(P1) Describe the different radio industry operations.

Radio is used every day by millions of people across the UK. This is most popular when people are driving, as cars can access radio extremely easily. This is also popular as people cannot use their phones and drive. This means that many radio stations across the UK get a range of listeners, as stations stream from regionally to nationally.

Stations such as Hallam FM have much more regional listeners, as they are based in Sheffield and stream to people in the Yorkshire area. They often do cash giveaways ranging from £5,000 to £250,000, this is as they are an independent local radio station, which means that they run adverts and make money from them, which means that they can give money back to listeners as they are not controlled by the government due to their funding. 

Public radio - 

Public. radio stations are usually national stations, for example, BBC radio 1 and 2 are public radio stations. They are funded by an audience licensing fee and government funding. This means that they must keep to a very strict budget, and are not allowed to give money away to viewers. These stations stretch across a wide area and make up most of the listening population of radio stations across the UK. The most popular radio station in 2022 was BBC Radio 2, which is a public radio station that play chart topping music, this is so that they can reach a wider listener audience, and the psychometrics of the audience would be aimed towards the mainstreamer audience. 

Regional Radio - 

Regional Radio is a radio station that is aimed at a specific area, for example a specific city or town area like Leeds or Sheffield. These radio stations can be public or commercial radio, meaning they can be government funded or they can be self funded. An example of a Public radio station that is regional is BBC Sheffield. This is a government funded radio station that is specific to the Sheffield area, this means that it is paid for by the government. Another example is Hallam FM, which is a commercial radio station that is aimed towards the Sheffield area. This means that they use advertisements and donations to fund their radio show. 

These radio shows are very popular among small areas. For example, a regional radio station based in Sheffield will be extremely popular in the South Yorkshire and especially Sheffield area, but will be almost unheard of in places such as London or Manchester. This also means that their radio shows and games will be local to the area, so people will relate to it more. This means that people prefer these radio stations over larger scale stations as they have a more locational and personal feel to them.

Internet Radio - 

This is when a radio station uses internet and online services to distribute radio. The term used for this type of radio is webcasting, and it is streamed live and free online to its audience. This type of radio is available on a global scale, and means that anybody can stream the video over internet connection. This is better as it means audience numbers can be much higher due to being accessed by everyone, rather than only one specific area or country. This also means that if they stream advertisements, they can stream more from across the world meaning they can make more money. 

Commercial Radio - 

Commercial Radio is the more common, standard type of stations. These are privately owned by companies or people, and they rely on advertisement and sponsors to make their money so they can run. A good example of this type of station is Radio X, as they play advertisements and have sponsors to make their money. This money will pay for the radio station budget, and the salaries for the presenters and people working behind the scenes.

These radio stations are also able to do gameshows and giveaways, as they make their own money and are not government run. This means that commercial radio stations will often do money or product giveaways to encourage listeners to listen to the show more, as they look out for more of these giveaways. This benefits the station as it means that they can do more things that involves fans, which generates a better relationship with them, and promotes loyalty amongst the listeners. This will also increase their viewers as people will hear about what they are doing and become interested.

Non Profit Radio - 

Non Profit Radio station are exactly what they are labelled as. These radio stations make no profit at all, and keep production budget and costs as low as they can. This means that their technology may not be as great, but this is okay as they are usually for smaller areas and nicer people. These can usually be found in colleges, university and hospitals. These places are perfect for radio stations that are non profit as they have more people who would be likely to volunteer for the cause, just because they want the experience or enjoy doing it.

Many of the famous presenters you will hear nowadays started in the non profit radio sector. This is because it is an extremely easy job to get into, and gives you entry level experience which is extremely beneficial for a future profession. This is also a good thing to do to get notoriety from people within the sectors they appreciate how the volunteers worked for nothing, and would like that kind of experience for any new coming presenters.

These stations rely on means of crowdfunding, or maybe sometimes advertisements to keep them going. This is always kept at a minimal too, as they do not want to take too much money from people, as they are a non profit radio.

Community - 

Community is a very similar type of station to Non-Profit. In fact community radio stations are a type of non profit radio stations. They are similar in concept but are used in different areas, larger areas such as villages and towns. These radio stations one again rely on volunteers that are willing to work for nothing, and purely do it out of passion and experience. These radio stations will rely on local stories and news headlines, and have local people come onto the show and share their stories.

These stations are usually in a 5-10 mile radius of the area that they reside in. For example, small villages and towns such as Rotherham and Doncaster will have radio stations such as this, as they have local people who would be interested in sharing their stories.

Internet Radio - 

Uses the internet as a source of distribution for its content rather than radio waves. The term used for this is webcasting, it is a form of streamed media where content is usually provided live instead of pre recordings. It is available on a global scale and uses the internet to distribute to whoever can access it. This radio is very similar to the other stations, as the content is exactly the same. However the difference is how it is streamed. Internet radio is streamed purely over the Internet, with no radio frequencies or DAB. This is a positive for the radio show as it means it can be accessed by anybody from anywhere in the world for completely free. This is a positive as it means that anybody can access any radio station at any time, regardless of where they are.

This is also a positive as it does not use any radio frequencies to transmit audio, and just relies on another person's internet speed and connection.