RESEARCH 5 - How do radio stations appeal to their audience?

HOW DO RADIO STATIONS GET THE AUDIENCE'S ATTENTION?

There are many ways of radio stations getting their audience to listen. This is because there are so many ways to appeal to the audience because everyone is different and enjoy listening to different things, which is why it can sometimes be hard for the radio to get it right and suitable for the range of audiences that they are aiming too. It is important to get the attention of the audience because without engaging and being persuasive it doesn't allow the audience to soak in the information that the station is giving and doesn't let them remember about the serious stories. Also without the audience being interested, it doesn't allow the presenter to share and show the enthusiasm and importance of the topic the presenter it trying to point out so that the audience can act upon it.

One way of radio stations engaging the audience is by repeating points. Although some audience may find this annoying, it is something which is very important when presenting because it allows the stories to stick in to the audiences head. A skillful presenter would find ways of revisiting these stories in a more creative way so that it wouldn't be seen as annoying, and simply play a trick on the audience so that they don't realise it is happen. This is why we always hear stories on radios being repeated many times, yet don't realise the importance of why the presenters do it.

Another way that radio stations try to engage the audience's attention is by talking to the audience about their own personal experiences. This makes the audience feel as if they can relate to the presenter, understanding the situation which leads them into wanting to know what they think about the subject. One example of a radio station that does this is LBC (London's Biggest Conversation), they do this to talk to the audience about their own personal experiences and lead them on into knowing more about the radio station, which almost lures them in, into having more viewers because they all want to know about each other’s sticky situations.



One of the most important ways of getting the audience's attention is by using humour; this can be the most effective attention-getting way techniques when used naturally and appropriately. The use of humour lightens the mood of all the seriousness from the rest of the news and keeps the audience alert and awake. Laughter triggers the release of adrenaline and increases long-term retention of information, this allows them to feel more relaxed and almost comforted by the station because of calming and cool environment, which makes them feel as if the jokes are targeted to them in the conversation, but in a good way. Although, it is important that the jokes aren't offending, and should stay away from issues such as ethnicity, religions, racism and politics, the only person that should be made fun of is the presenter because this allows the presenter to be in a safer position and doesn't offend anyone else, so the station isn't affected.

Overall, there are more ways to capture the audience’s attention, for example by using games and activities to interact with the audience, by using statistics to make sure the audience feel that the information is correct because it will be backed with evidence and by being brief so that the audience do not get bored of the station and will hear all the relevant information. These all show how important it is to be able to connect with your audience, because a radio station is all about the audience because they are the listeners! From this research I will be able to look at these important factors and include them when doing my own radio cast, so that my audience feel comfortable and are able to relate to the station.