions

 

Hi and welcome to Learn Media Direct, the vlog that will educate you on how the media industry operates.  There are many different variations of media, we call these mediums.   Examples of these are TV, Radio, Newspapers, Magazines, Websites and Social Networking.  You may be familiar with some types of media companies more than others, but every single one of these types of media produce and distribute their texts.  This means to create and to share media texts.    

There are two different types of mediums, Conglomerates and Independents. 

Many people are not aware of media conglomerates and what they do.   Media conglomerates are companies who own large numbers of small companies. We call these small companies subsidiaries. 

An example of a media conglomerate are Bauer Media.

Bauer Media Group are a German cross media conglomerate and are also the UK’s biggest publishing group.  They own Kerrang! Radio, tv and magazine and Q radio, t.v and magazine. Music channels and radio stations such as 4music, heat, magic, kiss and smash hits.  Magazines such as Take a Break and That’s Life as well as Total TVGuide. 

Mediums such as TV and Radio are measured in audience reach and by NRS social grades. Audience reach means the number of audience members who are capable of receiving these mediums.   NRS Social grades is the National Readership Survey who are an organisation formed to calculate target audience and social demographics through market research.   They find these demographics by following this table. [social grade photo] It is important for media producers to target A,B and C1 readers as this covers 55% of the population and they are the biggest audiences which attracts advertises to buy these magazines.   

Bauer's reach

There are 62,641,000 people in the UK.   Bauer reach 20,000,000 people in the UK.  This is 1/3 of the population.

70% of all 15-24 year olds in the UK are reached by a Bauer brand at anytime.  This is 5,567,000 people.

53% of Bauer's audience are A,B,C1 readers.   47% are C2, C, E readers.  This means that Bauer media target a mass audience.

Bauer's radio's reach is 9,000,000.  This means 9,000,000 people in the UK have listened to a Bauer Radio station in the last week.  This is 18%. Over 53% of Bauer's radio station audiences are A,B,C1s. This is 4,791,000.

Bauer Media uses RAJAR figures to collate its listenership for all of its stations.  It is even more important to get accurate local figures because it is tougher to sell advertising space on local radio. RAJAR stands for Radio Joint Audience Research and it measures radio audiences in the UK. It is owned by the BBC and the Radio Centre.

The main commercial competitor to Bauer Radio is Capital FM, who are owned by British company called Global Media.  They also own Heart FM.  They have recently taken over Galaxy FM.

The other main competitor for the target demographic is BBC Radio 1 and local BBC radio stations.

Hallam FM are a subsidiary owned by cross conglomerate company Bauer Media. Hallam FM broadcast in South Yorkshire and North Midlands.  Their genre of music is adult contemporary. It is the number one commercial station for the people of South Yorkshire. It was launched in October 1974.  Hallam FM is part of the Bauer Place portfolio.  Some of their presenters are Big John at Breakfast, Ollie Hayes and JK and Joel.   Hallam FM's audience has an ABC1 profile of 37%.  54% of their listeners are female and 46% of listeners are male.  The average demographic age of listeners of Hallam FM is 25-45.  361,000 people a week listen to Hallam FM.  Hallam FM have a 28% of the commercial market share.  Hallam FM sponsor both SWFC and SUFC stands.  They are the only joint sponsor of both football teams.

You can access Hallam FM via the internet, apps, fm radio DAB and freeview.  This makes it a simulcast.  You can also download podcasts of previous radio shows.   We can now access this due to diversified technology.

 One of their most listened to show is Big John @ Breakfast.  This is a weekday show from 6am - 10am.  Therefore this targets people going to work, school, university and college.   The programme features a wide range of activities such as traffic update, school of the week and the local news.

One of Hallam FM’s main competitors in the area is BBC Radio Sheffield, which is a subsidiary of national public service broadcaster BBC who are funded by the licence fee. However this generally targets a different age range. Hallam FM is more popular because of the way in which the brand has successfully connected with the listeners of South Yorkshire, particularly with events and competitions at Meadowhall Shopping Centre. One of the most successful competitions is where a member of the public sat in a perspex box in Meadowhall and had to come out after exactly one hour without any watch. If they did they won £2000. Other competitors in the area are Real Radio, Trax FM, Dearne Valley FM.


The operating models of Hallam FM include the news team, marketing & promotion, advertising & sales, script writing, presenting team, production & technical team and the legal and ethical department.   Each different operating model at Hallam FM has a different role to play in ensuring the institute stays successful.  For example, the legal and ethical department deal with copyright issues.  The script writing team ensure the content is suitable for their target audience.

That’s all we’ve got time for I’m afraid.  Thanks for listening from Learn Media Direct!