PR Story #4

Fourth instalment is a little late this week- sorry! It's been a crazy busy weekend but it's all starting to settle down again which is good! So let's roll on with last Friday's PR week magazine's most interesting story (in my opinion).

This week's story is focused on Radio 1 loses more listeners. I found this story interesting, even though it only had a small column dedicated to it, because it made me think about the changing world of media formats and platforms. The story outlines that even though Chris Moyles has left the BBC Radio 1 breakfast show the number of listeners is still falling. Moyles and his team were hit with criticism that they attracted an older audience than the radio station wants to target. According to the BBC website, the show aims to target 15-29 year olds and possibly even younger for some programming (BBC).

The show has a weekly listening reach of around 6.69 million, down from 6.73 million since the last quarter and is currently at it's lowest audience level in 7 years. However, this got me thinking... is it just Radio 1 or is this the future of our media landscape? Is it that radio is dying?

It's important to consider that the internet and software such as iTunes makes radio even easier to access than an old stereo player or car radio however, it's not really ever the medium that springs to mind when wanting some entertainment.

I must admit that personally I like Radio 1 but I only ever listen to it when driving in the car because an hour's commute can get boring and it does provide some decent entertainment for the drive. However,  I've never and probably won't ever seek it out via the internet or on iTunes or any other radio station for that matter and I'm fairly certain that is the case with most people in the BBC Radio 1's target market (of course with some exceptions because that is a massive generalisation).

The BBC website says it aims to provide Radio 1's programming to bridge the gap for children who are too old for CBBC but too young for other BBC programming. I can see where they are coming from but then again the jump from television to radio doesn't make sense and isn't an entirely logical step. Most teenagers are probably more familiar with an in car iPod dock these days rather than listening to the radio on the way to school. I believe that the media landscape is changing and is beginning to phase out radio.

If listeners are falling then the BBC need to be out there gaining a wider reach of audience as well as trying to maintain the children who have previously watched CBBC. The BBC need something current that will attract their audience's attention and make them think of BBC Radio 1 in a different way; a lot of their strategy outlined in the BBC link above is very heavily based on programming but that will only work on those who do listen already. They have a lot of good content on their shows but the trouble is not many people know about it unless they happen to catch it on the way to work and so on.

BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend is a good move for them and very popular but the issues here is that it is a one off, seasonal event. There needs to be a more consistent outreach to potential audiences via other mediums such as the BBC television programmes itself or through social media.

One idea could be for the radio station to get their target market's attention on another level of interest such as promoting a trainee/ internship scheme where the target market can get involved in the different departments of the radio station? It would allow individuals to get inside and behind the scenes and feel they can get to know what the station is all about. The target market for the radio station is typically generation Y-ers and I know I keep going back to it but understanding what we're about will go far for a brand! We love being interactive, having those amazing opportunities open to us and we love two way communication. By getting the target market interested in a work scheme it would promote the need to have knowledge of the radio station therefore listening to the shows and getting to know the programming. It would also look pretty good for the BBC's CSR too by helping young people get work experience, encouraging creativity and helping to achieve their aspirations. It's not a massive leap either as I recall a year or two ago they ran a CV workshop when statistics came out about the youth unemployment being at an all time low, if I remember correctly? Why not take it a step further?

The moral of the story here I believe is that for the radio to compete with other forms of media communications and fight to stay alive, they need to go above and beyond for their target audience. Really get inside their heads and find out what really interests them and integrate the insight into a strategy; at the end of the day everyone is interested in celebrities and showbiz one way or another, but is that enough to maintain and grow a radio station's reach?

Comments/ suggestions/ ideas on this topic will be appreciated!