Fay- Commercial Radio

Commercial Radio - Radio deconstruction

Commercial Radio broadcasting/Private broadcasting: Broadcasting of Tv shows and radio programmes that are owned and funded by private companies instead of being funded by the government.

Public Broadcasting; Tv shows, radio programmes and other electronic media products that's main purpose is public service. Government funded and funded by annually charging consumers/ recievers

Main concerns of commercial Broadcasting;

• Advertising(online/on air)
• Audience involvement
• Events 
• Sponsored Content
• Selling Newscasts
• Syndication

Main Purposes of Commercial Broadcasting;

• Raising awareness of Brands 
• Raising seasonal awareness 
• Promotion of sales and offers
• Promoting/providing information for services (local/national)
• Increasing Market shares
• Raising money for Radio shows

There are 3 types of commercial radio services;

• National Services- There are 3 national commercial radio services also known as INRs. Classic FM, Virgin Radio and talk sport come under this category
• Regional Services- There are 15 Regional commercial radio services also known as IRRs that usually cover 3 main cities
• Local Services- There are over 240 local commercial radio services also known as ILRs.

Most cities usually have at least 1 AM service and 1 FM service. However bigger cities like Birmingham, Glasgow, London and Manchester have a bigger listing to choose from.

Commercial radio stations like these would not be able to broadcast without radio advertising. The BBC is a public radio station and it its funded by TV licenses so it does not broadcast a lot f adverts.

The main advantage of radio is that is completely portable and it is more accessible than television. It is also an easier way of getting information whilst multi tasking, a lot of people listen to the radio whilst doing various other activities like working, driving, doing housework and other everyday tasks. 

AD Sales

A lot of radio stations earn money through on air advertising, they sell airtime to different companies that want to advertise their products or services to the public. The price of air time can vary depending on;

• The length of the advert
• Time of day
• The show that they are aired on

For the advertisements to have an impact where the radio station position the advert is very important, the positioning of the advert can also affect it's price. Adverts that are aired immediately after a radio show and aired before usually have the highest prices. Occasionally the host of the radio show will read the advertisement. Radio shows charge a higher price for these advertisements as people are more likely to respond if the radio host is reading the advertisement.

Audience Involvement

A lot of radio stations like to interact with the audience during shows by opening phone lines and encouraging them to call in, hosting phone competitions with prizes(cash concert tickets cars etc). Some radio shows hold events and festivals to promote the radio station. These events are usually sponsored by big brands or companies looking for promotion. Examples of this include;

• Capital's Summertime ball
• BBC 1extra live 
• Capital's jingle time ball 

These events help the radio station to earn extra money through tickets sales and merchandise. The events usually have special guests and performances from different artists that are in the public eye. Depending on how big the event is it can create a fairly substantial revenue for the radio station.

Syndication; The opportunity for radio stations to sell the rights to sell the rights to air one of their shows to other stations in big money exchanges. 

Sponsored content; Sometimes advertising isn't always done during ad breaks between radio shows. Some radio shows advertise using branded content. Branded content within the radio programming guidelines allows presenters, celebrities or brand ambassadors to advertise and endorse products/ brands on live air as long as they make it known to listeners that they are advertising for in that specific moment.

Acceptable Programming features:

• Presenter read promo's of products/services
• Appearances of brand spokespeople 
• A sponsored show that features an impartial review of a sponsor's product/service
• A public information campaign
• Sponsored outside broadcast  
• A sponsored competition that is linked to the sponsor

Homework- ASA Complaint 

1. Go to www.asa.org.uk and click the link that says make a complaint 

 2. It will then take you to the page below, where you have the option to download a complaint form as a PDF or to continue filling in the form online. For this example I have chosen to fill in the Form online. It will tell you what you need to be able to make a complaint (like pictures of the offensive ad and what you can and cannot complain about etc..)

4. After pressing continue the website  will then take you to the about your complaint page where you explain if you are a public consumer, business or organisation with concerns about the ad.

4a. In my example I have chosen to put that I am complaining as a member of the public. The website  will ask you what type of ad it is you are complaining about and will give you a pull down list of ad types to choose from as shown in the pictures below and above. 

