Introduction to Radio

BBC Sounds

1) Why does the article suggest that ‘on the face of it, BBC Radio is in rude health’?

It has half the national market, with dozens of stations reaching more than 34 million people a week. Radio 2 alone reaches 15 million listeners a week as well as one in nine Britons still tune in to hear John Humphrys and his co-presenters harangue politicians every week. 

2) According to the article, what percentage of under-35s used the BBC iPlayer catch-up radio app?

Just 3% of under-35s use the iPlayer catch-up radio app.

3) What is BBC Sounds?

A new app and website that brings radio livestreams, catchup services, music mixes and podcasts together under one roof.

4) How do audiences listen to radio content in the digital age?

Convincing people to break their existing habits and put their trust in a BBC-only app will not be easy. Spotify has started to include a large number of podcasts – including BBC material – directly in its app and a growing number of people listen to the radio via voice assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa. Although there is the prospect of commercial radio being added later, industry voices have raised concerns that the app is a solution in search of a non-existent problem.

5) What does Jason Phipps suggest is important for radio and podcast content aimed at younger audiences?

He says there is a need to reconsider the entire tone of how the BBC tells stories, shifting away from rigid formality if it wants to attract the precious under-35 audience: “It has to be a warmer, more story-led journey. You need to report the very personal experience of it. “The very best stories are fundamentally anchored around the personal experience. You’re trying to find the human in the machine. Journalists have a process but younger audiences can find that very cold and want to access the actual response of human beings. They really want to understand the heart of the story.”

6) Why does the BBC need to stay relevant?

“The world in which we offer this amazing idea called the BBC has changed exponentially over nearly a century and particularly in the last decade,” he says. “And because the BBC is really important and valued by licence fee (payers) it’s got to continue to be relevant. “Otherwise you leave the BBC set in aspic and increasingly irrelevant. If you believe in the BBC you have to let (it) flourish in spaces where it can have a greater public value than market impact. That’s what we seek to do: be relevant.”

Now read this review of the BBC Sounds app.

7) What content does the BBC Sounds app offer?

BBC Sounds offers anything audio (apart from long-form audio books). Music, news, drama, documentaries, true crime, comedy. The app lets you click through to any live BBC radio station, but it also offers you other forms of listening, from podcasts to playlists.

8) How does it link to BBC Radio?

BBC Sounds links to BBC Radio as the app lets you click through to any live BBC radio station as well as offering other types of audio such as podcasts and playlists. 

9) What are the criticisms of the BBC Sounds app?

That there isn't enough content to choose from as well as finding the programme information may be a little bit tricky to access. 

10) Two new podcasts were launched alongside the BBC Sounds app. What are they and why might they appeal to younger audiences?

End of Days exclusive to the Sounds app, is a gripping tale. I hadn’t realised that many of the Waco cult victims were from the UK, mostly recruited from the Seventh-Day Adventist church. End of Days talks to their families and friends. Beyond Today is an attempt to mimic the New York's Time's successful The Daily programme. These may appeal to younger audiences as 'Beyond Today' is mimicking 'The Daily' programme which may be to take on a more modern and fun take on a news programme and 'End of Days' informs listeners in 'a gripping way' which may intrigue more younger audiences to listen to the news.