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Writer's pictureNatalie Linford

Research, Research and more Research

The key thing to making a successful documentary is having a good level of knowledge on the topic before you begin, and the best way to learn is to research.


There have been three key subjects i've looked into while preparing to begin this project, this post has a summary of each of those subjects and why I felt they were important to have a clear understanding about.




Subject 1 - The main differences between community and commercial radio

Why = I felt it was important to understand the main differences between the two so that my documentary can highlight these for people who may not know.


What I have learned =

  • Commercial receives the majority of its funding through selling advertisement slots. All commercial stations need a high rating which they can gain from having a large amount of listens. This rating is used to persuade potential buyers to buy a slot.

  • Community stations are known as none commercial stations and although they do use advertising and sponsorship, that is not their main sauce of funding. Most non-commercial stations rely either on subsidies from a nonprofit such as a university or listener contributions for their income.

  • Community stations focus on small local areas and cover news based solely on the area. Because of this they always tend to have much fewer listens than commercial stations however they are a lot more personal and meaningful to the community they are in.

  • Community stations have a lot more freedom in what music they can play and what they can say on air compared to commercial stations. This is mostly to do with their audience. For commercial stations high levels of listeners are everything and therefore they need to play music by well-known national artists. Commercial stations are able to play a lot less well know music and can be used as a platform to let small up-and-coming artists have a shot at airing their work. This is all because commercial stations rely on large sums of money and community stations don’t.



Subject 2 - How the Government has helped to support Community Radio

Why = I felt it was important to have a section within the documentary that mentions how other factors can help local radio to thrive instead of die and the support the Government has given is one of those factors.


What I have learned =

  • In 2018 steps were made to bring both smaller commercial and community stations out of the past and into the present by helping them switch from analog broadcasting technology to DAB (Digital).

  • “Local radio is much loved and vitally important as a source of objective and in touch local news. As more power is devolved locally, and as local newspapers struggle, local radio’s role in the community is becoming more and more critical. So we are working hard with stations and listeners to make sure the rules are up to date and give local radio the chance to use new digital technology to reach audiences, new and longstanding, old and young. Today’s publication marks another step forward in that work. I’m very grateful to everyone who has worked so hard to make this progress.” - Matt Hancock, digital minister 2018.

  • During 2020 the government in works with Ofcom created a grant that community stations under particularly hard circumstances due to the pandemic could apply for and if approved gain extra funding to help keep them afloat.




Subject 3 - The Positive and Negative impacts social media has had on radio in general

Why = It is the key topic of my documentary and therefore I needed to expand my knowledge on it.



What I have learned = (Green is good/ Red is bad)

  • Social media helps convert followers into listeners.

  • Local radio attracts listeners who are passionate neighbours, businesses, and community organisations enthusiastic about their area. Social media helps to develop this relationship with insightful and shareable content, driving a need to know more through listening to the station or engaging in online discussions.

  • It gives the public a more personal, inside look into the station’s everyday life via posting pics and videos of it and the people working it.

  • Shows can be watched live as well as listen to live giving radio a wider audience to reach.

  • Social media allows listeners to communicate with the station showing them what they want to hear and listen to. This works both ways as it allows presenters to post their best work, thoughts, and feelings, therefore, reaching out to listeners.

  • For those listeners that want to engage with the presenter on-air, switchboards can get blocked up quickly. Twitter and Facebook - the most popular networks for radio - make interacting with the program convenient and provides quicker access to presenters than calling.

  • Social media is the younger generation’s tool, any company that uses it in the correct way opens itself up for better interaction with the younger generation, this includes radio.

  • Although sites link facebook provide sats on how many followers/ people interactive with pages, they are not always guaranteed to be accurate and therefore stations may feel their social media is having a bigger impact than it actual is.

  • Allowed the way for streaming sites witch allow music on demand and therefore people sometimes choose that over the radio.

  • Boosting posts cost money and a lot of local stations don't have the spare budget for that meaning their pages wont have a large impact.







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