• example of a transitional media product which reflects changes in the contemporary media landscape

• it is the replacement for a previous, similar programme, The Surgery

• a traditional radio programme with a regular, scheduled broadcast time

• also available online after broadcast for streaming and downloading

• provides opportunities for audience interaction

• the challenges facing the institution as a public service broadcaster that needs to appeal to a youth audience within a competitive media landscape

MEDIA INDUSTRIES

• a Radio 1 product – has public service status as part of the BBC.

• Identification of funding for Radio 1 through the license fee, concept of a hypothecated tax.

• Life Hacks as multi – platform media product – new technologies

MEDIA AUDIENCES

• niche audiences and provides an opportunity to consider industry regulation and the availability of new technology shapes audience targeting and response

• how are demographics and psychographics likely to affect audience response and produce differing interpretations
• Consider the opportunities for audience interaction and self-representation
• cultivation theory including Gerbner
• reception theory including Hall

SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXTS

• Life Hacks reflects an acceptance of diversity and a degree of openness in contemporary culture around personal, social and identity issues.

overview ig:

• A podcast type programme from BBC Radio 1
• It replaced The Surgery in 2017 and took the Sunday Teatime slot
• It is hosted by Katie Thistleton and Vick Hope but was previously hosted by Cel Spellman, Katie Thistleton and Radha Modgil
• Although both The Surgery and Life Hacks ran in scheduled broadcast slots, in recent years the programme has been available as a podcast
• This encourages digital consumption and interaction
• Target audience: 15 – 29, however only 41% are in the target audience age range and their median age is 32
• Title – associated with the youth demographic, suggesting that the show is targeting youth/millennials
• 90% of the population tune in to the radio every week
• 61% tune of the population tune in to digital radio every week.

how it appeals to younger audiences:

• The content discussed is mainly focused on topics that concern the younger generation, for example, issues surrounding mental health, anxiety, stress & relationships etc
• The presenters give the audience some insight into their personal life which helps the listeners to feel more connected and supported by them
• This forms a relationship as audiences feel relief in the fact that other young adults are going through similar things
• The music is usually upbeat and pop which matches the pace of the show and appeals to the mainstream audience

in terms of uses and gratifications (Blumler and Katz):

• Audience pleasures:
• Personal identity – being able to relate to the stories being told and seeing yourself in the different topics mentioned
• Personal relationships – feeling of support as a result of knowing that there is an area for advice and help e.g. knowing that people are going through similar experiences
• Education – learning about different ways of handling problems ect
• Diversion – listening to different podcasts meaning you are able to escape from what you are going through by seeking help and allowing yourself to listen to other people’s stories

branding/advert??? idek:

• Colour scheme – bright and uses quite cartoonish colours which would appeal more to a younger audience 
• Emojis – the emojis suggest that this ad is aimed at more of a youth audience; stereo typically the younger generation is more accustomed to social media and would be more likely to be attracted to social media linked content
• “How does social media make you feel?” – this question directly links to social media thus creating a discussion about its influences

• 1938

andrew cresell wrote book “understanding radio”

says that radio is a blind medium = you cant see it ( you have images and p;pictures in your head)

aliens represent something

fake news is nothing new

“hard times are a breeding ground for misinformation”

• American science fiction disaster film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Josh Friedman and David Koepp
• produced by Paramount Pictures and Dream Works Pictures.
• won Academy Awards nominations for Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing.
• described as an anti-war film (civilians run and only try to save themselves and their family instead of fighting back against the alien Tripods)
• Debra Saundras (an american journalist) compared the film to independence day
• released in american Ziegfeld Theatre on June 23, 2005
• Director: Steven Spielberg

Budget: 132 million USD

Narrator: morgan freeman

Box office: 603.9 million USD

• example of hybrid radio film
• CBS broadcast
• was a Halloween special – broadcast in Halloween – was it a foax? was it deliberate
• suspending disbelief – people were distressed – are aliens real?
• interesting as its a layer over fake new over fake news
• they want you to believe it was real
• Stanley Cohen wrote a book “folk devils and moral panic” – every time something bad happens, blame the media. The media causes bad things

• it was performed and broadcasted live as a halloween episode at 8pm on over on Columbia broadcasting system radio network
• Sunday, October 30th 1938
• The episode became famous for allegedly causing panic among its listening audience, though the scale of that panic is disputed, as the program had relatively few listeners
• 1 hour programme
• released a year before WW2 – audience already distressed due to Austria war

The novel was adapted for radio by Howard Koch, who changed the primary setting from 19th-century England to the contemporary United States

• radio is a blind medium
• uses speech as the primary mode of communication 
• essentially and primarily auditory, consisting of speech, music, sounds and silence. 
• identifying and de-coding a number of signs and symbols
• connect the signifier (the thing you hear) and the signified (what it means): Ferdinand de Saussure
• trying to understand signs as they operate as denotations, connotations and myths: Roland Barthes.

C. S. Pierce: icon, index and symbol

•  an ICONIC SOUND will actually sound like its’ object – person
• An INDEXICAL SOUND, will create an association to it’s object – sound of movement (this changes through microphone placements, sound processing and reverb
• SYMBOLIC SOUND is one that is more arbitrary, random and vague – sound effects (echo)

• Radio, like moving image, is LINEAR and SEQUENTIAL, in that it moves in a chronological order, from (a) beginning to (an) end. In this respect, it is important to refer to NARRATIVE THEORY when trying to understand and de-code radio meaning

LINK TO WORLD OF THE WARS