Research into Radio formats 1

We are currently learning about radio Formats and how they can specify the target audience. The radio formats are determind by the board of ofcom central they can control the type of broadcasting that is put out within  radio stations. It can control the many elements of a radio station including the target audience and where they broadcast these guidelines are set by liceses that you have to apply for to start a legal radio station.

There are many formats that a radio station can be restricted to these include:

• Contemporary Hit Radio ( CHR) - These play a mixture of songs that are most commonly popular with a younger audience e.g Capital 
• Adult Contemporary (AC)- These can be a crossover of CHR but generally will play older classics, rock and ballads, E.g BBC2 
• Hot AC- Its not always possible to put a station into a format this is a crossover of CHR and AC. E.g Heart
• Gold Radio- These stations tend to be aimed at older audiences, or in the case of sport stations, audiences that are listening for a reason. E.g Gold 
• Community Radio- These are non-profit stations aimed at serving the community. They tend to play a mixture of all songs but generally mainstream music and the presenters are very often volunteers. 
• Specialist- These stations focus on a specialist area of music most likely on one genre or a belief. E.g kerrang 

You can often define these radio stations due to the music, presenters, competitions, speech content and the production. 

To see these radio stations in real life we used some examples and did some further reasearch. 

Capital South Coast 

1. What format is the station?

Contemporary hit radio- It plays the majority of popular music. 

2. How do you know this?

I know this due to the nature of the music played such as the pop anthems that are playing on the station like the song playing now for example which is Ghost by Ella Henderson. It is also clearly stated in there catch phrase " the south coast's NO.1 Hit music station" here they claim that they play popular "No.1" Hit music. On the website they clearly show there support of pop music by using headlines about young celebrities such as Justin Bieber and Iggy Azeleas. 

3. What area does it broadcast too?

There are many versions of capital all around the nation but this particular one is aimed at the south coast region. 

BBC2

1. What format is the station? 

Adult contemporary Hit radio- it plays a cross over of modern music but mostly older hits.

2. How do you know this ?

I know this mainly sue to the presenters and music played . The most popular DJ's on radio 2 such as Terry Wogan and Chris Evans are ex presenters for a Contemporary hit radio in there day so as time got on they progressed and there ausience and music got older so they needed this more mature platform.

3. What area does it broadcast to ? 

Radio2 is a national radio station and broadcasts all over the UK but they also record there programmes and place them online for the world to see. 

Kerrang!

1. What format is the station ? 

A specialist station - Specifically in the area of rock. 

2.How do you know this ? 

I know this mainly due to the music played which is mainly all load and fastpaced rock music. This is not only shown by the song playing at this moment which is sweet child O'mine by Guns and Roses an old rock classic. You can also tell due to the dark alternative feel of the website they have created this by using dark signature colours such as Black, red and white colour scheme. 

3. What area does it broadcast to ? 

The radio station is based in Peterborough but does broadcast nationally on digital radio, online and they also have a radio app.