Independent Radio Programme Production Companies

Independent Radio Production Companies make commercials, jingles and radio programmes which could be documentaries, music, etc. RIG has been in existence since 1990 when the BBC awarded its first commission and according to RIG it produces over £12million worth of programming – mostly for the BBC but some commercial radios also. It is very small in comparison with its TV equivalent. Data from the skillset Census suggests it employs about 400 people (compared with over 200,000 for its TV equivalent) but returns from employers in this field were low and the figures are not very robust.

The Radio Independents group (RIG) has over 90 members big and small and considers that it represents about two-thirds of the total independent radio sector – but there is overlap with the TV indie sector as some of the bigger TV independents have a radio operation too, and so both RIG and PACT (The Producers’ Alliance for Cinema and Television). 

Not-For-Profit Radio

Not-For-Profit is basically community and voluntary radio stations. Community radio stations are operated, owned, and influenced by the communities broadcast to. They are generally non-profit and bring the community together by getting individuals and groups to share their stories/experiences and in a media-rich world, to become creators and contributors of media.

They offer training and opportunities for those looking to get involved with radio locally.

Community radio stations are usually limited to broadcast in areas within a 5 kilometre radius of their transmitter. The normal allocated power for a new community station in an urban area is 25 watts vertically polarised, although most allocations permit the addition of a further 25 watts horizontally polarised. For some rural stations these limits are increased to 50 watts horizontal.

These radio stations are no permitted to raise more than 50% of their operating costs from a single source, including on-air sponsorship and advertising. The remainder of operating costs must be met through other sources.

Different types of not-for-profit radios:

• ·        Hospital Radio
• ·        Volunteers
• ·        Student Radio

Public Service Radio

Public Service Radio broadcasters are not allowed to advertise. They get their money from the government who collects a TV license fee in the UK. The TV licence is £145.50 per year, an estimate of £25 a year gets took from a household that has a TV license every year.

The BBC charter is to educate, entertain and inform.

The BBC is the largest single employer in the radio industry employing 11,000 people to provide its portfolio of national and local services. These exist of 11 national services (including the World Service), and a range of more local stations:

·    40 Local Radio stations in the English Regions – with plans to create a further four.

·        Six dedicated radio services in the Nations – Radio Scotland, Radio Nan Gaidheal, Radio Ulster, Radio Foyle, Radio Wales, and Radio Cymru.

  11 national stations: Radio 1, 1xtra, 2, 3, 6 are music based; Radio 4, 5 live, 5 live sports extra, BBC 7 and the World Service are speech-based; and the BBC Asian Network a mix of both. 

Radio 1 is for my age range of (15 - 29), it plays mostly new chart music but also new music that has just came out but not on the charts. There are a lot of different radios fo the different type of music the audience listen to. They have to provide the right kind of music to suit everyone, because they get money took from their lisence.  

Commerial Radio

Commercial Radios play mostly chart music; they also have shown to keep the audience entertained and want to keep listening. They make their money through advertising. Most commercial stations serve a local or regional area and are owned by one of three big groups which dominate the sector. There are over 300 in the UK, mostly using FM frequencies and DAB. In an hour of broadcast time on a commercial broadcasting station, 10 to 20 minutes are normally devoted to advertising. Advertisers pay a certain amount of money to air their commercials, usually based upon program ratings or the audience measurement of a station or network. 

Commercial Radio is the youngest member of the UK’s ‘traditional’ commercial media cannon, having only started broadcasting in October 1973. Across the next two years, sixteen new stations were launched before the development of ILR was halted in 1976 by a new Labour government cautious about commercial organisations running radio stations.

Ofcom set rules for broadcasting in the UK. So they must license every radio and television station, and they must operate to agreed terms and aims.

Key 103 is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to the city of Manchester and the north west of England. It plays a variety of music but just focuses on pop and dance music, the target audience is teen’s to young adults. Formerly owned by Trans World Communications, EMAP and now by Bauer Radio, Key 103 is part of Bauer's Place Network of stations. The station is based in Castle field, Manchester. Originally named Piccadilly Radio, from its set up in 1974, the station was renamed in August 1988 when it was decided to re-brand Piccadilly Radio's FM frequency to the new name, with a younger target audience in mind. The station broadcasts on the analogue frequency 103FM, from a 4 KW transmitter on Saddleworth Moor and broadcasts on DAB Digital Radio from City Tower (formerly Sunley Tower) on the CE Manchester multiplex.