Radio 1 essay

How is the BBC radio 1 BS reaching, targeting and encouraging audience interactions?

BBC radio 1 BS reach audience interactions by the various entertainment they provide. They offer a variety of ongoing things which include the audience, making it more engaging for the listeners, this includes things like the '10 minute takeover' and 'unpopular opinions', where the audience text in for a chance to be rung by Radio 1 and to either share a song they would like on or a wacky unpopular opinion. They also have run games in the past which has encouraged audience interactions, these ones include ' Jan slam' and 'pass the pasty'. Jan Slam was a very exciting time for the audience, where every day in January a prize was up for being won, this could be won by simply texting in a special word which you had to make out from a series of questions asked by Radio 1. This reached the audience very well as free prizes were involved, which people were willing to try and win for. This game took place at 8:15 every morning, which is a very convenient time for the target audience to be listening, as that is the time most people are on their way to work/education.

Radio 1 also hold a big event annually which gives a lot of audience interaction, as the audience can physically go and join in with all the fun. This event is the 'Big Weekend' music festival, it is held by Radio 1 in different UK locations every year, where thousands of people attend to listen to music and meet new people. It used to be a biggest free ticketed music event in Europe, but now has a £15 entry fee, although this doesn't affect the amount of people who attend.

The selection of music played on the Radio 1's breakfast show is another reason how they target their audience. The music is distinctive to their show, playing a mixture of tracks form new to old, as well as promoting new British artists. Their social media is very frequently posted on, they are on all the main platforms such as, Snap chat, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, which increases the audience interaction since when they aren't on the radio, they can still continue the fun online. On their social medias, they play games and giveaways as normal, making the interaction with the audience constant which reaches them further.

The change from Nick Grimshaw to Greg James alone has encouraged audience interaction, Greg boosted back up their rating significantly after Nick suffered really bad ratings whilst being presenter. They thought Nick would bring something great to the show because of his fame and youth but it didn't plan out the way they thought it would, making the audience ratings drop massively. Greg brought something different to the show, incorporating his own aspects which were completely different to any other show, making them really successful with the audience.