(M1) Structure of a Radio Station

Nitro FM is a radio station based in Wellingborough, Northampton. It is based in a place named Santa Pod Raceway, and is used as a part time radio station for the trackside and on track event. The radio station is part time as it is only used when there are significant events at the raceway, which is usually around once a month from March to September. The station involves commentating racing as well as playing music in between runs. They will often shout out people who are returning and if it is their birthday, and take music requests from listeners. 

The production creates meaning through it's commentary, choice of music and choice of radio shows that they play throughout the event. The meaning created here is a much more personal reading experience, which also brings a sporting edge with live commentary. This generates a more personal feel to the racing, as you can listen to the live racing whether you are trackside, and are hearing it through speakers, if you are in your caravan or motorhome listening, or at home listening from the YouTube livestream. The music used within the show also has this impact as it fits the criteria of the type of people who go to the show, who tend to listen to indie and rock music, as well as classic music from the 80's and 90's.

One of the parts from their show is the reward ceremony at the end of every event. This will usually take place towards later night around 5-6pm on the last day of the event. This is where they will go through every type of car that has competed and give awards to the champions of each sector. This is streamed live on Nitro Fm, as well as a video livestream on YouTube. This is one of the more popular events on the station, as people are interested to see who won each event, and people who have seen the event can listen on their journey back home from the even, as most people drive a considerable distance to get there.

This Radio section is always played at the same time, and will run advertisements and music before the show. The section also usually has sponsors that usually have mentions throughout the entire event. This means that they can raise money to reward the drivers with. The highest paying reward for the drivers is up to £10,000, so they need a lot of fundraising to achieve these.

Commentary - 

The show is commentated by Colin Theobald, who also commentates the entire racing event. This means that people are more likely to tune into this show because they like the commentator. This also means that there is continuity to the personality of the commentators which is good for keeping a theme throughout the event. Colin will do the commentary for all of the shows at Santa Pod, as it is his full time job. However some of the Santa Pod events such as 'Run What Ya Brung' do not have commentary as they are smaller events where the main purpose is the racing, rather than the full experience.

The presenter will address the audience as the people on the bank, and the people in the stands. They refer to these groups as the 'stands' and the 'bankside'. It is a running joke in the show and at Santa Pod as a whole that there is a difference between the people in the different areas, as they are on opposite sides of the track. This means that the presenters will sometimes make the people on both sides do a Mexican wave. This happens once every year, and the side which can get down the fastest win the even for the year. This is great as it adds another personal touch to the radio show, and people can compete in this game and enjoy it, which enhances their experience at the show.

Advertisements - 

The show will run advertisements whenever there is a break in racing. This counts the morning and evening sessions when racing is not going on, as well as when there is an accident or bad weather which will temporary stop the racing for a short while. The station take music requests, but their main them is indie/rock, as it suits the racer target audience that they have. This means that people often listen to the radio station from their motorhomes and caravans as the music played suits everyone's tastes at the event. This changes for events such as Bug Jam, which is more of a festival, so they will play festival style music such as drum and bass.

Jingles - 

The show uses selective jingles throughout the runtime over the weekend. The most common and well known jingle they use is actually also a sponsored advertisement. This jingle will run every time the ring starts and stops. The jingle states that 'live racing commentary is sponsored by the dark revenger'. This advertisement will make Santa Pod money as the dark revenger will have paid a significant amount of money to have their name mentioned frequently in the station. Santa Pod also have smaller less frequent jingles, these appear before big events in the radio show such as the awards ceremony and every time they switch to trackside audio.

Regulations - 

The shows on Nitro FM are limited, but have select different shows such as the rewards ceremony and trackside interviews. These shows include content such as interviews, call in requests and celebrations. When the rewards ceremony is happening, Santa Pod will stream it on YouTube and live on radio. This show in particular does not have any audience interaction, however, the Mexican wave show is based around audience participation. This is because the people sat around the track are encouraged to join in with this. The trackside interviews are just talking, so there is also no audience participation in them. 

These shows are commentated by the same commentator, but it sometimes differs with different people depending on the show and who is being interviewed. The content stays very similar from presenter to presenter here as it all falls under a similar theme. This means that people get the same experience no matter who is commentating. The style of presenting is very personal, as they use comedy to level with the audience. This means that the commentator feels more like a friend rather than someone who is more of a professional.

This is good as it means people can relax more and become more interactive with watching the show. This also means they are more likely to take part in any radio events that they will do whilst the racing is happening.