Critical Evaluation of the Radio

Critical Evaluation of the Radio

I have chosen the “Radio” brief for several different reasons. The

main reason is because it is of general interest to me, and I knew

that it would be an interesting project to both research and produce a

radio product. When I was given the list of briefs for the research,

the “print” brief wasn’t available to me as I chose to produce a

magazine for my coursework last year.

Before I set out to produce my radio coursework product, I was aware

that there was a mass amount of research that I needed to carry out in

order to know exactly what I was going to produce. I carried out both

primary and secondary research methods. One of my main primary

research methods included carrying out several different

questionnaires with the public. The topics of these different

questionnaires ranged from:

* Likes and dislikes about existing radio stations/programmes

* Interests if a new radio station was to start

* Listening styles for different age groups

I also contacted several different radio presenters from different

stations. I was pleased with the response I got from these, as I

learnt about each individuals background – and how they got into radio

presenting. Whilst using the internet, I discovered many radio “fan”

sites.

Other primary research methods included analysing different radio

stations output, and comparing them to one another. I found this a

very interesting research method as I learnt a lot from breaking down

the content of each radio station. I compared four different radio

stations, two local stations in the same TSA (Transmission Service

Area), and two national radio stations.

My secondary research included reading radio books and internet

websites. I found this to be very useful, as it taught me the insides

and outs of radio. Interesting topics included:

* The renaissance of radio

* Radio Style

* News Output

* Tools of broadcasting