D1: Codes and Conventions

In this blog report, I am going to talk about the codes and conventions of a radio show. This will help me understand what I we will need to do for our DonCast films radio show and what we will need to include. 

 

codes and conventions are super important to follow. They ensure that radio shows are structured correctly and include all the necessary elements that they should have. I will talk apply the codes and conventions to our own radio show. Our target audience is families and younger people. They are more likely to listen to our radio show because they would want to go out and spend time with each other. Since we are basing our radio show on recent movies at Savoy and Cast performances (arts and culture) families would be more likely to be interested in these activities. 

The first convention I will write about is our dialogue and the way we talk in our radio show. On radio, the presenters will talk based on their target audience. For example on Capital FM the presenters talk with lots of energy, they are upbeat and they talk very clearly. 

Music changes the way we perceive the radio. There are lots of different music genres, each has its own target audience. Capital FM play new pop and dance music. they use famous, mainstream singers such as: Becky Hill, Ariana Grande, Mimi Web, Taylor Swift, Lewis Capaldi...... For our radio station, we won't be using music. We won't get music licensing. Every radio station including Capital FM have sound throughout. They don't have long pauses so audiences are engaged throughout. Pauses and silence should only be used in dramatisations for suspense. 

                                    Radio Structure

First of all, the presenters will introduce the radio show. For example, Aimee Vivian will introduce herself and make sure the audience knows they are listening to Capital.

A radio jingle is used at the start of the radio show and between the different segments. This lets the audience know what radio station they are listening to and it also creates a brand identity for the radio show. Capital has their own Capital jingle that we can hear when the radio show starts, before and after advertisements.  Throughout the radio show, we can hear "UK's number one hit radio station, Capital". "This is Capital".

The presenters will tell the audience the scheduling of the radio show and tell them what is coming up later on. This keeps the audience interested, engaged and makes them want to wait for a segment. For example, on Capital Aimee says ""Stay there I've got a beautiful brand new track from Campbell on it's way" and then the advertisements start. This tells the viewers they must keep listening to hear the new song.

Sometimes radios also contain small audio clips that has been pre-recorded. This usually happens for interviews or the news. This is important so the radio station/show gives a consitant message about recent news every time. Capital Jingle Bell Ball has a pre-recorded advertisement on the Capital radio station.

Audio fades are when the music fades into the next segment. This makes it easier for the listeners to ease into the next part of the show without an abrupt change in audio which may throw them off. On Capital, they fade the end of the music as the presenters talk.

How we will include radio codes and conventions in our own radio show and advert

Now that I have explained all of the different codes and conventions of radio, I will expain how we will use them in our radio show. Because we are targeting families, we will talk upbeat and chirpy. This will engage families since young children want to listen to presenters full of energy. We will also make a DonCast Films jingle that will be used between our different segments, at our intro and outro. We don't want to include pauses in our radio show since the children in the family especially will think our radio show is boring and the families will switch off from our show. We will talk about scheduling in our show and thell the audience that we will be talking about Savoy movies and Cast drama shows. Our jingle will be pre-recorded and if we can interview someone at Cast we will pre-record this too. We will have audio fades; the jingle could fade into the presenters talking or after we have some royalty free music that fades into the presenters talking.