kiss radio

Question 1

what is the kiss FM and breakfast show?

Answer 1

KISS is a commercial British digital radio station

Question 2

who owns and operates the show?

Answer 2

owned and operated by Bauer media group as part of the Kiss Network.

Question 3

which age group is it aimed at?

Answer 3

. It is primarily aimed at the 15-34 age group

Question 4

where does it braodcast?

Answer 4

broadcasts nationally to the UK on DAB Digital Radio.

Question 5

general

Answer 5

The station started as Kiss FM - a 1980s pirate radio station that was to become the UK’s first legal radio station Kiss 100 specialising in black and dance music. As of September 2021, the station had a weekly audience of 2.7 million listeners.

Question 6

timings:

Answer 6

Kiss Breakfast is a daily breakfast show airing at 6am Monday and Friday

Question 7

who is it hosted by?

Answer 7

hosted by Diversity dancers Jordan Banjo and Perri Kiely.

The breakfast show radio slot is one of the key battlegrounds for commercial and public radio and is the most prestigious slot for any radio DJ. The Diversity members have worked closely with BMG [who own Kiss] on a range of BLM [Black Lives Matter] and equality/diversity issues previously. BMG are very proactive in addressing issues related to equality and diversity.

Question 8

What is ‘Bauer Media Group’ and what has this to do with Kiss FM?

Answer 8

Bauer Media Group is a German multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Hamburg. It operates worldwide and owns more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products and 50 radio and TV stations. Bauer has a workforce of approximately 11,000 in 17 countries.

Question 9

Why have BMG acquisitions been controversial?

Answer 9

BMG has acquired a number of magazine and radio brands from across the globe. This has led to concerns from governments and regulatory bodies about the power and control that BMG have as they dominate the commercial radio market.

As a market leader, BMG can now negotiate huge commercial deals with advertisers as they reach a huge audience across their many outlets.

Question 10

problems with dominance?

Answer 10

When companies buy other companies and start to have a dominant position with an industry sector (eg commercial radio, magazines), it can be deemed to be bad for society as it does not encourage competition (as they are effectively buying the competition). This can then be investigated by the government through the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

Question 11

established radio brands: BMG

Answer 11

Through the acquisition of so many established radio brands, BMG now has huge audience reach across different radio platforms. This enables it to generate huge advertising income from it’s many commercial stations.

Question 12

figures:

Answer 12

72% of Bauer Media Audio’s listening is now via a digital device, ahead of an industry average of 66%.

Bauer is home to three of the top five digital only commercial radio stations: KISSTORY, Absolute 80s and Planet Rock.

Bauer Media Audio UK has delivered a record reach of 20.6 million.

The Hits Radio Brand Network is the biggest commercial radio network with a reach of 10.2M.

KISS Network posts 4.7M reach, including No.1 commercial digital only station, KISSTORY (2.3M reach up 9.1%).

Question 13

brand synergy: kiss fm

Answer 13

Brand synergy is where BMG can use consistent techniques, consistent styles and consistent promotions across the many brand it offers. They can benefit financially and operationally from this as they may be able to work in a more cost-efficient way across their brands. An example of where this is evident at Kiss FM would be when operates phone-in competitions on its shows. These same competitions also run across brand ‘sister stations’ so that the potential audience for this competition could potentially be huge and the chances of winning lowered. The marketing of this competition across all stations would be cheaper as the same promotion can be produced and run across all stations.

Question 14

how does BMG promote kiss through other channels?

Answer 14

kiss events:
festivals.
themes concerts.
free live streaming.
downloadable radio- “listen. again”

Question 15

kiss social media use: promotion

Answer 15

instagram, twitter, tiktok.
showing video content from shows- especially insider interviews with artists.

Question 16

kiss tv use: promotion

Answer 16

Kiss TV channel.

available on virgin TV, Sky 356

Question 17

How is KISS funded?

Answer 17

Kiss FM has always been free for its listeners to tune into. This often presents the question of how such a station would raise money.

Advertising was the primary source of revenue for Kiss FM Radio. Kiss FM has hosted countless audio advertisements, responsible for the bulk of the revenue that the business has generated. These ads played between shows and music sessions earned different amounts of money depending on the nature of the marketing scheme, and the length of time the ad ran for.

Kiss FM also rely on sponsorship deals too. Many companies often pay radio stations to have their names associated with popular artists and programs. Part of the reason that the Kiss FM Radio Station was rebranded, was that the company wanted to attract more paid promotion and sponsorship options form a more extensive range of audiences.

Question 18

How is KISS funded?

Answer 18

Kiss FM has always been free for its listeners to tune into. This often presents the question of how such a station would raise money.

Advertising was the primary source of revenue for Kiss FM Radio. Kiss FM has hosted countless audio advertisements, responsible for the bulk of the revenue that the business has generated. These ads played between shows and music sessions earned different amounts of money depending on the nature of the marketing scheme, and the length of time the ad ran for.

Kiss FM also rely on sponsorship deals too. Many companies often pay radio stations to have their names associated with popular artists and programs. Part of the reason that the Kiss FM Radio Station was rebranded, was that the company wanted to attract more paid promotion and sponsorship options form a more extensive range of audiences.

