OFCOM

OFCOM:

Is the communications regulator in the UK, that regulates the TV and radio sectors and other media items.

All industries have regulators that regulate their conduct and are prescribed by an authority (usually the Government.) An example is PEGI which regulates Game Ratings within the UK Gaming Industry.

As shown in my History of UK Radio Industry Post, they are responsible in the radio industry for ensuring:

- the UK has high quality Radio programmes, appealing to a wide range of tastes and interests

-people are protected from harmful or offensive material on the radio 

-people are protected from unfair treatment in radio programmes and having their privacy protected

-the radio spectrum is used in the most effective way, and not abused by pirate radio stations

-providing licenses for radio stations so that they are broadcasting legally, such as DAB licenses and RSL licenses

-reviewing radio stations they've licensed, ensuring they broadcast as effectively as they can

They aren't responsible for the content of radio adverts or the BBC License Fee, these are managed by the Stations and the Companies/Consortium's/Broadcasting Services that manage the stations.

It has a governing board of directors responsible for decision making who run the company to the standard that the board of OFCOM approves. All results from their meetings are published online to make the public as aware as possible of decisions and changes being proposed or made, so they feel involved in the services being broadcast for them. 

Although their regulation ensures that no content is in breach of what the authorities deem acceptable, I believe it can lead to audiences declining, as too much regulation will result in boring radio content and a lack of free speech from the audiences perspective. Therefore, many will tune out and listen to different stations which aren't being regulated so aggressively, hence why Pirate Radio Stations were so popular, do to their lack of regulation when they were established. 

The Broadcasting Code, was first issued by OFCOM in May 2005 and contains the rules, meanings and principles that the stations must abide by in order to remain broadcasting. The most recent version was published in July this year (2015,) proving that OFCOM is prepared to adapt its codes, to ensure that the industry remains correctly and securely regulated as new developments in the industry could have caused the previous broadcasting code to become outdated.

OFCOM also manages complaints from the public towards the Media Industry which they regulate. If complaints towards the same item/situation are made on mass (by many people), OFCOM will investigate the complaints made and will publish their report upon whether the complaints were justified, whether it breached the broadcasting code, broke the watershed etc. Consequently, they can enforce sanctions, to punish them, to ensure they don't break the code again, these, for Radio Stations can include:

-The Broadcast having their broadcasting license revoked
-The Broadcaster making an official apology or appropriate correction whilst broadcasting live on air.
-The Broadcaster may have to pay a substantial fine, dependent upon the severity of the rule broken, the size of the audience impacted on and the type of Radio Station it is and whom manages it.

An example of this is that OFCOM in 2007 fined Gcap Media £1.11 million for its competition, Secret Sound which ran on 30 of its 'One Network' Group of stations. OFCOM was alerted after a whistle-blower alleged that GCap had deliberately selected entrants with wron answers to go on air, therefore prolonging the amount of time the competition ran and encouraging more people to pay to enter. OFCOM said the commercial radio group hindered its own investigation by reusing to provide details and submitting ambiguous information. OFCOM added a total of 297,215 entries were made, totaling revenue of £104,536 unfairly.

RAJAR

RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) is a UK Company, in charge of measuring radio audiences in the UK. It is jointly owned by the BBC and Radio Centre (so both publicly and on behalf of the commercial radio sector too.)

It was initially set up in 1992 to align, design and operate a single audience measurement system for UK licensed radio stations. It is ran by a board that which decide its strategy, governance and decisions of policy and TMG (Technical Management Group) involved in RAJAR are more focused on technical researching and the decisions involved with data collection.

It doesn't actually collect the data itself, it contracts third parties to do so on their behalf, but they then have overall quality control of the data, delivery of the findings and control over the contracts too.

It's current contracts were awarded in 2007, to Ipsos-MORI for fieldwork and reporting and RSMB for weightlifting and sample design.

It is a deadlocked company, meaning all decisions require agreement for all share holders in the company, this means it can be a highly trustworthy and reliable service. Additionally it is a not for profit company, it is funded by an annual fee payable in part by the BBC License Fee and part by commercial stations that pay a subscription fee in order to use the service for their station.

The listening figures are collected through  'diaries' given to a sample of people, with a maximum of 1 adult and 2 children completing them per household. 

Commercial stations that have a total survey area population of 4-6 million will use a minimum sample of 1000 people gathered over 3 months. Those with 1-4 million will use a sample of 800 people built up over 6 months. Those with a reach 4% or lower in their total service area can choose a longer reporting period than the board outlines.

Their findings are collected over 50 weeks in the year, and prior to diaries, the participants are required to highlight the specific stations they are the most likely to listen to across the 50 weeks, both online and on paper. Reports are published every quarter of the year except national stations. 

It's figures collected most recently in the 2nd quarter of 2015 include:

48.2 million adults (89.9%) tuned in each week to listen to radio which means 1.05 billion hours of radio were listened to every week.

On average, 21.7 hours were listened to by an individual, weekly. 55% of  people listened to digital weekly, proving the rid of DAB radio in the UK due to its increased accessibility. 

