GCSE Media Studies - Factsheet - Radio: Industry and Audience

GCSE

MEDIA STUDIES

Factsheet

www.ocr.org.uk/mediastudies

Radio: Industry and Audience –

Radio 1 Live Lounge

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For full details see www.ocr.org.uk/mediastudies

Industry: Production and distribution

The Radio One Live Lounge is a live music series that is hosted on

BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra (known as 1XTra) by Clara Amfo

(since May 2015). It was initially hosted by Jo Whiley on her mid-

morning radio show until 2009, when Fearne Cotton took over.

2009 also saw Trevor Nelson hosting Live Lounges on his Radio

1Xtra Show, but he has since been replaced by DJ Ace (2017).

1Xtra is a digital radio channel, whereas Radio 1 is available both

via analogue and digitally.

Clara Amfo has a background as a presenter for Nickelodeon and

CBBC. She interned in marketing at KISS FM and was nominated in

2012 for a Sony Radio Award as a ‘Rising Star’. She joined BBC Radio

1Xtra as a host of the weekend breakfast show and joined the MTV

chart shows. In 2015 she became the host of The Official Chart on

BBC Radio 1 - crossing over from 1Xtra - and later went on to host

the Live Lounge (hosted on both Radio 1 and 1Xtra). She has since

presented Top of The Pops and presented The Year in Music 2017

with Claudia Winkleman.

Being hosted by Radio 1 and 1Xtra allows artists to be broadcast

across two of the radio platforms - either to a more niche audience

or enabling a wider audience for a band.

The Live Lounge is also the name of a room in the Radio 1 studios

where many of the performances are broadcast. Live Lounge

performances are also broadcast from the larger BBC Maida Vale

Studios (London).

Artists are filmed in an intimate radio studio, acoustically, often

with little production rehearsal. They normally perform one or two

of their own songs and then a unique cover from an A List Radio

1 artist who has had a release in the last six to nine months. Artists

normally perform a cover song that is a contrast to their known

genre. One of the most recognised examples is the ‘jazz’ artist

(and now Radio 2 host) Jamie Cullum’s version of Pharrell Williams’

‘Frontin’ (11 Feb 2004).

The audio is then broadcast on their Radio platforms and the

‘visualisation’ online. You can find the BBC Academy ‘Behind the

Scenes in The Radio 1 Live Lounge’ film here: http://www.bbc.

co.uk/academy/en/articles/art20141203130927858. This BBC

Academy video explains how the Live Lounge aims to ‘make radio

visual’. This allows Radio 1 and 1Xtra to cross media platforms.

The website for the Live Lounge includes direct links to both Radio

1 and 1Xtra (to allow users easy migration to their main radio

stations), videos, photographic galleries and a summary of the Live

Lounge Month (a month where the Live Lounge production team

list some of the biggest names in music). In September 2017 this

included: Foo Fighters, Chris Martin (Coldplay), Pink, Harry Styles,

Stormzy, Miley Cyrus (live from LA), Jay-Z, Rita Ora, Lorde and Sam

Smith.

For full details see www.ocr.org.uk/mediastudies

There is now an annual ‘BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge’ compilation that is released by Sony CMG. Volume 1 was initially

released in October 2006 and is available as a CD or a digital download. For a breakdown of each year’s artists, please use

this Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_Lounge#Performances_and_albums

Radio 1 and 1Xtra live streams are available outside the UK via the iPlayer Radio App.

Since 2014 Radio 1 has also had its own dedicated video channel on the BBC iPlayer, which includes videos of Live

Lounge performances.

Industry: Ownership and funding

The Live Lounge is produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra.

The BBC has 10 radio stations covering the whole of the UK (including Radio 1 and 1Xtra), 6 stations in the ‘national

regions’ of Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, and 40 local radio stations serving defined areas of England. Each

station has a different remit, content, style and target audience.

For full details see www.ocr.org.uk/mediastudies

Industry: Producers

Mark Ian Strippel (‘Markie Mark’) is the Head of

Programmes for both the BBC Asian Network and 1Xtra.

Strippel, a British-Asian, is a well-known figure in the

music industry and has broadcast on both stations. At his

appointment, he was keen to support a new direction

for the Asian Network, to encourage more home-grown

talent and live music. Read more here: http://www.

bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/01_

january/17/asian.shtml

Strippel has also recently announced a new line-up for

2018, with a host of new resident DJs to ensure that the

1Xtra audience is offered well-known club legends. Read

more here: https://radiotoday.co.uk/2017/11/bbc-radio-

1xtra-has-announced-four-new-djs/

Audience: Changes in audience

The way people are listening to music is changing. This

has affected Radio 1 in particular. See here: http://www.

nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/mythbusting-radio-1-losing-

500000-listeners-half-story-1971412#rU People aged

between 15-24 listened to just over 14 hours of radio per

week last year - seven hours less than the average adult,

and 15% less than they did a decade earlier, according

to broadcasting regulator Ofcom. Radio 1 is suffering

because its core audience is turning away from live radio.

