A2 C1SB LNWH Late Night Womens Hour

AS Media
Component 1
Section B
Case Study
Presentation:
Example:
Radio 4
Late Night
Women’s Hour
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/
b0801ql5

Industry: Ownership
 What company/companies were involved in the
production, distribution and exhibition of the media
product?
 Is there anything significant about them that may
have impacted upon the production? E.g. do they
have links with other companies/conglomerates
/subsidiaries, etc.
 Do they have any particular corporate ‘vision’/aims
or public service remits

Industry: BBC & Radio 4
 Late Night Women’s Hour is produced by, and for BBC
Radio 4.
 It is distributed via analogue and digital radio broadcast
 It is also available as a downloadable podcast (MP3).
 It can also be streamed via the BBC website.

Industry: BBC
 BBC = Main UK Public Service Broadcaster.
 Funded by licence fee.
 The role of the BBC is set out in The Royal Charter.

Industry: Royal Charter
 The Royal Charter is the constitutional basis for the BBC. It sets out the BBC’s
Object, Mission and Public Purposes.
 An accompanying agreement recognises its editorial independence and sets
out its public obligations in detail.
 The Charter also outlines the Corporation’s governance and regulatory
arrangements, including the role and composition of the BBC Board.
 The initial BBC Charter established the BBC in 1926, and has been renewed upon
expiry ever since.
 The current Charter began on 1 January 2017 and ends on 31 December 2027.
 The Royal Charter sets out 5 Public Purposes outline the values the BBC holds
when striving to achieve its mission to inform, educate and entertain as a
whole.

Industry: BBC’s 5 Public Purposes
1. To provide impartial news and information to help people understand and engage
with the world around them
 The BBC will provide accurate and impartial news, current affairs and factual programming of the
highest editorial standards so that all audiences can engage fully with issues across the UK and
the world.
2. To support learning for people of all ages
 Educational content will help support learning for children and teenagers across the UK, whilst
audiences will be encouraged to explore inspiring and challenging new subjects and activities
through a range of partnerships.
3. To show the most creative, highest quality and distinctive output and services
 Innovative content covering many different genres will be provided across a range of services
and platforms, setting the standard both in the UK and globally.
4. To reflect, represent and serve the diverse communities of all of the United
Kingdom’s nations and regions and, in doing so, support the creative economy
across the United Kingdom
 The lives of the people in the United Kingdom today will be accurately and authentically
portrayed in the BBC’s output and services to raise awareness of different cultures, contribute to
social cohesion and invest in the development of each nation’s creative economy.
5. To reflect the United Kingdom, its culture and values to the world
 High quality, accurate, impartial news coverage will be delivered to international audiences,
aiding understanding of the UK as a whole.

Industry: Radio 4 - remit
 The remit of Radio 4 is to be a mixed speech service, offering in-
depth news and current affairs and a wide range of other speech
output including drama, readings, comedy, factual and magazine
programmes.
 The service should appeal to listeners seeking intelligent programmes
in many genres which inform, educate and entertain.
 Full details of what Radio 4 is expected to achieve are laid out in the
BBC Trust’s licence agreement
 http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/regulatory_frame
work/service_licences/radio/2016/radio4_apr16.pdf
Motto: Intelligent
speech, the most
insightful journalism,
the wittiest comedy,
the most fascinating
features and the most
compelling drama and
readings anywhere in
UK radio

Industry: Radio 4 - remit
Key points:
Radio 4 programmes should exhibit some or all of the following characteristics: high quality,
original, challenging, innovative and engaging and it should nurture UK talent.
It should deliver its remit by providing in depth news and current affairs, strongly supported by a
wide range of other speech programmes including politics, religion and ethics, history, science,
documentaries, arts, literature, drama and readings, sports (subject to rights ownership) and
comedy.
Accurate, impartial and independent news and current affairs should form the core of the
output with a mix of daily news programmes and hourly news bulletins, investigative journalism,
documentaries and debates, covering a very wide range of domestic and international issues.
Domestic coverage should reflect the diversity of the UK.
The service should take risks and invest in original content rarely found elsewhere. There should
be a strong emphasis on original drama, readings and innovative comedy from new and established
talent.
The station should occasionally schedule special projects and seasons that explore particular
themes or mark significant events or anniversaries.

