This is my questionnaire, i chose questions specific to my play and my targets, to try and find my target audience and a niche market.
Please tick the appropriate box for each question and thank you for your time.
1) Gender?
Male [ ] Female [ ]
2) Age?
Below 14 [ ] 14-18 [ ] 18-26 [ ] 26-40 [ ] 40+
3) Do you currently listen to the radio?
Yes [ ] No [ ]
4) If so, which radio station/s?
Radio 1[ ] Radio 2 [ ] Radio 4 [ ] Galaxy [ ] Absolute [ ] Real Radio[ ]
5) If you had to choose one, what is your favourite type of music?
Pop/chart [ ] Rock/indie/alt [ ] Dance/electro/techno [ ] RnB/hiphop/rap [ ]
6) Where do you listen to the radio?
In the car [ ] at home [ ] public places e.g bus station/retail store [ ] online [ ]
7) Would a radio play that dealt with teenage themes interest you?
Yes [ ] No [ ]
8) Which of these themes would interest you most?
Music [ ] sex [ ] drugs [ ] child abuse [ ] drink driving [ ]
Results
From this graph it is clear to see that people still listen to the radio, clearing up my original fears that there wouldn't be enough scope. This gave me great confidence that my play would be a success.
This graph shows that although many subjects are popular, child abuse had the most interest surrounding it. I realised incorporating this particular subject into my play would attract more listeners and more attention than if i had used any other.
The BBC and its Audience.
I also looked into the BBC, and how they satisfy different socials groups needs. The BBC have a vast network covering a multitude of options. Every station will be "aimed" at different audiences. For example radio 1 would have a much younger age profile to those listening to radio 4. However, BBC 5 live (sport) will have a totally different profile from both, as that program would appeal to people of a wider age profile and to a predominately male listener. Radio 1 targets itself at a ‘young’ audience. There are around 7 million 16-24s in the UK (11% of the population).
greater emphasis on education. The number of people in further and
higher education has more than doubled in the past 10 years. This may show how Radio 1 has changed its listings in the last 5 years, to include a ‘Sunday Surgery’ debate show, amongst others.
"The remit of Radio 4 is to be a mixed speech service, offering in-depth news and current affairs and a wide range of other speech output including drama, readings, comedy, factual and magazine programmes.
The service should appeal to listeners seeking intelligent programmes in many genres which inform, educate and entertain."
Traditionally the perception among people who don't listen to Radio 4 is that it has a conservative, ageing, middle-class audience. However after looking at various forums, It is clear Radio 4 is trying to stay clear of any stereotype. ‘R4 is probably the station that tries the hardest to get away from appearing to serve only its stereotypical audience. R4 actually fits anyone who cares to give it a try.’
The Archers
Arguably the biggest draw on Radio 4 is The Archers. The Archers is a British soap opera broadcast on the BBC's main spoken-word channel, Radio 4. It was originally billed as "an everyday story of country folk", but is now described on its Radio 4 web site as "contemporary drama in a rural setting". With more than 16,000 episodes, it is both the world's longest running radio soap and, since the axing of the American soap opera Guiding Light in September 2009, the world's longest running soap opera in any format.
Episodes are broadcast daily, each episode is 13 minutes long. Taking this into consideration, I will have to pack a lot of information/drama into my 5 minute piece. It is also broadcast online. This is important if I want to reach the right audience. It is broadcast every day at 14.00, and then again at 19.00 According to a piece by BBC radio 1, the young will not read newspapers for news, instead they will look to the internet for information they need. With Radio readily available online, it seems the days of the actual ‘radio’ are limited. 5 million people tune in daily. In recent years, we've heard, among other things, of extra marital affairs, rape, breast cancer, suicide, dementia, eating disorders, domestic violence and racism. The show has to touch taboo subjects in order to keep the listener interested, to steer the show away from reality.
As the drama is actually in your home - in the kitchen, the bedroom, wherever you have a radio – it’s an intimate medium. You feel you are actually there with the characters. This is one reason some listeners prefer Radio to Television drama. The archers is not really competition, as it attracts a different audience I am looking for, however once my programme is established, I may want to advertise during times listeners of The Archers will be listening, as it will be important to reach out to an audience of 5 Million people.
Sound fx become really important to a radio play. They are used to set the scene, inform the listener of the location and what is going on. For example, in one scene from The Archers, the sound fx used are a car door closing and the engine running as the car drives on, this plus the dialogue shows a mother picking her son up from school and driving him home. Without the sound fx the listener would be confused as to where the characters are and what was going on away from the dialogue. There are moments of silence to show scene change, where the sounds from the previous scene fade out and sounds from the following scene fade up. This allows the listener to realise a scene change to avoid confusion.