Kiss FM also frequently hosts events that allow it to generate additional income. For instance, hundreds of thousands of people turn up to the live shows hosted by Kiss each year

Question 19

how is radio industry regulated:

Answer 19

Ofcom - short for the Office of Communications - is the UK’s government-approved regulator for the broadcasting, postal and telecommunications.

Ofcom regulates television, radio and video-on-demand sectors, fixed-line telecoms, mobiles and postal services. Ofcom sets and enforces regulatory rules for the sectors of which it has responsibility. It also have powers to enforce competition law in those sectors, alongside the Competition and Markets Authority

Question 20

how is OFCOM funded?

Answer 20

Ofcom is funded by fees from industry for regulating broadcasting and communications networks, and grant-in-aid from the Government.

Question 21

duties of OFCOM

Answer 21

Ofcom’smain legal duties are to ensure the UK has a wide range of electronic communication services, including high-speed services such as broadband, and that TV and radio programmes appeal to a range of tastes.

The regulatorhas to ensure people areprotected from harmful or offensive material, from being treated unfairly and from having their privacy invaded

Question 22

radio broadcasting codes:

Answer 22

Protecting the under-eighteens - the transition to more adult material must not be unduly abrupt at the watershed (in the case of television) or after the time when children are particularly likely to be listening (in the case of radio).

Harm and offence - ensure that generally accepted standards are applied to the content of television and radio services so as to provide adequate protection for members of the public from the inclusion in such services of harmful and/or offensive material.

Crime, disorder, hatred and abuse - ensure that material likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime or to lead to disorder is not included.

Religion - be responsible in content, must not exploit the listeners or involve any abusive treatment of any religions.

Due impartiality and due accuracy - ensure that news, in whatever form, is reported with due accuracy and presented with due impartiality.
Fairness - broadcasters avoid unjust or unfair treatment of individuals or organisations.

Privacy - avoid any infringement of privacy in programmes and in connection with obtaining material included in programmes.

Commercial communications – ensure it is clear to customers when there is a commercial communication [ie advert, commercial or promotion].

Question 23

how does KISS FM target audience and meet needs?

Answer 23

The KISS Network, made up of KISS FM UK, KISSTORY and KISS FRESH, entertains more 15-34yr olds than any other Bauer Media brand and is extremely influential amongst this hard-to-reach demographic. These young people are always onto the next thing, they want or already own the latest cool stuff and have the devices at their fingertips to facilitate this sense of immediacy. It’s more than just dual screening – it’s about using multiple devices simultaneously from a mobile, tablet, TV, and laptop.

Question 24

kiss audience:

Answer 24

The KISS audience is a 15-34, 60/40 Female to Male split.

Question 25

how do they engage audience?

Answer 25

KissKube App which offers listen again features and links to a range of Kiss-related content (including KISS, KISSTORY and KISS Fresh). – Over 1.3 million downloads.

Kiss runs regular competitions that can be entered through text or through the app. The prizes trend to be money, tech-based or holidays.

Question 26

hosts and events:

Answer 26

Regular celebrity and relevant musical artists that are highly relatable to the audience are invited into the studio. - Jordan and Perri are young, successful and have a high energy style. They also mirror the young and urban audience demographic.

KISS sees over 300,000 people each year party at one of their 100 yearly events; Summer is always a massive season for KISS as they go on the road to host KISSTORY and KISS Pool Parties in the UK and abroad.

They also host a yearly sell out Halloween event at Wembley which in previous years has seen up to 11,000 dress up fans dance.

Question 27

changing reach to audience:

Answer 27

some stations recording lower numbers at breakfast.

This is partly caused by more people working from home due to the pandemic.

Falling market share since 2018 (nearly 1% drop).
Average hours of listening down to 4.8 from 6 in 2017.
Fall in overall audience reach.

Question 28

reach compared to competitiors:

Answer 28

KISS is trying to be a more niche radio station aimed primarily at a younger and mainly urban demographic. This will therefore limit the audience who wish to access its network of stations [compared to Capital or Heart that have a broader range of audiences wishing to listen to its range of stations]

Question 29

why do people listen to KISS: uses and gratifications theory

Answer 29

entertainement/diversion – some people use music to relax and escape.
social interaction – through music and shared interests we form shared interests and social connections with like-minded people.
Personal identity - an important part of youth culture is to identify with certain types of music or ‘tribes’.
Surveillance/info – we use music (and associated attitudes, fashion etc) to gain a greater understanding of the world around us and our place in it. We also use music to inform our thinking about emotion etc through lyrical content.

Question 30

stuart halls reception theory:

Answer 30

preffered reading- Listeners to the Jordan and Perri Breakfast show love the music, relate to the guests and enter the competitions. They may well interact with the show through social media and the app.
negotiated reading- With niche products like Kiss that is very specifically targeting a segment of the market (young and urban), this is harder to achieve.
oppositional reading- These people will listen to alternative radio stations or will consume other media products instead.

Question 31

change in consuming media:

Answer 31

1967:
buying records.
radio listening.
read music news.tv starting to emerge.

2022:
spotify-apple
youtube
social media platforms.
disney
gaming and consoles.