Industry: Radio 4 - conditions

Industry: Radio 4
 Late Night Women’s Hour is a spin-off of the popular, long
standing Radio 4 programme Woman’s Hour.

Production Context
 Give a background to the product – what are the
significant social and cultural factors surrounding its
production?

Production Context: Woman’s Hour
 Woman’s Hour First broadcast on 7 October 1946
 BBC radio show offended some early listeners with its makeup tips and
male host.
 Some considered it ‘patronising’ and others an example of ‘tokenism’ (a
show set aside for women might imply all other radio content was oriented
towards men).
 https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/oct/10/womans-hour-
celebrates-70th-anniversary

Historical
Context
 “Delving into the history of the show sheds light on the frustration many
listeners felt when it launched on 7 October 1946. The first Woman’s Hour
was, in fact, presented by a man.
 Aired at 2pm to coincide with the moment that busy housewives could
briefly put their feet up before the children came home from school, BBC
bosses hired Alan Ivimey, an ex-RAF-officer-turned-journalist who
“specialised in writing for and talking to women” to present the radio show.
A woman, they decided, risked being “resented” by her listeners.”

Production Context
 “…The subjects covered included “mother’s midday meal” and “how to hang
your husband’s suit” – much to the first listeners’ ire, according to Amanda
Vickery, professor of early modern history at Queen Mary, University of
London. “Citizen housewives were not be hectored by professional men or
bossy matrons,” Vickery wrote in the Radio Times.
 A doctor’s talk on “how to be a happy woman”, encouraging listeners to let
go of “frustration”, lead one housewife to retort: “I should like him to do a
hard day’s housework – bending over a sink washing, then shopping and
queuing – then see if his backache is only frustration and not due to hard
work.”
 While listener Bridget Long, writing to The Daily Worker in 1946, complained:
“The programme is much too patronising. What women want is a programme
to compensate us for being tied to our domestic chores, to help us keep in
touch with the world outside, whether it’s books, films, politics or other
countries.”

Production Context: Woman’s Hour
 Since then it has developed and become part of a “radical tradition”. Still focusing upon
the interests of women it is much more likely to be challenging the establishment than
reinforcing gender roles.
 The modern programme has explored taboo issues from the onset of menopause to
female masturbation,
 For seven decades BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour has charted a social and political
revolution in women’s lives – covering everything from backstreet abortions and the
introduction of the pill to the fight for the Equal Pay Act.
 With 3.7 million listeners weekly, Woman’s Hour is now the second most popular daily
podcast across BBC Radio – after The Archers – and a quarter of its listeners are under 35,
while 40% are male.
 https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/oct/10/womans-hour-celebrates-70th-
anniversary

Production
Context
 Gwyneth Williams, controller of Radio 4:
 “It is hard to imagine Radio 4 without Woman’s Hour. For 70 years the
programme has been celebrating women and focusing on the issues that
most affect their lives. It is part of our radical tradition and I am proud of
the fresh voices, originality and alternative perspective that Woman’s Hour
offers our listeners every day.”
 The show remains, according to guest presenter Emma Barnett,
 “the Rolls Royce of Radio 4 … It’s a programme that brings out the best in
people as they know they have the space to share deep feelings with an
incredibly engaged audience hanging on their every word,” she said. “Its
listeners, male and female, trust it implicitly and the female gaze [through
which] it reflects the world is invaluable and unique.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5Ej_FpPt1Y

Production Context
 For one week in April 2014,
the programme was guest
edited by J. K. Rowling,
Kelly Holmes, Naomi
Alderman, Doreen
Lawrence and Lauren
Laverne.
This led to the “spin-off” Late Night Woman’s Hour.
It is broadcast once a month, late at night (11pm), initially presented by
Lauren Laverne and features a number of (usually all-female) panelists.

