BBC

 What is pluralism? Where a media product gives voice to a wide range of ideological perspectives. Ensuring diverse voices have a platform to make content.

BBC KEY FACTS

• These principles ensure all BBC content should inform, educate and entertain
• The BBC abides by 'Reithian principles' which were proposed by it's first director general, John Reith.
• The BBC does not prioritise commercial profit, instead, it focuses on providing it's audience with the best possible content as a public service broadcaster
• The BBC is paid for by the TV license fee
• Because the public pay for the BBC, it therefore has a duty to reflect the stories from people of all walks of life
• The BBC prides itself in being pluralistic 

Curran and Seaton theorise that all media products are driven by profit and power. The BBC is not driven by profit and power, but it does need to be accessible.

How does the BBC meet the needs of a diverse audience?

• Produce and broadcast a certain amount of high quality news on each of it's channels every day
• Cannot rely on spot adverts/commercial breaks for revenue streams
• Has a remit to 'inform, educate and entertain'
• Create and broadcast original programming which appeals to a diverse range of British audiences.

Podcast of my choice: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p095tfj7 

Scarlett Moffat wants to believe

Target audience - young, working class, adult audience.

• Warnings of 'strong language throughout', intended for an older audience.
• You have to verify you are over sixteen to even watch it.
• Unprofessional tone, laughing at the beginning before they say 'hello' because they are nervous
• A young adult audience - 'girlfriend', 'boyfriend', 'moving house'
• 'Boxes are expensive'
• '£16 for 40 boxes', working class audience, those who need to find bargains.
• No stereotypical southern British accent
• References to COD (Call of Duty) - a game which a younger audience would be familiar with.
• Scarlett refers to the 'COD Squad' as the 'cock squad' jokingly, reinforcing the idea that this is targeted towards a younger audience due to the immature use of language.
• References to RuPaul drag race - a tv show targeted towards a younger audience.
• Games such as the 'sims' and 'building a replica of every house you've ever seen', familiar for a younger audience who would've grown up with the sims and enjoyed similar activities.
• The description for the podcast asks viewers 'which team are you on?' this could encourage online discussion linking into fandom.

How can the show use technology to target a specific audience?

• The audience can ask for a shoutout through social media, this targets a specific audience who are familiar with the concept of a 'shoutout' and who understand how to submit one.
• The question 'which team are you on?' encourages online discussions, linking into fandoms, perhaps through hashtags.

Fandom

• Audience hope for a second season, they have a clear audience.
• They can submit their own shoutouts through social media to be read out on the podcast.
• The audience are encouraged to 'send in any unexplained mystery'

How can the audience interpret this show in different ways?

• The target audience of a young adult, working class audience may interpret the show as normal and lighthearted. The discussions are joking about familiar activities such as gaming and television.
• An oppositional reading of this show, could be that it's not intellectual enough to be broadcasted, and the language is too taboo.

Industry prompts:

How is this show produced, distributed and circulated?

• Produced by the BBC
• Distributed by BBC sounds online

How have technological changes in radio changed production, distribution and circulation?

• Fans can use digital technologies to communicate with the hosts and send in theories they wish to be explored. They are encouraged to submit any 'unexplained mystery' through social media to be discussed on the show. This means the audience are more active and have taken the role of the producer, as they can dictate what they see - opposed to being passive.
• Fans can access the show at any time of the day using BBC sounds, meaning they do not have to wait around all day, this ensures the audience can maintain an audience opposed to having to circulate a show at a specific time which only suits certain viewers.

What economic factors may have affected this show? How financially successful do you think it was? Was it made commercially or for profit?

• They consistently speak about 'lockdown', so this was recorded during COVID-19.
• This could have influenced the financial success of the show, as many people would have had nothing to spend their time on, other than listening to their podcast, therefore Scarlett and Scott would be receiving significantly more streams than they would at another time.