Planning a Radio Institutions exam answer

Whatever the question in Section B of your exam, you will need to explain what you know about your case study (BBC radio) in each of the areas described in the Radio Institutions post below. You will need to make sure your answer covers what the question is asking, and refers back to the question enough. But the information you will give remains pretty much the same whatever the question. In other words, you HAVE TO KNOW YOUR CASE STUDY REALLY, REALLY WELL and when you write about it you MUST COVER ALL OF THE RELEVANT AREAS.

To test what you know right now, summarise your case study knowledge by writing notes under each of these headings. Remember to say what has changed over time, in each area, and how this has affected the BBC as a radio institution:

1. The BBC’s responsibility to its audience (the differences between public and commercial radio institutions - i.e. who pays for them and how; what does this mean about how they need to provide for their audiences?)
2. Convergence and distribution: how the BBC reaches its audiences; what new technologies have been introduced and how this has affected radio institutions like the BBC
3. Digital production and the benefits of this
4. Marketing: How the BBC markets specific radio stations and attracts specific audiences
5. Content: How the BBC targets the needs of niche audiences (e.g. people of a particular age, cultural heritage, region or interest group)

Once you've got that straight and your knowledge is at your fingertips, have a go at this exam question. Before you plan your answer, identify the key words in the question and make sure you know what you are being asked to write about:

January 2009 exam question:
Discuss the ways in which media products are produced and distributed to audiences within a media area.

What key terms should I use in my answer?
As a minimum, you should be able to use the words in bold (accurately!). The other words are important for higher level answers and will help you raise your grade if you learn to use them. They are divided into categories to help you revise:

The BBC as a public radio institution / compared to commercial institutions
radio institution
public - owned by the public
commercial - competing with other companies for consumers' money
licence fee payers - people who pay a TV licence in the UK (the public)
impartial (adjective); impartiality (noun) - not biased; giving both sides of an issue
independent (adjective); independence (noun)
responsibility to licence fee payers / the public

technological convergence
convergence
technologies
FM (frequency modulation) see wikipedia on FM broadcasting in the UK
digital radio have a look at this explanation of how digital and FM radio work
digital technology
internet
internet radio
TV
portable radio
DAB
mobile phone
iPlayer
podcast
iPod
download
listen again
we-media
MySpace
globalisation
proliferation (of content / technologies / radio stations) - rapid increase in the amount of

production and distribution
production
distribution
broadcast
analogue
FM
digital
DAB (digital audio broadcasting)
recording
signal
quality
availability

marketing and content
target audience
marketing
consumers
prosumers (consumers who produce the content themselves, e.g. posting own videos on YouTube)
advertising
attract
market share / audience share - how much of the total radio audience a particular radio institution gets

talking about the audience:
target audience
niche audience
regional
cultural
age
local
national
international / global
special interest group
listeners

ways the insitution tailors content and attracts its target audience(s):
content - what the radio station plays / broadcasts\
content that is relevant to/attractive to/appeals to/meets the needs of (a particular audience)
playlist
presenter
DJ
image
website
colour
design
style
radio station
local radio station
national
international
special interest radio station
radio show
programme
scheduling (which shows are on when)
interactive content
audience participation / involvement
we-media
availability - e.g. iPlayer / podcasts means availability of your favourite show whenever you want
accessibility - content is easy to get hold of wherever you are / through your chosen technology
convenience - content can be listened to whenever and wherever you wish