This is largely thanks to the arrival of streaming services.

Both Radio 1 and 1Xtra are aimed at the ‘youth brand’. The

presenters, content and live content should also reflect

their service agreements and remits.

Interestingly, although Radio 1 has been losing listeners

(externally cited as result of Nick Grimshaw’s breakfast

show), 1Xtra is celebrating an increase in figures - and the

highest ever for its breakfast show. Read more here: http://

www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41752088

The BBC Media Centre said ‘BBC Radio 1Xtra has 1.14m

listeners (aged 10+), compared to 1.08m last quarter and

1.09m last year’. Radio 6 Music, another digital channel,

aimed at alternative music fans, has also recorded an

increase in listening figures for 2017 to a record 2.43

million listeners.

Bob Shennan, Director of BBC Radio and Music, says:

‘These are great results for BBC 6 Music which is one of

the most exciting radio innovations in the last twenty

years and is second to none for its brilliant roster of

music curators across the schedule. It’s pleasing to see

For full details see www.ocr.org.uk/mediastudies

continued growth of all our digital stations with their

unique range of programming from classic comedy and

sports to urban music and specialist DJs.’

This compares with BBC Radio 1 having a reach of ’10.5m

listeners aged 10+’ (from 10.5m last quarter and down

from 10.9m last year). The same data shows that Radio

1 has ‘9.7 million listeners aged 15+’ (up from 9.59m

last quarter and down from 9.87m last year) while the

network’s share of listening was 5.9% (down from 6.2%

last quarter and 6% last year).

Audience: Categorisation

The RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) is the

official body that both measures and categorises Radio

audiences in the UK. The BBC and RadioCentre own it

on behalf of the commercial sector. It is expensive to

subscribe to, but newspaper articles often cite its figures

to illustrate the changing demographic and audience

listening figures.

The remit of Radio 1 is to entertain and engage a

“broad range of young listeners with a distinctive mix of

contemporary music and speech”, including live music

and support for emerging talent. The target audience

is 15-29 year olds, but it should also provide some

content for younger people. Here is the Radio 1 Service

Agreement: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/

assets/files/pdf/regulatory_framework/service_licences/

radio/2016/radio1_dec16.pdf

The remit of 1Xtra is to “play the best in contemporary

black music with a strong emphasis on live music and

supporting new UK artists” including a “bespoke news

service, regular discussion programmes and specially

commissioned documentaries relevant to the young

target audience (15-24 year olds)”. These should include

but not be exclusive to ethnic minorities, particularly -

although not exclusively - those from ethnic minorities.

`We issue each BBC service a service licence, setting out

what we expect it to achieve and how much it can spend.’

Here is the 1Xtra Service Agreement: http://downloads.

bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/regulatory_

framework/service_licences/radio/2016/1xtra_apr16.pdf

1Xtra is aimed at fans of urban music. It is broadcast from

the 8th floor of New Broadcasting House, as is Radio 1 and

BBC Asian Network. This is important as since the middle

of 2017, 1Xtra management is shared also by that of BBC

Asian Network.

Audience interaction

The BBC says that audiences still engage with the Live

Lounge and that linked apps and social media platforms,

YouTube and Facebook, illustrate this. As you would

expect, the platforms use convergence to repost and

share information.

Like many BBC Radio shows, the hosts encourage listeners

to tweet, comment and share posts during the shows -

this can include being able to send in questions to the

bands, or for the hosts to ask the artists questions. Videos

and information (including photo galleries) are then

reposted after the shows to circulate more interest and

create a collective response from those that were listening

at the time. This encourages a community feel and a

further forum for fans.

Current figures for the Live Lounge include:

• Facebook = over 32K https://www.facebook.com/

liveloungethealbum/

• Radio 1 Twitter = over 3M followers, but the Live

Lounge only has just over 1K https://twitter.com/

bbcr1?lang=en

• YouTube = Over 61M views https://www.youtube.

com/playlist?list=PL1CA6335E0D3699B6

This blog, albeit a few years old now, illustrates how the

BBC are able to use online platforms to help engage

audiences with both Radio 1 and 1Xtra: http://www.bbc.

co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2011/09/radio_1_1xtra_uxd_

design_home.html

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Microphone in studio - liits/Shutterstock.com, Page 2: Dave

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