Who is Lauren Laverne?
Rock Chick or Culture Vulture?
 “English radio DJ, model, television presenter, author, singer and comedian” from
Sunderland
 She is a vegetarian and a Labour supported (famously calling The Spice Girls “Tory
Scum”
 Has a “no-brow” approach to culture. – Art accessible to everyone – snobs are “dicks”
 Found fame in 1990s britpop pop-punk band Kenickie (1994-1998)– Video for In Your
Car (no. 24 ‘97). Supported The Ramones at their final UK date in ‘96).
 She has presented television programmes including 10 O'Clock Live for Channel 4, and
The Culture Show and coverage of the Glastonbury Festival for the BBC.
 In 2010, she published her first novel Candypop – Candy and the Broken Biscuits, about
rock chick Candy Caine, 15, on her journey to the world's biggest music festival,
Glastonbury. The book is published by HarperCollins.
 Laverne was a columnist for The Guardian from 2012 to 2014, writing about style and
British Culture.
 In April 2015, Laverne launched The Pool, an online platform aimed at women. The site
was co-founded with writer and magazine editor Sam Baker and includes features from
British journalists including Sasha Wilkins, Sali Hughes and Viv Groskop. The website
also includes regular podcasts and videos with Caitlin Moran.
 She currently presents a radio show on BBC Radio 6 Music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f9JEfNBWTA&t=137s

Launch
Late Night Woman’s Hour is to become a permanent fixture on Radio 4 with a regular show
airing once a month, hosted by Lauren Laverne, starting this Thursday.
In a bid to attract younger female listeners it is also launching a special online video
feature.
The late night show will complement the daily series of Woman’s Hour
In a further new departure, Late Night Woman’s Hour will also feature a pilot online video
series called The Green Room using familiar BBC faces such as Claudia Winkleman.
Woman’s Hour editor Alice Feinstein said: “For 70 years Woman’s Hour has been at the
cutting edge of women’s experience of the world and it’s clear that now, perhaps more
than ever, young women are engaged and interested in these issues.”
“…[Woman’s Hour regular host] Garvey … said she loved it because Late Night Woman’s
Hour allowed for “the sort of revealing, intimate conversations it’s difficult to have at 10am,
however hard you try”,
A BBC spokesman explained: “Late Night Woman’s Hour complements the daily magazine
programme giving more time to discuss individual topics in-depth,”
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jan/27/late-night-womans-hour-become-
permanent-radio-4-fixture

Production Context
 Late Night Woman’s Hour (LNWH) began broadcasting in 2015 on a
limited basis but was so popular that it began a permanent run as a
monthly, then in 2018, a weekly podcast.
 Today, LNWH is recorded weekly, hosted by Emma Barnett (occasionally
with founder Lauren Laverne) and features female guests from a range of
backgrounds including science, health and entertainment.
 Each episode focuses on a particular theme relevant to its female audience
e.g. ‘Lost Friends’ and ‘Extreme Breastfeeding’. The original broadcast was
at 11pm on Thursday nights, which meant explicit and honest discussions
could be had. Since becoming a podcast, the show has been less
controversial.

Current Host: Emma Bartlett
 The current presenter Emma Barnett is a journalist and broadcaster, who also
presents the BBC Radio 5 Live late morning show.
 Born in Manchester, she got her degree in History and Politics from the University of
Nottingham. She followed that up with a postgraduate course in journalism at the
Cardiff School of Journalism, Media, and Cultural Studies.
 She then worked at Media Week, before becoming the Women’s Editor and Digital
Media editor at The Telegraph. She then became a talk radio presenter on LBC for
3 years, before joining the BBC’s Radio 5Live.

 She also writes the ‘Tough Love’ ‘agony
aunt’ advice column in the Sunday
Times Magazine, where she explores
extremes of peoples’ personal lives.
 In 2019, she became a regular presenter
on BBC’s Newsnight.
She has also written and released a book called
“PERIOD: IT’S ABOUT BLOODY TIME”, about endometriosis.

 Her style therefore is light-hearted yet unafraid
to explore emotionally sensitive issues. This suits
the LNWM format.

Emma Bartlett
 Barnett took over from founding
presenter Lauren Laverne, who
was renowned for bringing
controversial, adult and explicit
content to the Woman’s Hour
brand, which previously had a
‘safe’ reputation.
 The podcast format - available
without age restrictions or post-
watershed scheduling - may have
needed a less controversial host.

