LO1: Types of Radio Stations

A type of radio station is a public radio station, this is funded by the Licence fee that the general public pay and from funding by the government. However, this means that these types of radio stations can't advertise or explicitly promote products on their stations. This type of station has the highest listenership in the UK with approximately 14.9 million listeners tuning into radio 2 every week. Examples of a public radio station is BBC Radio 1 and 2, as well as local stations such as BBC Radio Sheffield. BBC radio one specializes in modern day popular music, which is currently in the charts. The purpose of this radio station is to entertain an audience by engaging with them through the type music and the topics which they speak about. The target audience for Radio 1 is 15-29 year olds, as it includes a range of radio programmes within the station which caters to the wide range of target audience. In the early morning from 1-7 am it is more slow music and speeches as this is a time of day that people are most chill as the are either travelling in the car to or from work therefore are more relaxed, so are wanting more chill music. 7-12pm is the breakfast show, this will feature the news, latest gossip and popular music, in order to keep people entertained. Then throughout the afternoon it will contain different quizzes that can include special guests and then play popular music to keep their audience entertained. In the evening the station then plays music which will entertain a teenage audience. However, they will play a variety of different genres to engage with the variety of audiences    

Another type of radio station is a national commercial radio station. The major difference between public and commercial is that commercial station include advertisements and endorsements. By including ads and endorsements it creates the method of creating profit for the radio station. Companies such as Global have multiple stations in their ownership which then cater to all different audiences. Some of these examples include Capital, Kiss, Heart, LBD and Talk Sport; all which include different audiences making Global cater to a mass audience. Capital entertains their target audience of 17-25 year olds as the presenters in the podcast have a very informal and chatty tone, whilst they talk about things that their audience would be interested in. 

Regional radio can either be public or commercial, but instead of being targeted to a national audience it is aimed to a specific region such as Radio Sheffield, TX1 Radio. But being focusing on a regional audience they can tailor the news and advertisements to the area that they are based in. For example, the news can inform people on local roads the are shut or even tailor their advertisements to local companies based in that certain area. Regional radio can be either funded by the public or through the adverts played throughout the shows.

Some times of radio stations are developed to not make profit and try to keep costs minimal, these are called Non for Profit stations. These stations rely on volunteers to keep them running, and are mainly found in Universities/ Colleges and sometimes in Hospitals. Majority of the biggest named radio DJ's would have started their carer in their local university radio. These stations base their content around their listeners and use their service to inform and entertain them. 

Another form of non for profit radio is community radio. This is when local people produce and broadcast their own programs and participate in operating the station. However, it covers a small geographical area, by having a small area of coverage they can cater for whole communities or for different areas of interest. This can include different ethnic, age or interest groups. Different community radio stations reflect a diverse mix of cultures and interests. 

Internet Radio is where stations use the internet of a form of distribution for its content rather than using radio waves. This is called webcasting. This is a form of streaming media where content is usually provided live instead of being prerecorded like some podcasts. A major advantage is that it is available on a global scale as it uses the internet to distribute, therefore anyone with a device connected to the web can access it and reach anyone that is interested in radio. This is called webcasting, however it can also be a type of streaming media as you can listen to content live or pre recorded.