5. The website will ask you to specify the brand of the product in the offensive ad and will ask for the date you saw the offensive ad and an approximation of the time you may have witnessed the ad.

5a. The next question on the website asks for a description of the advert and how it may of offended you. In this box you can give your opinion on the advert and whatever issues you may have with it. In the box below the description box the website asks for a copy or picture of the offensive ad and any other evidence you may have to support your claim that the ad is offensive

6. After pressing the next bottom at the bottom of the page above (which my laptop very rudely cut off the screenshot). The website will then take you to the next page where it will ask for your personal info (Name, address, email address etc)

7. After filling all of your personal info it will then ask you a few questions to do with privacy and data protection. You'll then have to tick the data protection agreements and then you will be able to submit your complaint.

Advertising Regulations

Regulatory bodies 
There are 3 main regulatory bodies that focus on Radio stations 

ASA- Advertising standards Authority they assess ads before and after airing and have the power to do the following:

• Ban offensive Ads 
• Ask advertising companies to change their content
• Apply restrictions
• Take complaints from public

OFCOM- The office of Communications basically has the same power as the ASA.

Radio Centre- The main regulatory body for radio stations, they regulate the content of radio shows by reading through and assessing radio show scripts and making sure that the content is suitable for the public. 

To make an advert is suitable for airing it must follow specific codes of practice, these revolve around  the following:

• Children-As children are known for watching TV advertisements shown during the times children maybe watching TV must be appropriate. So if an advert is deemed unsuitable for children to view it may be removed from air or as a compromise the advert is only shown after 9pm. This is called water shedding.
• Fair Play- Brands and companies that provide similar products or services can be very competitive. Adverts that use rival company logos or names are considered slanderous and can lead to a company being sued by it's rival. To avoid this the regulatory bodies have a fair play policy: this means companies must consider each other when making their campaigns and must avoid slandering each other at all costs.
• Ethics- This is a big thing in advertising. Advertisements must consider how their adverts use ethics. This means making sure that the ad is not racist, and is non-discrminitory against age, gender and disability. 
• Taste- This means not using offensive language, images or audio. It also means not violating the privacy of people, companies or organisations.

Persuasive Techniques

Radio Advertising

There are 3 main rules within advertising these are:

1. To Inform
2. To Persuade 
3. To Sell

Advertising companies use different persuasive tools to sell their products. These tools are used to appeal the the audience through being relatable:

• Humor- Most people remember things that are funny, so by using ambiguous aspects of humour or making a parody means that an audience is more likely to remember the advert meaning they will remember the product.
• Animation- 
• Repetition and memorable slogans- Using repetition in an ad can cause the consumer audience to remember the product via a catchy jingle or slogan. Slogans are used to appeal to a consumer's subconscious. If an ad with a catchy slogan is repeated are than once a day then it can become more memorable to the audience.
• Shock factors- Companies that are famous for using the shock factor to advertise are Think and Bernados. They know that by shocking the audience will attract their attention and the attention of the media. By doing this they are able to successfully able to Inform the audience they are also able to Persuade the audience to donate to their charities.
• Series
• Sex
• Stereotypes- This is one of the most used advertising techniques because it enables the consumer to relate to the advert in some way. Companies that advertise cleaning products stereotypically use a housewife in a home setting with mainly young children because they usually make the most mess. This appeals to housewives and places where cleaning is essential.
• Intertextuality(linking to other media products)- Linking to other media products like film trailers or music videos are a great way of advertising because it uses other popular media products to promote a companies product. For example Barbie is a famous doll that is also a brand that features on many different companies products. She also has her own movies the usually relate to the latest doll out in stores. Clothing companies like Missguided have partnerships with Mattel(the company that produces barbie) that enable them to use her name and logo on their clothing items. 
• Music- Advertising companies usually use well known songs in advert to attract the attention of the consumer, the genre of music used can depend on the intended audience of the product.
• Celebraties- Celebrity appearances as ambassadors for products can appeal to a consumer and Persuade them to buy the product being advertised.
• Statistics

Uk advertising companies use the needs of people to promote their products by creating relatable content for their adverts.