Media Studies - BBC1 Breakfast Show

Greg James

Nick Grimshaw, and before him Chris Moyles, who was the longest host to date (8 years).

They have 3M listeners per week, and their target audience is 25-34, and its owner by Bauer Radio.

2.58m per week.

• PSBs are held to much higher standards by viewers.

• Commercial stations aren’t impartial.

• Commercial stations are funded by adverts.

• PSBs have restrictions and aren’t creatively free.

“The mission of the BBC is to act in the public interest, serving all audiences through the provision of impartial, high quality and distinctive output which informs, educates and entertains.” - Lord John Reith (Reithian values)

Through the TV license, paid by the UK public.

£159, £53.50 if you have a black & white TV.

57

OFCOM (Office of Communications, govt. approved)

Greg James made a point to make the viewers feel important and valued, contrasting Nick Grimshaw who had become very ‘who you know’. He let viewers choose his first ever song on the BS, ‘Levels’ by Avicii.

He asks the audience questions and looks at answers live on social media websites, and he uses Web 2.0 to connect with the audience. He has a personal twitter, discord, snapchat, tiktok, email etc.

Train Jane, a woman whose daughter tweeted that her mum had spotted Greg James on a train, she was brought onto the show to talk with James as she was a fan, and it received 1.2mil views.

The music on the show is decided by a committee, who choose 40 records each week and they become repeated (A-list: 25 plays, B-list: 15, C-list: 10). Choices are partly guided by young online generations, and older songs tend not to be played unless they have come back into popularity. There’s also a ‘Brit-List’ to support British artists.

A range of new music.

Support emerging artists, especially UK based artists

Provide a live music platform.

News, documentaries and advice campaigns should cover areas of relevance to inform and educate young adults.

Offer at least 2 social action campaigns supported across daytime output and online.

Broadcast at least 40 new documentaries to inform and educate.

Through the online - at first BBC Radio 1 was uploaded to BBC iPlayer, but that didn’t gain enough traction so they started BBC Sounds, making radio stations and podcasts available live via the internet. The use pf internet made it cheaper to create stations and made access easier for listeners.

There was a shift in listening habits, as people no longer listened on their way to school or work, as there was no where to go. James’ breakfast show fell from over 5 million listeners in 2019 to 4.3 million during the pandemic.

150,000 new listeners joined when Greg James started.

Summer 2022 due to an incredibly hot summer, with 33 million listeners per week live.

BS1 has an average of 4.32 million listeners per week, whilst BS2 had 7.37.

89% or 49 million.

Commercial radio has 38 million, whereas the BBC has 33 million.

They are down, with the old numbers at 8.1 million and the new numbers at 7.8 million.

RAJAR.