BBC Radio 4

1
BBC Radio 4

• Connecting with
• the Rock and Roll Generation

2
Some Facts about Radio 4

• 13,000 programmes a year across 14 genres.

• 700 hours of news bulletins a year
• 1300 hours of daily current affairs programmes
• 440 hours of weekly current affairs

• Factual programmes on history, farming, science,
  health, music, poetry, technology, natural
  history, religion, gardening, law, language,
  culture, arts, film, ideas, business and consumer
  affairs.

• 180 hours of religious programming a year
• Live Cricket coverage.
• Conversation

• 800 hours a year of original drama and readings
• 300 hours of original comedy a year.

3
News drives the audience
Today
PM/1800
WATO
Source RAJAR, Q2, 2002
4
Radio 4 its audience

• 9.5 million adult listeners a week
• 4.74 million listeners to the Today programme on
  the average day
  
• Listen for an average of 12.7 hours a week
• 2 million listen for 20 hours!
• Takes 11.3 of all listening in the UK
• Its the no.1 station in London share of 16,
  more than Capital 95.8 and Heart combined
  
• More than half use the internet once a week or
  more (above the UK average)

5
Who listens?
AGE
SEX
SOCIAL GRADE
6
Average audience age is 53
WHO are our audience ?
7
Fabulous Fifties - wealth

• They control an estimated 80 of the wealth of
  the UK
  
• And 40 of the consumer spending
• 17 of them have over 50K in savings
• 58 of them have no mortgage
• At their epicentre
• Cash rich men aged 50-54 who at 312 per week
  have the highest disposable income of any
  demographic group
  
• Therefore, some of the Baby Boomers are booming

8
A mould-breaking generation

• Teenagers
• Rock and Roll
• Beatle mania
• Recreational drugs
• Sexual revolution
• Social revolution
• Direct political involvement Vietnam, CND,
  Thatcherism, New Labour, Anti War March

9
A mould-breaking generation

• An end to deference equality matters
• Liberal parents - feelings matter
• Loved high and popular culture
• Food and drink revolution
• Technological advances - Space Travel
• World travel
• Digital Revolution
• Information age
• Individualism and Society
• Hedonism and giving back

10
Some promises havent delivered

• End of jobs for life - dramatic short-termism
• Collapse of Trade Unions
• Denigration of professions
• Denigration of idealism
• Why is this lying bastard lying to me?
• End of free higher education
• Their children may be the first generation who
  dont become more affluent than they are
  
• 23 of 20-30 year olds still live with their
  parents many cant afford to leave

11
In short

• Baby boomers are resilient
• Grew up in the Cold War and a very uncertain
  world
  
• But felt they could change things
• Are a generation generally unafraid of trying the
  new

12
Consumer insights - age can be deceptive

• Over 50s display a renewed appetite for knowledge
  and information and they have the time to
  satisfy it
  
• They want experiences and brands with integrity
• They have sufficient sense of self to build their
  identity around what they do, not what they buy
  
• They like information but they also want to be
  entertained
  
• They are much more open minded than the young
  give them credit for.

13
Consumer insights

• Age is changing we are all younger longer.

14
Why is Radio 4 succeeding with this audience?

• The Radio 4 brand has integrity
• Radio 4 touches their interest in the wider world
  and their journey of self-discovery
  
• Radio 4 has wit and subversive comedy
• But above all, Radio 4 engages not with age,
  race, class, gender but with a mindset

15
The Radio 4 mindset

• A huge pleasure in discovery - of new
  information, new comedy, unexpected and moving
  experiences.
  
• Expectation for programmes which demand sharpness
  and concentration
  
• Lean forward radio - one-to-one conversations
  for all sorts of moods
  
• Willingness be surprised
• Open-minded about subjects and coverage from
  different angles
  
• Part of a World Culture
• Interested in wider content than just relevant to
  their daily life

16
In-depth, revelatory journalism

• Original journalism on Today
• File on 4
• Face the Facts
• Its My Story- Damilola witness
• Inside the Foreign Office
• Martha Stewart Trial
• Public Enemy Number One
• Mosque in the Mendips

17
Information and irreverence

• Changes in News
• revamped PM with Eddie Mair
• BH with Fi Glover wry, witty, modern without
  trying too hard.
  
• Home Truths, Veg Talk, Womans Hour
• Lightening up without dumbing down

18
Comedy

• Refreshed the mainstream
• JAM
• Clue
• The News Quiz
• Paul Merton, Ross Noble, Julian Clary, Linda
  Smith, Jeremy Hardy, Mark Steel
  
• Continue reputation for new comedy
• The Consultants series 2 (from Edinburgh to R4 in
  3 mths.)
  
• This is Craig Brown cast include Rory Bremner,
  Harry Enfield, Edward Fox
  
• Inner Voices Dylan Moran, Stewart Lee, Curtis
  Walker, Reginald D Hunter comic monologues

19
Recent transfers from Radio 4 to BBC television

• World of Pub
• Mark Steel Lectures
• Sean Locks 15 Storeys
• Dead Ringers
• Little Britain
• Grease Monkeys
• Ross Noble - tbc
• The Consultants - tbc

20
Surprises

• Harry Potter on Boxing Day
• His Dark Materials trilogy
• Lord of the Rings
• The new Establishment and younger generation of
  voices
  
• Nigella Lawson, George Clooney, Jamie Oliver, Vic
  Reeves, Vittorio Radice, Jeremy Clarkson, Emmy
  Lou Harris, John Cale, Jo Brand.
  

21
and the unexpected

• Joan Armatrading on Ireland
• Sandi Toksvig on yodelling
• Garth Crooks on black footballers
• Ian Hislop on hymns
• Mark Radcliffe on music
• Al Murray on Thackeray
• Paul Gambaccini on great one-off gigs
• Lemn Sissay doing JB Priestleys English journey
• Brain May on Astrophysics
• David Baddiel piloting new debate formal

22
But our core values remain

• Trust is key
• Never compromise on quality get it right.
• Reliable information and in-depth analysis
• Scepticism, irreverence, wit, imagination
• Adventure offer the unexpected in content,
  tone and voices.

23
Has it worked?

• SINCE 2000-
• Listeners up by 800,000 Share from 11 to 11.7

14
9
All adults
Over- 50s
Listeners
24
It can work for the young too

• Growth amongst under-35s, too, albeit by more
  modest 6.
  
• But this is a remarkable achievement given the
  aggressive targeting of this age group by the
  many new and existing radio stations, not to
  mention TV channels, Playstations, etc
• Shows that age can be less important than mindset
  - programmes that work for the Fab Fifties can
  also work for the under 35s.

25
Has it worked?
26
Has it worked?

• Every day, without exception, I hear on Radio 4
  programmes that make me laugh and cry, that grip
  and intrigue and force me to find out more, that
  inform, educate and entertain and are sometimes
  impossible to turn off. These alone are worth
  the price of the controversial licence fee.
• Paul Donovan Sunday Times

27
BBC Radio 4 Sony Radio Academy Station of the
Year 2003