This graph shows that radio listening via online devices was up 13% in adults and that 36% of 15-24 year listen to the radio on this way at least once a month:

Radio Target Audiences

When radio stations are formed or wish to create a new programme, it is vital that they think about precisely who they are aiming their product at, in order to maximize the number of people listening to that station from the desired group of people. Therefore, as shown in my powtoon below, many stations will use different techniques in order to find their target audience and refine it to as much detail as possible to ensure the product created is right for them, so they will listen to it:

Radio Listening Habits Audience Research

Last week, I conducted a survey about people's radio listening habits. the goal of this task was to highlight any patterns that emerged in people's listening habits and also to highlight trends in the types of radio stations and also individual stations themselves that they would prefer to listen to. The survey was taken by of a sample of 24 people, with 3 people from each age category of:

-12 and Under

-13-17

-18-25

-26-35

-36-45

-46-55

-56-65

-65+

Additionally, I asked why people listened to the radio, in order to investigate the reasons of usage of radio by listeners in the UK. Also, I asked where and how they listened to the radio in order to show the different forms of access people have to Radio in the UK. I believe focusing on these area in the survey have produced accurate results that could be used as a reflection on the whole UK and also can be analysed to identify facts and trends, as I have done so below in graphing some of my results:

This first graph shows the results from the question: 'Which type of radio station do you listen to the most weekly?' for each age category. The aim of this question was to show how your age influences the stations that which you choose to listen to most regularly.

This particular graph shows that overall, National Radio is the station that the sample I interviewed listened to most, in a week, on average. This is not a surprising piece of data as National Radio stations can be accessed by a far larger population than a local station can, and so, will be able to be listened to far easier and in more ways in comparison to a specific local, or community station. For example, BBC National Radio Stations can be accessed via Analog Radio (FM) which can be used in cars, at home etc, it can be accessed online 24/7 on smart phones via the official app, or simply via a reliable Wi-Fi signal and it can also be accessed on the DAB platform.

This portrays how the Radio Industry is changing because as technology progresses, National Radio ensures that their stations are available on these new devices, or forms of technology, to ensure they maintain their large audiences. However, this means that smaller radio stations, such as community radio are being heavily neglected by listeners, as shown by the graph above. It portrays that people above the age of 56 will listen to the station far more than those younger than it, as within my survey, only those older than 56 chose it as the type of radio station they listen to most regularly within a week. Smaller, community stations don't have the budget to broadcast their services upon different platforms, usually other than just FM or DAB radio, as they do not run off profit, but volunteers etc. This therefore means that community stations will rarely receive a younger audience as it is unavailable to listen to, on the platforms they are most likely to access, such as online or via app. The only way in which they may receive a younger audience is if the content of the station is targeted directly at young people as a specific group (making it their chosen target audience.)

Also, as you will see, regional radio isn't favoured by the age group of 46-55 year olds within the sample. This shows that people within that age bracket prefer national or local radio stations. This may be because the content that local radio produces is far more appealing to them and more specific to their location. Therefore, they may favour it as they only want to listen to content that is appropriate to them and their geographical area, not what is being broadcast nationally. This could also highlight the debate that the older we get, the less we wish to feel involved in the fast paced regional broadcasting and instead would prefer to receive more concentrated (geographical) radio from a local station.

This second graph compares my results for the reasons why people listen to the radio and what they wish to gain from listening to the radio, it came from the question 'Why do you mainly listen to the radio?':

As you can see, the most popular reason on average among all age groups is for entertainment purposes. This proves that the majority of people in the UK still listen to the radio simply for entertainment/fun and so, want the programme to be as entertaining as possible. Fortunately, this proves that the radio industry is still continuing strongly in the current economic state of the country, as listening for entertainment applies across the age ranges and isn't concentrated on the younger categories only, which surprised me. 

Also, from this question in my survey, it is clear that listening to the radio for news, both travel and general is incredibly popular for those aged 46-65. Both categories covering this age bracket have 2 people in them listening for news purposes, proving that generally, middle aged people pr fer to listen to the radio for news, much more so than those younger than 45. This may be as it is of more interest and relevance to those of this age bracket, as travel updates for example would barely apply to those in the 12 and Under and 13-17 categories, but would be for those above 45, who are likely to be needing travel updates and wanting to view news updates far regularly than younger people.

These two graphs could be linked, as more people above the age of 45 may listen to the radio mainly for news updates more so than those under the age of 45 due to the type of radio they listen to. Community and local radio is highly favoured by those over 45 on the first graph, which could therefore reflect the purpose for which they listen to the radio for. Local stations are far more likely to be broadcasting accurate travel information for a smaller geographical area that the listener is in, than national radio, who have travel updates that are incredibly more generalised to a national audience. Local stations will therefore be listened to mainly for local news and information, as their entertainment on offer will not be as wide ranged or of good quality than that of a national radio station with a much larger budget.

Therefore, these two graphs can clearly explain one another and show how age and location can impact upon the type of station you listen to most regularly, why you listen to it, and vice versa also.

So, until next time,

Livvy