Emma Bartlett – Late Night to Daytime
 In September 2020, it was announced Jane Garvey and Jenni Murray who
present Women’s Hour (the main, daytime show) were stepping down.
 Bartlett then announced she would become regular host of (Daytime)
Women’s Hour from January 2021.
Jane Garvey and Jenni Murray

Late Night Women’s Hour:
Intro/trailer/Welcome
https://www.bbc.c
o.uk/programmes
/p075z8qy

Industry: Technology
 How have developments in (digital) technology impacted upon the
production, distribution and exhibition of the product? (i.e. The Internet)

 The Internet and digital radio have led to major changes in the radio
industry.
 Firstly, digital transmission – DAB - has allowed for many, many more
stations to be broadcast on our airwaves. This has meant an intensification
of competition between channels.
 It has also led major broadcasters to become “narrowcasters”. Now,
producers with a responsibility to provide content to a range of audiences
no longer need to do this all via one channel. Instead, they can have a
range of channels, each aimed at ‘niche’ audiences.
 Instead of just Radio 4, we also have Radio 4 extra. Instead of just Woman’s
Hour, we now also have Late Night Woman’s Hour

 Secondly, the Internet has lead to changes in scheduling.
 It used to be that the only time you could hear a radio show would be when as
it was broadcast live.
 What has changed since?
 Podcasts – download and take away to listen anywhere
 On Demand – listen to streams of shows over the internet at different times.
 Before, a show on at 11pm would have had a relatively small audience. Now,
because of time shifted listening, many more can access it.
 In 2018, BBC Sounds replaced iPlayer Radio as a website and app for the BBCs
audio content, include radio shows, podcasts, etc
 In total the new app and website contains 80,000 hours of radio and podcasts,
available online or on-demand.

Industry: Technology & PSB
The BBC is developing a “public service algorithm” for its
BBC Sounds app to stop listeners getting trapped in their
own filter bubbles and echo chambers.
James Purnell (BBC’s director of radio and education), said
today that although algorithms “can be positive”, the way
they tend to recommend “more of the same” type of content
that a user has already chosen to listen to can “limit the
breadth” of their experience.
He revealed the BBC is therefore developing its own
algorithm for Sounds to make sure the content it
recommends will inform and educate listeners, not just
entertain them with more of the content they already want.
[Press Gazette]

Speaking at the Radio Festival at the British Library in London, Purnell said:
“They learn from what you don’t like and stop recommending you the wrong things. And
they can surface things similar to what you are listening to that you would not otherwise
have found.
“But there is reason to be nervous about embracing algorithms in the way that streaming
platforms do.
“The BBC rests on three foundations: to entertain, yes, but also to inform and educate. Most
algorithms do the former, but not the latter. That’s why we are developing our own: a public
service algorithm.
“This is not an algorithm that just gives you more of the same, but an algorithm built to
surprise you, to direct your attention to new information, to different points of view, to pop
your bubble.
“Algorithms are made in the image of their designers and can be biased against people who
are different. But when they are designed with a public service purpose, they do not have to
be biased and they do not have to create echo chambers – they can open them up.” BBC
website

Industry: Technology - Summary
Internet and DAB has increased choice for consumers and competition for producers of
audio content – more radio stations, podcasts, etc
Internet also allows for on demand and streaming services, meaning programmes do not
have to be listened to at time of broadcast.
Podcasts are cheap to produce and distribute, therefore can be made for smaller, niche
audiences, such as Late Night Women’s Hour.
On demand/Streaming is convenient for consumers but harder to regulate because it
makes the watershed not longer useful, since they can be listened to at anytime.
BBC have created BBC Sounds website and App for their audio content.
They have taken steps to combat ‘filter bubbles and ideological echo chambers by
creating their own public service algorithm that will entertain, inform and educate.

Industry: Regulation
 How is the industry the text belongs to regulated?

 BBC radio and TV (like other UK TV and Radio channels) is now regulated
by Ofcom (office of communications).
 Ofcom are a “quasi-autonomous-non-governmental-organisation” or
“quango”.
 Ofcom is funded by fees from industry for regulating broadcasting and
communications networks, and grant-in-aid from the Government.

