M1 Structure of a Radio Station - Unit 14


Introduction 

In this report, I will look into the structure of a radio station. The radio station I have chosen to analyse and discuss is the Airport Information Radio (AIR), and I have discussed this same radio station in my other documents for this unit. For M1, I am required to listen to a program from my chosen station, however the Airport Information Radio stopped operating in the 1990s so there is no active programs for me to listen to and analyse. Although, I did research into the AIR radio station and was able to find audio footage of the radio show. 


By listening to this old radio broadcast from the Airport Information Radio, I am now able to discuss the content on the program, the structure of it, and any minor details or choices made by the crew and presenters. 


This is a promotional video made for the Airport Information Radio station which includes information about the station and footage of the presenters presenting the show which gives me first hand insight into how the radio operated and how the content and structure of the radio was like.

Structure of the Show

I believe that the structure for the Airport Information Radio is effective for the radio's purpose, which is to inform. The reason I believe that the structure of this show is effective is because it mainly relies on dialogue and doesn't include many other features such as music and if it does, it is only for a short period of time. For radio stations with the purpose to entertain, this would be a negative because people would eventually get bored of one presenter talking for a while and switch to a different station however, it works well for the AIR due to the fact that their main purpose is to get information across from them to you via the radio. Therefore, they need a lot of dialogue in their radio shows in order to tell you the information you want to know about the airports. Viewers would not get bored of this constant dialogue because they purposefully tuned in to the Airport Information Radio to hear about this relevant information. There are still other features in the Airport Information Radio that almost every other radio have, like adverts and a jingle. Adverts were featured commonly throughout the radio program and there was multiple different adverts.

Researching the structure of the Airport Information Radio and listening to videos to expand my knowledge could effect the structure of my own radio show. This is because I may implement some of the structure that I have researched from this station into my own radio show when I create it. 

Content of the Show

The main content of the show is presenters talking about any relevant information about Heathrow or Gatwick airport. This means that they would discuss any information regarding these airports from situations with the car parks, to delayed flights, the temporary closing of a terminal or an obstruction on a nearby motorway which could prevent problems for people trying to drive to the airport on that road or any other information about the radio which they deemed necessary for the listeners to be aware of. I believe that the presenters decided to talk about these topics because they are relevant to the station, the mentioned topics are why listeners choose to listen to the Airport Information Radio over a different radio; they want to hear about any information about the airports and that is why the presenters choose to speak about topics regarding the airport or surrounding areas. This is a perfect example of how a radio station caters its content towards its target audience because the radio presenters are telling the listeners exactly what they tuned in for, which is information about the airports. This is effective because it is a radio station with a niche topic which targets a niche audience, but this means that it targets this niche audience exceptionally well because the presenters don't have to worry about catering their content to any other audiences.

 There were many different adverts that were featured on the Airport Information Radio for a multitude of different companies. Some of these being the Body Shop, WHSmith's, Burger King and South African Airways. The advertising on this radio station is unique compared to other stations as it is advertising companies who have shops in the nearby airport or companies associated with the airport like South African Airways. 


Production Techniques

The Airport Information Radio makes use of multiple different production techniques in their radio programs. Firstly, the AIR has a jingle that is unique to their radio station, which plays several times throughout one radio show. This informs the listeners which radio station they are listening to and gives the Airport Information Radio a distinctive aspect that sets it apart from other informative radio stations. Secondly, the AIR has pre-recorded segments which they implement into their radio show; this pre-recorded service featured basic information about the airports. This information would of been information that didn't change over time, meaning that they could use this recording over the course of the radio stations life time without the information ever becoming incorrect. They must of had to make sure they are only pre-recording information that is still true. The presenters address the audience in an ordinary and casual manner, the presenters talk in a normal pace and address the audience normally. Additionally, music does not effect the production of the Airport Information Radio, although they experimented with playing music during the lifetime of the radio station, this was not a permanent addition and for the most part the AIR does not include any music. 
This is a professional radio set up where somebody could implement different production techniques live.


Regulations

The same kind of content is on each show from the Airport Information Radio. Although for each program, the information may be different as a different day means different situations with the nearby airports or any other issues like an accident on a nearby motorway. The AIR has multiple different presenters and often they change who is presenting multiple times throughout one radio show. In the video I linked in this report, you can hear how the presenter changes from a female presenter to a male presenter during the radio show; the different presenters talk about different pieces of information. There are multiple different presenters that worked for and contributed to the Airport Information Radio. Some of these being: Rick Easter, Peter Stuart, Lois Lane and Danny Pike. The content varies from presenter to presenter due to the fact that they present different sections of the radio show, certain presenters focus mainly on relaying information about Gatwick airport, while other presenters will mainly talk about Heathrow airport. Therefore, each presenter's content varies. The set style of presenting is quite similar between all the presenters, this is because their only job is to state necessary information in a clear tone, therefore they don't need to try to be distinctive or present uniquely as the listeners aren't tuning in to listen to a diverse cast of presenters and just want information about the airport. 

Bibliography

 “Radio Mercury.” Www.localradioarchive.co.uk, www.localradioarchive.co.uk/radio_mercury/airport_information_radio.php.

 “Radio Program.” Wikipedia, 27 Sept. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_program.
 



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