Radio 1 Lesson 2

Radio 1's place as a PSB

Radio 1's remit is to entertain young listeners with a distinctive mix of contemporary music and speech. Its target audience is 15-29 year olds. It should offer:

• a range of new music
• support emerging artists - especially those from the UK
• provide a platform for live music
• news, documentaries and advice campaigns should cover areas of relevance to young adults
• broadcast at least 40 new documentaries each year
• offer at least 2 major social action campaigns, supported across daytime output and online each year, together with a number of other initiatives

The Radio 1 playlist

• The music on the show is largely play listed - what is going to be played on daytime Radio 1 is decided by a committee
• Radio 1 choose around 40 records each week for repeated daytime play (A-list records get 25 plays a week, B-list 15, and C-list 8 to 10)
• Choices are mainly guided by what's already popular with young people online; many older artists are not included as the network is trying to keep an under-30 audience
• The current Head of Music has been trying to get away from the data-driven approach to choosing what will get played, in order to make the playlist less globally homogenous and more distinctive
• The playlist also appears on the website each week
• There is also a Brit List which helps push featured new British artists - again to make the output less globally homogenous and to make it more distinctive

Can Radio 1 afford to lose listeners?

The BBC can afford to lose listeners because of the licence fee, so they can afford to take risks. Their funding does not change whether they lose or gain listeners. However, they cannot afford a decline in quality and brand reputation, which is why they removed Grimshaw from the breakfast show. OFCOM regulate the BBC and say it needs to provide a certain amount of quality and content and as a result of that it cannot afford to be too risky with it's approach.

The licence fee

• We pay for the BBC therefore many people believe that we should have more say in what programmes are produced and when they are aired
• Some people say listening to Sam Fender guessing the age of a random child is not a good use of licence fee payers' money
• However, the BBC is a PSB and therefore they must produce programmes that benefit the public
• It is not owned by the state and is not driven by commercial interests like other TV networks, companies and channels
• Its creator Lord Reith wanted the BBC to 'inform, educate and entertain'

PSB obligations

Radio 1 is funded through the licence fee so unlike commercial radio it does not rely on ratings-based advertising revenue for survival.

On the other hand, it must fulfil the Reithian values - educate, inform and entertain - and meet OFCOM's requirements:

1. impartial news and information;
2. education;
3. high quality, distinctive programmes;
4. reflecting, representing and serving all communities across Britain;
5. support creative industries;
6. reflect the UK and its values to the world.