Ofcom is the communications regulator in the UK. It regulates the TV, radio and
video-on-demand sectors, fixed-line telecoms (phones), mobiles and postal services,
plus the airwaves over which wireless devices operate.
 It makes sure that people in the UK get the best from their communications
services and are protected from scams and sharp practices, while ensuring that
competition can thrive.
 It operates under a number of Acts of Parliament, including in particular the
Communications Act 2003. It must act within the powers and duties set for it by
Parliament in legislation.
 The Communications Act says that Ofcom’s principal duty is to further the
interests of citizens and of consumers, where appropriate by promoting
competition.
 Accountable to Parliament, it sets and enforces regulatory rules for the sectors
for which they have responsibility. They also have powers to enforce competition
law in those sectors, alongside the Competition and Markets Authority.

Industry: Regulation & Ofcom
Ofcom’s main legal duties are to ensure:
 the UK has a wide range of electronic communications services, including high-speed
services such as broadband;
 a wide range of high-quality television and radio programmes are provided, appealing
to a range of tastes and interests;
 television and radio services are provided by a range of different organisations;
 people who watch television and listen to the radio are protected from harmful or
offensive material;
 people are protected from being treated unfairly in television and radio programmes,
and from having their privacy invaded;
 viewers of video on demand services are protected from harmful content;
 a universal postal service is provided in the UK - this means a six days a week,
universally priced delivery and collection service across the country; and
 the radio spectrum (the airwaves used by everyone from taxi firms and boat owners, to
mobile-phone companies and broadcasters) is used in the most effective way.

Industry: BBC Guidelines
 As well as following Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code, the BBC has it’s own set
of editorial guidelines to uphold its public service broadcasting duties
(while retaining “editorial independence” from ofcom)
 These outline the BBC’s Editorial Values and The Public Interest and
cover the following sections:
1) The BBC's Editorial Standards
2) How to Use the Guidelines
3) Accuracy
4) Impartiality
5) Harm and Offence
6) Fairness to Contributors and Consent
7) Privacy
8) Reporting Crime and Anti-social Behaviour
9) Children and Young People as Contributors
11) War, Terror and Emergencies
12) Religious Content
13) Re-use, Reversioning and Permanent
Availability
14) Independence from External Interests
15) Conflicts of Interest
16) External Relationships and Financing
17) Competitions, Votes and Interactivity
18) The Law

 LNWH was initially broadcast at 11pm. How does this change the
kind of content we might hear compared to its daytime counterpart?
 TV Watershed (9pm) does not technically apply to radio.
 But according to Section one: Protecting the under-eighteens
in The Ofcom Broadcasters Code:
 “1.5 Radio broadcasters must have particular regard to times
when children are particularly likely to be listening.”
 Scheduled at 11pm, the show is able to broadcast content that
would not be appropriate for a younger audience (in line with
Ofcom’s duty to ensure that “people who watch television and listen
to the radio are protected from harmful or offensive material”).

 The original broadcast was at 11pm on Thursday nights, which meant
explicit and honest discussions could be had, often featuring shocking
discussions and swearing.
 Since becoming a podcast, the show has become ‘safer’ and less
controversial.
 Why do you think that this might be?

 A2 Only: Livingstone & Lunt
 It seems to challenge Livingston and Lunt’s assumption that ‘new media’ is
harder to regulate. The BBC has considered the access of potential
audiences and regulated within the institution.

Industry: Success
How is the success of the product measured? (ratings/sales/etc)
 Number of listeners/downloads
What organisations are responsible for collecting this
information?
 RAJAR stands for Radio Joint Audience Research and is the
official body in charge of measuring radio audiences in the UK. It is
jointly owned by the BBC and the Radiocentre on behalf of the
commercial sector.

Industry: Distribution
How does the media product reach the audience (distribution)?
 Radio Broadcast
 Analogue
 FM: 92.5–96.1 MHz, 103.5–104.9 MHz
LW: 198 kHz
MW: 603 kHz, 720 kHz, 774 kHz, 756 kHz, 1449 kHz, 1485 kHz
 Digital
 DAB: 12B
Freesat: 704 (FM), 710 (LW)
Freeview: 704 (FM)
Sky (UK only): 0104 (FM), 0143 (LW)
Virgin Media: 904 (FM), 911 (LW)
Virgin Media Ireland: 910 (FM)
 Podcast (via BBC website)

Industry: Marketing
How is the media product promoted and marketed to the public?
 As a non-commercial, BBC production, it is not advertised on other outlets.
It is trailed on BBC channels though.
 Publicity around the launch of the show appeared in the newspapers and
magazines aimed at a similar target audience.

