Tape and CD players, iPods and MP3 players, newspapers, television, and the internet by means of music downloading and a source of news are all objects that modern radio is forced into competition with in order to survive. Despite the competition, radio as a whole continues to claw to life and live hand-in-hand with all the new technologies in today’s world.
Radio continues to be a useful thing in today’s world. I believe the majority of the U.S. population still listens to the radio at least on their way into work in the morning. Morning talk shows mixed in with a catchy tune here and there is a great way to deal with a morning commute. Despite having a CD player in my car, I listen to the radio much more than any of my CDs because I enjoy hearing local music events going on, and also enjoy hearing new types of music.
As radio survives via the music industry, news radio seems to be headed on the way out. Sure, we get news updates every hour or so, but radio is not the useful place for news it was decades ago. Newspapers tackle news stories with more depth than radio reports, television has the same speed to reach viewers as radio and is able to show pictures from an event or story, and the internet is the fastest way for news to break to the public. The most useful news that comes from radio is the traffic reports every 15 to 30 minutes, since most people listen to the radios in the cars.
Radio won’t die in the near future, but it is certainly not the mega power it was in the middle of the 1900s.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Audience Segmentation
The most obvious form of audience segmentation is with political news channels. CNN, Fox News, etc. all claim they're neutral, but after watching a few minutes of programming, you can tell which side the specific channel is leaning toward. Most forms of media seem to at least lean one direction or another, it appears that no media form is 100% down the middle.
The main problem is that this splits the audience into different categories, and when watching these news programs that issues are "altered" somewhat to create an idea of one side being good and one side being bad. This divides the population. Unfortunately, this has formed, at least in the majority, two sides that seem almost like clones of each other. People watch whichever station is more geared towards their belief system and the information they see conveyed from that station they take as truth. Arguments happen between the two sides, seemingly not because of individual opinion, but because one side believes one thing and the opposite side believes the opposite.
The only time it appears that audience segmentation doesn't truly take place is in times of great tragedy. The U.S. came together during the horrific terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Major news sources just covered the news, they reported on what was going on, there was no political spin put on it. Although the unbiased media wasn't the only reason, in that time the entire nation was unified, hand in hand, as we all attempted to pick each other up.
Audience segmentation isn't all bad. Segmentation allows a program or a source to make its audience happy. It will discuss things that their target audience has an interest in. However, I personally believe the bad far outweighs the good.
The main problem is that this splits the audience into different categories, and when watching these news programs that issues are "altered" somewhat to create an idea of one side being good and one side being bad. This divides the population. Unfortunately, this has formed, at least in the majority, two sides that seem almost like clones of each other. People watch whichever station is more geared towards their belief system and the information they see conveyed from that station they take as truth. Arguments happen between the two sides, seemingly not because of individual opinion, but because one side believes one thing and the opposite side believes the opposite.
The only time it appears that audience segmentation doesn't truly take place is in times of great tragedy. The U.S. came together during the horrific terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Major news sources just covered the news, they reported on what was going on, there was no political spin put on it. Although the unbiased media wasn't the only reason, in that time the entire nation was unified, hand in hand, as we all attempted to pick each other up.
Audience segmentation isn't all bad. Segmentation allows a program or a source to make its audience happy. It will discuss things that their target audience has an interest in. However, I personally believe the bad far outweighs the good.
Friday, January 21, 2011
People... Not For Me
When asked to choose a magazine that we don't normally read, I decided to use a publication that is supposed to be for everyone, People. The reason I chose People is because I've never had any desire to read a publication that focuses on celebrity news. My guess was that People Magazine was directed towards middle-age adults and younger women.
My theory was seemingly confirmed by the front cover of the edition of People I was using. The cover story was about Prince William and his girlfriend, with teasers on the cover about "Reese Witherspoon's new man" and "bodies after babies," not exactly things that any of my friends would seemingly be interested in. Stories ranged from fashion, to dealing with divorce, to new celebrity feuds and relationships, and even shopping tips. In the 136 pages of the magazine, there were 55 advertisements. Of those 55 advertisements, the only ad that I felt could possibly be directed towards someone my age were all related to food. Hersey's, McDonald's, and Ballpark Franks all had simple ads that only had information about the product, which doesn't make them exclusive to anyone really, except people that enjoy their products.
The majority of the ads were directed towards women. Make up products, perfumes, and tampons all had multiple companies advertise products in this issue. Shampoo (Aveeno) and Deodorant (Secret) used brands that are focused towards females as well. There were some companies that advertised products to someone like me, such as Sony's new digital camera, but they'd use people like Taylor Swift in the ad, which isn't someone a whole lot of guys 18-24 listen to a whole lot. Got Milk (Beyonce and 3 Musketeers ("Be Naughty Tonight") used similar tactics.
Men outside of my age group were targeted as well, but not to the extent that female products were advertised. Bulova watches and a Chrystler van ad saying "Daddy Likes" were the only ads that really focused on mature men.
People is definitely a magazine geared towards women, and men between the ages of 35-50. The magazine still has a nice variety for its target audience, which is shown by the ride variety of advertisers that are present in this magazine, from make-up to fast food. The only possible disadvantage to this is that is someone my age were to have an interest in celebrity gossip, which isn't necessarily a crazy thing to be into during college years, there are so many ads directed at females that it could potentially "scare off" a potential reader.
My theory was seemingly confirmed by the front cover of the edition of People I was using. The cover story was about Prince William and his girlfriend, with teasers on the cover about "Reese Witherspoon's new man" and "bodies after babies," not exactly things that any of my friends would seemingly be interested in. Stories ranged from fashion, to dealing with divorce, to new celebrity feuds and relationships, and even shopping tips. In the 136 pages of the magazine, there were 55 advertisements. Of those 55 advertisements, the only ad that I felt could possibly be directed towards someone my age were all related to food. Hersey's, McDonald's, and Ballpark Franks all had simple ads that only had information about the product, which doesn't make them exclusive to anyone really, except people that enjoy their products.
The majority of the ads were directed towards women. Make up products, perfumes, and tampons all had multiple companies advertise products in this issue. Shampoo (Aveeno) and Deodorant (Secret) used brands that are focused towards females as well. There were some companies that advertised products to someone like me, such as Sony's new digital camera, but they'd use people like Taylor Swift in the ad, which isn't someone a whole lot of guys 18-24 listen to a whole lot. Got Milk (Beyonce and 3 Musketeers ("Be Naughty Tonight") used similar tactics.
Men outside of my age group were targeted as well, but not to the extent that female products were advertised. Bulova watches and a Chrystler van ad saying "Daddy Likes" were the only ads that really focused on mature men.
People is definitely a magazine geared towards women, and men between the ages of 35-50. The magazine still has a nice variety for its target audience, which is shown by the ride variety of advertisers that are present in this magazine, from make-up to fast food. The only possible disadvantage to this is that is someone my age were to have an interest in celebrity gossip, which isn't necessarily a crazy thing to be into during college years, there are so many ads directed at females that it could potentially "scare off" a potential reader.
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