Unit 1 Task 1

I will now discuss Hallam FM. Hallam FM play adult contemporary music and is the most listened to commercial radio station in South Yorkshire. Commercial means that the company makes money through advertising. Hallam FM caters for an audience of 25-45 year old and makes money through targeted adverts, such as from Subway. Hallam FM is a subsidiary of Bauer Media and it is part of their Place Portfolio of radio stations.  Hallam FM’s operating model is similar to Bauer’s other radio subsidiaries – it makes money through advertising and creates brand awareness through sponsorship, such as when it used to sponsor Sheffield Arena, and advertising the most popular shows (Big John At Breakfast) on billboards and buses. Some of Bauer’s national subsidiaries also sit within a cross media portfolio (such as Kerrang radio, which is also a national magazine and TV channel). Hallam FM follows the model as Bauer’s other local and national stations – it conforms to the conglomerate identity and structure. An example of this can be seen when you look at Hallam FM’s website, and you see the similarity of layout and structure when looking at Magic AM, Viking and Kerrang that Bauer also own. 
Hallam FM makes radio programmes that cater for their audience and feature pop music and competitions. The most popular show is Big John At Breakfast and key presenters are John Harrison, Janine Jones and Steve White who presents the Drivetime programme every day. The main features are School of the Week where Hallam FM pick a local school and children from the school choose songs and enter competitions live on air, and School Years, where all the music played will be older adult contemporary songs that were popular when the listeners were at school.
One of Hallam FM’s main competitors in the area is BBC Radio Sheffield, which is a subsidiary of national public service broadcaster BBC who are funded by the licence fee. However this generally targets a different age range.  Capital FM – which is a collection of nine radio stations across the country owned by Global Media – is a direct competitor because it plays the same music and follows a similar structure, particularly in the morning when it offer’s ‘Hirsty’s Daily Dose’. However Hallam FM is more popular because of the way in which the brand has successfully connected with the listeners of South Yorkshire, particularly with events and competitions at Meadowhall Shopping Centre. One of the most successful competitions is where a member of the public sat in a perspex box in Meadowhall and had to come out after exactly one hour without any watch. If they did they won £2000. Other competitors in the area are Real Radio, Trax FM, Dearne Valley FM.