Applying Theory: Curran & Seaton
Power and media industries: James Curran and Jean Seaton
• The media is controlled by a small number of companies
primarily driven by the logic of profit and power.
• This Media concentration generally limits or inhibits
variety, creativity and quality
• More socially diverse patterns of ownership help to create
the conditions for more varied and adventurous media
productions
How do these ideas relate to the product?

Applying Theory: Curran & Seaton
• The media is controlled by a small number of companies primarily driven by the logic of profit and
power.
• This Media concentration generally limits or inhibits variety, creativity and quality
• More socially diverse patterns of ownership help to create the conditions for more varied and
adventurous media productions
On the whole, this case study does not support Curran and Seaton’s argument.
The BBC is a very large organisation with many channels under its control. In that sense it is an example
of media concentration. But due to the Royal Charter and Licence fee agreement it is arguably
“owned” by the public – so it could also be seen as an example of very diverse ownership.
Its public purposes are designed to ensure that programming is not just driven by “profit and power”
Such niche “narrowcasting” would not be possible/affordable for a purely commercial media producer.
This allows for “more varied and adventurous media productions”
“

Applying Theory (A2 Only) :
David Hesmondhalgh – The Culture Industries
Cultural industry companies try to minimise risk and maximise audiences through vertical
and horizontal integration, and by formatting their cultural products (e.g. through the use
of stars, genres, and serials)
The largest companies or conglomerates now operate across a number of different cultural
industries
The radical potential of the internet has been contained to some extent by its partial
incorporation into a large, profit-orientated set of cultural industries

Applying Theory (A2 Only) :
David Hesmondhalgh – The Culture Industries
Cultural industry companies try to minimise risk and maximise audiences through vertical and
horizontal integration, and by formatting their cultural products (e.g. through the use of stars, genres,
and serials)
Late Night Women’s Hour is a spin-off of the already existing and very popular show Women’s Hour,
using this successful brand’s reputation to minimise risk. The programme uses ‘star’ hosts well known to
the target audience (Lauren Laverne and Emma Barnett) to maximise audiences.
The largest companies or conglomerates now operate across a number of different cultural industries
The BBC is a very large and operates across numerous platforms including TV, Radio, Online and Film. This
helps maximise its reach and build audiences.
The radical potential of the internet has been contained to some extent by its partial incorporation into a
large, profit-orientated set of cultural industries
The BBC is not profit-orientated, so can offer ‘alternative’ content, but must also retain its brand’s
trustworthy reputation and broad appeal, so cannot be too ‘radical’

Applying Theory (A2 Only):
Livingstone & Lunt - Regulation
There is an underlying struggle in recent UK regulation policy between the need
to further the interests of citizens (by offering protection from harmful or
offensive material), and the need to further the interests of consumers (by
ensuring choice, value for money, and market competition)
The increasing power of global media corporations, together with the rise of
convergent media technologies and transformations in the production,
distribution and marketing of digital media, have placed traditional approaches
to media regulation at risk

Applying Theory (A2 Only):
Livingstone & Lunt - Regulation
There is an underlying struggle in recent UK regulation policy between the need to further the
interests of citizens (by offering protection from harmful or offensive material), and the need to
further the interests of consumers (by ensuring choice, value for money, and market competition)
DAB and Internet technologies allow for greater choice for consumers, but lack of standardized
online regulation and harmful algorithms can be bad for public. As a PSB, the BBC protects the
‘interests of citizens’ and has it’s own internal guidelines/systems to mitigate this, including ‘public
service algorithms’. Thus, the BBC’s PSB remit resolves the ‘struggle’ between consumer and citizen.
The increasing power of global media corporations, together with the rise of convergent media
technologies and transformations in the production, distribution and marketing of digital media,
have placed traditional approaches to media regulation at risk
LNWH podcast is an example of convergent technologies, combing radio and online platforms.
Ofcom regulates radio and all BBC content. Including its on demand services (it does not regulate
other web/online services. Ofcom, along with the BBC’s own editorial guidelines, make LNWH well
regulated, challenging the idea that it is not possible to do so.

Audience: Target Audience &
Categorisation
 Who is the media product aimed at?
 Consider demographics and psychographics
 How can you tell?
 How has the product been constructed to appeal to them?
 How has the product been marketed to them?

