Channelside – Media

Fast developing technologies have resulted in a surge of interest in jobs within the media industry. Use your media skills to analyse a target audience and then write a treatment for your own radio show with our fun tasks below.

Please bring your completed work to your first lesson.

Media and Target Audience

In media, it is important to understand and analyse the target audience of a media product.

Task 1

What is a media product? List some examples.

Task 2

When understanding and analysing a target audience, you can look at demographic and psychographic characteristics.

Research demographics and psychographics. What do these terms cover and how are they different?

Task 3

Choose a film that you are familiar with.

Use the table below to analyse the target audience of your chosen film using demographics and psychographics characteristics. Please research any terms that you are unfamiliar with.

Don’t forget you could have different answers for each row. For example, you could say that the Harry Potter film series appeals to both children/young adults and their parents, so there would be different answers for ‘Age’. You could argue that this is because the film series features strong younger and older characters that appeal to both young adults and older adults.

Radio

Introduction

We are lucky in Barrow to have a local community radio station, CandoFM, which is staffed by volunteers who run the station, as well as preparing content and presenting shows.

The current social-distancing situation means that digital content for all media is in demand more than ever: broadcasters need to fill their schedules with something to inform, educate and entertain people during lockdown.

Local community radio plays an important part in all of these things, as well as providing a vital communication platform for people in the area.

What would you put on the radio?

Task 1: The idea

Sometimes in media this is called the treatment. This is where you create a document to send to somebody to explain your ideas for a media product.

You should write a short treatment for a radio show on CandoFM. Set it out clearly, using headings for the following sections:

• Title of show: this should reflect the content and give listeners an idea of what the show is all about
• Name and style of presenter/s: this doesn’t have to be you, it could be someone else you know or an existing presenter. The important thing to mention here is why you have chosen them; describe their personality, what it is they can bring to the show, and how they will connect with the audience. Are they formal / informal? How are they appropriate for the show, its content and audience
• Synopsis: this is where you give a brief description of what the show is all about. Imagine it as a summary, and try not to use more than a couple of lines.
• Content: here you can explain what the listeners will hear: what kind of music, type of chat, features (competitions, phone-ins, interviews, reviews etc.). You must also include news, weather, travel, and space for community announcements.
• Target Audience: this is important. Media products are designed with a particular audience in mind. Who is your audience, and how will you reach them? What do they want, and how will you satisfy them? Describe your audience in terms of age, gender, social group, lifestyle, interests, location, and anything else you think is relevant. Remember, your content, presenter and audience must all connect: how will you do this?
• Length of show: radio shows are scheduled to a strict time frame, and usually in one-hour increments. Can you include everything you have planned into one hour, or do you need more?
• Proposed broadcast day and time: this is important because you need to know that your target audience is available to listen when your show goes out! Also, be aware of content: is it suitable for daytime? Research other shows and see when yours would be best broadcast. Give reasons.

Complete the treatment with the most accurate information you can. Be clear in your descriptions, and remember that this will be seen by a radio producer who is looking to make shows.

Click here to see if you have been successful…