LO1: Investigation of the Radio Industry

Kerrang! Radio or Kerrang! 105.2 is a specialist rock music radio station currently broadcasting to London on DAB and across the United Kingdom on Freeview and various online platforms. It is part of the Bauer Passion Portfolio. This means that Bauer Media is the conglomerate behind the entire Kerrang! brand (Radio Station, Magazine). 70% of Kerrang!'s listeners are between the ages of 15 and 24; in comparison to Hallam FM (the number one radio station for South Yorkshire and the North Midlands) whose listeners tend to be between the ages of 25 and 45. As well as being broadcast locally on 105.2 FM in the West Midlands, Kerrang! is broadcast nationally on DAB. This reflects its young target audience as most young people are more likely to listen to the radio on the internet than through traditional sources. In comparison to Hallam Fm whose main focus is to bring radio to people across South Yorkshire (however it does also broadcast online). As only 37 % of Hallam FM's audience fall into the ABC1 category of the NRS social scale, you could say that it is targeted more towards working class people; this is shown by the topics of conversation on shows like "Big John at Breakfast" and by the places where the station is advertised (Sheffield Wednesday/United football grounds, Ponds Forge Leisure centre etc.). In comparison to the listeners of Kerrang!, over half of whom would fall into the ABC1 categories of the NRS social scale. In terms of how Kerrang! is actually broadcasted, Bauer shares a multiplex with Capital Radio. In each area (e.g. London, Birmingham) a number of stations are broadcast together in something called a multiplex. The operator of the multiplex contracts with multiple radio stations so they can broadcast on the platform. In comparison with Hallam FM which is broadcast on analogue transmission which broadcasts one channel per wavelength.