LO1: Analysing a radio programme

The radio programme I am going to analyse is TalkSport Drive with Andy Goldstein and Darren Bent. This show begins at 4PM therefore people will listen to this when driving home from work, hence radio show name TalkSport Drive. The show lasts 3 hours long and contains sporting debates mainly about football. This would make sense as one of the presenters (Darren Bent) is a former footballer himself. This is understandably one of TalkSports most popular and most frequently listened to shows as a lot of people will be tuning in at once when coming home. During the show, TalkSport will have callers that ring into to show to give their opinions on the debate which is currently had. This is often from fans of teams or players that are currently being discussed to get a point of view from either side. The call costs national fee charges and if listeners wish to text in it will cost an extra 50p. This is one of the ways that TalkSport earn some of their money and it give them a chance to interact with their audience in entertaining ways which will attract more listeners. 

At the start of the radio programme, the intro jingle for TalkSport is a short input of funky music with a deep voice commenting the name of the radio station and the times they are on. This is effective as since it is a sports radio station, you don’t need a jingle that is too long and is mainly music as that is not the purpose of the radio station. The use of the voice over is well implemented as it tells the audience what is on currently and what is on next while saying the radio stations name. It can be important to the say the station name as that is there identity and if sport comes up in audiences conversation, they can mention the debate that took place on TalkSport. They also have a different jingle when they roll the adverts. This jingle is similar with the voice over but has a celebration cheer during the jingle which is relevant as celebrations are a massive part of sports. TalkSport have many breaks to play ads as that is there main method of income as it is a commercial radio station. They will have adverts for betting companies like bet 365 as sport is large encourager of betting as it makes companies so much money. They also do adverts for match tickets so this will be targeted at a ABC1 social grade audience as people lower down on the social grade won’t be able to afford to go to matches. 

The two presenters of TalkSport Drive are both well spoken which is important for radio especially voices are the only output from the station when music and adverts are not playing. It is important for presenters  to be well spoken on the radio so all people can understand them and more people will tune in to listen. Both Andy Goldstein and Darren Bent are middle aged so they can understand the views of both younger and older audiences. This will be important since times change quickly now and a older callers opinion may differ to that of a younger caller so you need presenters to see both sides of the argument and give a honest opinion on the debate. The hosts are diverse as Andy Goldstein is of white ethnicity and Darren Bent of black ethnicity. This will increase the audience range as people of all cultures will see that they are included in this radio station. 

According to TalkSports media regulator RAJAR, TalkSport has a listenership of 3,000,000 which is a lot of people in the UK that differ in ethnicity, religion and culture. Ofcom gave TalkSport an age rating of 12+ as the station contains strong language and when debating, things may get slightly heated which might become distressing for younger listeners that are not accompanied by an adult. Also, TalkSport promotes gambling by advertising betting companies which really doesn’t want to heard by younger people.