P1 Describe the different radio industry operations

Introduction

In this report, I have been tasked to explain the different types of radio that exist

Public radio

Public radios are stations that are being funded by the government and is available to anyone. Since those radio stations are being funded by the government, this means that they can't advertise/promote any products on their stations nor they can make any cash prizes. These types of radios usually have the highest listeners, for example in the UK BBC Radio has approximately 14.9 million listeners tuning in to the radio every week.

Not for profit radio

The next type of radio station is Not for profit Radio in which is designed to not make any profit and to keep costs minimal to have the station running. These type of station are run by volunteers and they can be found used in Hospitals & Universities/Colleges. They tailor their content to the listeners. An example of this is Sheffield hospital radio.

National Commercial radio

The third type of radio station is National Commercial radio. These stations contain different advertisements and endorsements. These type of stations are meant to make profit with big companies owning different radio stations to make profit for the said company , an example of this would be Global that own some of the most popular stations in the UK. As these companies work mainly as a business, the profit they make is the most important thing for them to do. If their stations have alot of listeners, this would mean they can charge more money for adverts as the more listeners they have, they wider reach they have.. One commercial radio example is Capital radio which falls under the Global banner and is one of their most listened to stations with approx 7.7 million listeners weekly.

Regional radio

Another type of radio is Regional radio, in which it can be either commercial or public. They only air in specific regions which allows them to put up news or advertisements for that specific region. An example of regional radio is Sheffield Radio.

Internet radio

The second to last type of radio is Internet radio. These type of radios use the internet to distribute its content rather that using radio waves like other type of stations do. This is different from podcasts since they are pre-recorded whereas internet radio is usually live. One benefit about distributing via the internet is that it is available at a global scale. Although you can get radio specific stations, nowadays the wide majority of stations are now available online either through their own websites or apps.

Community radio

Lastly there is Community radio type with them being in a non profit form. This is when local people create and produce their own programs. They only cover a small area around 5km, and reflect a mix of cultures and interests. One example can be Sine FM.