Categorisation – Radio 4
https://yougov.co.uk/profileslit
e#/BBC_Radio_4_(Website)/de
mographics

Categorisation – Women’s Hour
https://yougov.co.uk/profilesli
te#/Womans_Hour/demograp
hics

Categorisation – Lauren Laverne
https://yougov.co.uk/profileslite#/
Lauren_Laverne/entertainment

Audience: Target Audience & Categorisation –
Lauren Laverne Show on 6 Music
http://www.bbc.co.uk/program
mes/b00c000j

Audience: Target Audience & Categorisation –
The Emma Bartlett Show (5Live)

Audience: Target Audience & Categorisation – Late
Night Women’s Hour?
Young women. Targeted in name of programme, association with original women’s hour
and choice of presenter/guests – all female. “Home”’s early reference to Game of Thrones
(“Winter is coming” suggests targeting younger audience than typical R4 Woman’s hour
listeners.
R4 remit calls for “intelligent” programming, so audiences would be expected to be
cultured, well educated and literate – and probably middle class. Guests on the show
include authors, scientists and artists, rather than pop stars and celebrities.
On this episode “Home” guests are
• Trine Hahnemann, Chef and author of 'Scandinavian Comfort Food - Embracing the
Arts of Hygge'.
• Susie Orbach, psychotherapist and author.
• Dr Rachel Hurdley, Research Fellow in the School of Social Science at Cardiff
University
• Helen Zaltzman, podcaster and crafter.

Audience: Target Audience & Categorisation – Late
Night Women’s Hour?
A look at the synopses of previous episodes suggests
audiences must be interested in “women’s issues”,
culture, politics, relationships, etc. as well as some
edgier “taboo” themes such as intoxication, lust, and
masturbation.
Of the 4Cs, this would probably appeal to The
Reformer (enlightenment)
Show discusses and evaluates issues and cultural trends
and debates. e.g. how a home furnishing trend (Hygge)
relates to global politics.
Politically, probably progressive / left wing (in keeping with LL’s appearance in The
Guardian and on C4’s 10 O clock Live).

Niche Audience
 This relatively narrow target audience might be described as a niche
(or specialised) audience.
 Digital technology has made it possible for public service
broadcasters like radio to make products for all tastes. It is more
affordable (cheaper production).
 Such a small audience would not create enough advertising revenue for
a commercial broadcaster.

Audience: Radio 4
 As a station, Radio 4 has 11.55 million weekly listeners (August
2017)
 For comparison
 Radio 1 has 9.59 million listeners
 Radio 2 has a weekly audience of 14.88 million
 Radio 3 has a weekly audience of 2.06 million listeners
 Radio 6 Music has 2.24m listeners
 Radio 1Xtra’s audience is 1.03 million

Audience: Response
Bandura’s Media Effects Theory
 How can you apply Bandura’s Media effects theory to the text?
 In what ways might audience’s model their behaviour upon the product?
 Lauren Laverne’s celebrity status may lead her to being a role model for
her fans. Views and interests she endorses may be copied by her fans,

Audience: Response
Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory
 What mainstream values/dominant ideologies are reinforced and cultivated
in the product?
 What mainstream values/dominant ideologies are challenged/subverted in
the product?

Audience: Response
 What mainstream values/dominant ideologies are reinforced and
cultivated in the product?
 The focus upon cooking and home life in a woman’s programme reinforces
gender stereotypes of a “woman’s place is in the home”. This could be
seen as quite “ideologically conservative”.
 This means it reinforces traditional/mainstream values and attitudes
about society and power relations.

Audience: Response
 What mainstream values/dominant ideologies are
challenged/subverted in the product?
 In discussing “Hygge” as an antidote to digital culture and as a safe,
“authentic” contrast to the wider problems and chaos of society. In this
respect, the discussion highlights the world is not all a happy and change
and/or progress in needed. This dissatisfaction with the status quo (the
ways things are) could be seen to be ideologically progressive and
challenging the mainstream ideology that capitalism and materialism are
paths to happiness.

Audience: Response
Two Step Flow
 Are there any examples of opinion leaders within the text or between the
text and the audience, shaping the audience’s response?
 The presenter and guests can be seen to act as opinion leaders for many
debates about society.

