LNWH exam question

Explain how the radio industry targets audiences. Refer to Late Night Woman’s Hour to support your points. [ 10 marks ] 

Introduction

In this exam question, I will attempt to answer and explain how the radio industry targets audiences and will refer to Late Night Woman’s Hour to support my points.

LNWH

Late Night Woman's Hour was a spin show from the original show back in the 1940’w called Woman’s Hour. LNWH It is a late-night edition and is produced by BBC Radio 4, it can be streamed via BBC iPlayer. It started in 2015 with a one-month pilot run, scheduled twice-weekly on Thursday and Friday at 11pm for one hour. It was hosted by Lauren Laverne (2015-2018) and Emma Barnett (2018-Present).

LNWH is very interesting, so, therefore it aims to attract well-educated, intelligent, and middle-class and middle-aged people as the guests on the show can include authors, artists, celebrities, etc. These people that feature as guests on LNWH are successful in their career and very intelligent and aware of affairs/debates around the world.

BBC Radio 4

BBC 4 has a remit to be a mixed speech service, offering current affairs occurring around the window and must provide a variety of shows e.g. drama, comedy, and factual. Radio 4 programs must be high quality, original and engaging, as it is BBC Radio 4’s purpose.

Radio 4 has a target audience of 51% female and 49% male. The average age of a BBC Radio 4 listener is 56 years old; it is clear to say that Radio 4 attract an older audience due to the interviews and debates whereas, the younger audience is interested in music and not ongoing debates around the world.

The internet has evolved through the years, which allows more and more programs to have a wider audience due to the new people using the internet. This means that LNWH will gain more viewers due to popularity of the internet. It encourages more and more people to use the internet, as LNWH has a range of episodes and podcasts on BBC iPlayer free of charge. However, the older generation may not be used to/ or know how to use technology to a correct standard. This can affect the amount of views LNWH receives due to the older audience not knowing how to use the technology currently.



The current target audience is mostly attracted due to the guests on the show and the theme of the episode e.g. breakups, homelife etc. As some audiences will prefer topics e.g. the older audience may prefer topics such as; career, gender price gap, money etc. Whereas, LNWH might attract a few younger viewers on different topics such as; breakups, losing friends, James Charles and Tati Westbrook feud. Some fans of LNWH will obviously prefer a presenter on LNWH but, LNWH also uses direct mod of address this makes the audience/viewer feel special and as if the presenter and viewer has a relationship because it seems like they are speaking to them directly due to addressing them as “you”.



Conclusion

To conclude, I believe that I have answered and explained how the radio industry targets audiences and have referred to Late Night Woman’s Hour to support my points effectively.