Audience: Response
Stuart Hall’s Reception Theory
What do you think is the producer’s intended, preferred meaning? How would
they like the audience to respond?
 Consider its purpose and effect. Try to break it down into parts.
 To “inform, educate and entertain” (Reith) entertaining
 Audiences will find the programme engaging, entertaining, interesting and
learn something new.
 Engage: Audiences will relate to presenter and guests – share similar values
and interests. Audiences will enjoy listening to just simple discussion (no need
for music / SFX, etc).
 Entertaining: May find it relaxing and at points humorous, enjoying the
informal style.
 Informative: Audiences will (want to) learn something new about the world
(in this case, Hygge)
 Audiences will listen to more programmes in the future.

Audience: Response –
Negotiated/oppositional reading?
What other ways might audience’s respond to the text?
What might be the reason’s for this? (situated culture, cultural experience,
etc)
Give an example of a negotiated and/or oppositional reading, with reasons
for each.
Gender:
Men may find it hard to relate to female dominated cast or feel put off as its
“not for them”.
However, some men may listen with their partners, or to get a woman’s
perspective, or simply because they have R4 on.
Women may find the idea of an exclusive women-only show patronising and
reject the idea that all that they are interested in can be put into one show
(see Spectator article on next slide).

Audience: Response –
Negotiated/oppositional reading?
What other ways might audience’s respond to the text?
What might be the reason’s for this? (situated culture, cultural experience,
etc)
Give an example of a negotiated and/or oppositional reading, with reasons
for each.
Age:
Older audiences may be shocked/offended by discussion of more taboo
subjects. May not relate to younger presenter and informal style
Experience
Regular Radio 4/Woman’s Hour listener may be shocked by informal,
intimate and taboo discussions.
Fans of “rock chick” LL may tune in but find the show boring/stuffy.

Audience: Uses & Gratifications
What uses and gratifications/pleasures are offered by the
text?
 Refer to specific content from the product to support
your point.
 Entertain
 Inform
 Identity
 Social Interaction/Integration.

Audience: Uses & Gratifications
 Entertain: Lively, sometimes humorous discussion
 Inform: Learning about “Hygge” and Danish culture
 Identity: How this relates to woman’s culture and
identity, also role model/opinion leaders
 Social Interaction/Integration: How this relates to
woman’s culture and identity, gives a talking point for
real-life conversations.

Audience: Interaction
How does the media product interact with the audience
(and vice versa)?
Radio program broadcast itself is a one way
communication – audience are passive recipients
But podcast/streaming online options allow audiences to
choose when to listen, rather than at scheduled time.

Audience: Interaction
What opportunities are there for the audience to shape and
influence the content of the product?
No opportunities within programme, linked social media offer
opportunities for active audiences to comment on discussion
after listening.
 Social Media
 Radio 4 Facebook Page
 Woman’s Hour Instagram account.

Radio/Late Night Women’s Hour:
Summary of Key Points
Context Industry Language Representation Audience
Late night, “edgy”,
modern spin off of
Women’s Hour (WH) to
appeal to younger female
audience
Ownership
BBC – Licence fee,
PSB Remit – inform, educate,
entertain
Represent & reflect all
UK/communities
Niche (non commercial)
R4 – Intelligent programming
– ‘Highbrow’
Genre: curated discussion –
host and guests discussed
theme
Neale
Narrative
Todorov
Gender - for, by and about
women
Issues
Ideology
Target/categories
Demographic
Young- edgy, late night,
social media, LL
Female: “women’s issues”
Psychographic (Y&R 4Cs)
highbrow/cultured
Original 1960s WH
response to women’s lib
movement.
Regulation: Ofcom
BBC Editorial Guidelines
Post watershed
11pm scheduling – adult
content
Podcasting issues
Lauren Laverne Hall
Codes
Stereotypes
Inequality of POwer
Response/readings (Hall –
reception theory)
“Twitter Storm” (The Spe
cttator
Technology
Distribution: DAB
Podcasts, BBC Sounds
streaming
Social Media: FB, Instagram
Mode of Address
Informal tone – chatty
(laughing, sarcasm)
Intellectual vocabulary

A2 C1SB LNWH Late Night Womens Hour

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