Yorkshire Radio Station: An Analysis - Case Study Example

YORKSHIRE RADIO STATION: AN ANALYSIS INTRODUCTION Yorkshire Radio broadcasts popular music and sports commentary. Both are areas of interest - music and sports, fields which the station concentrates on as its main product. There has been no empirical study conducted on these two specific areas, so that Yorkshire Radio as a business itself can not focus its programs and plans. A need for a study on Yorkshire Radio has to be initiated with emphasis on its areas of interest, broadcasting popular music and sports commentary. Yorkshire Radio is an independent business radio. It has to be regarded as business, and its success has to follow some business strategies and practices. An important aspect of business is analysis, particularly on how business or organisation should market its product, be competitive and be a leader in the area it is being applied into. Survey has to be conducted on the Station with respect to its broadcasting. How effective and what is its following Relative literature about Yorkshire Radio Station have been reviewed, along with other fields, e.g. market analysis, competitor analysis, SWOT, PEST, the 7 Ps. Hypotheses have been formulated that Yorkshire can focus its programmes equally, i.e. broadcasting popular music and sports commentaries, and can go on with its regular activities and programming. Then, research methods have been designed and discussed. As the sample of this research, interviews were conducted on a number of listeners of Yorkshire Radio Station. Aims of the Study A study has to be done as to which is more popular, among the listeners of Yorkshire Radio, broadcasting popular music or live sports commentaries. Actual interviews can result in unexpected outcomes on these surveys. This must be done to give a real picture of what the Station should do or should have done in the first place. This study does not aim to modify the programs of activities of Yorkshire Radio, but recommendations and conclusions can be in order as to which focus and concentration can it apply in the future. Market research is defined as an organised use of sample surveys, polls, focus groups and other techniques to study market characteristics (like consumer attitudes, age groups, etc.) and improve the efficiency of a business development of new products, opening of new markets, measurement of advertising effectiveness are among its aims (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia). In the case of our subject, a radio station, a study is conducted on Yorkshire market, notably Yorkshire consumers, the listeners. Yorkshire has a population of around 5 million, so you have to access to a great many listeners. Market has to be studied in the area of Yorkshire. Questionnaires were formulated and conducted by telephone and through emails, the easiest way of conducting survey in this particular study. A question was framed like this: How do the people respond to the many programmes of the station, with emphasis on its live commentaries, music and other details of broadcasting, and which suit to the listening taste of the community Another question is: which is more popular - popular music or sports commentary In other words, which of these two does the listening public prefer or would like to listen to Market Research is the study of consumers' needs and preferences, and of the acceptability of goods and services offered for sale; in economics, the study of the requirements of markets (Crystal Reference Encyclopedia). Hypotheses have been developed, and we now conduct research methodology to test them. There are a number of research methods from which to choose. Generally, research approaches can be classified into three main categories: exploratory, descriptive and causal (Aaker, Kumar and Day, 1998). Yorkshire Radio broadcasts popular music and live football commentary of Leeds United AFC Games. The approach best suited for this study is the exploratory method. The Research Objectives Our literature review concentrated on the areas to which Yorkshire Radio has been broadcasting ever since its inception as a radio station. That is, it is broadcasting popular music and sports commentary. Our research objectives will now focus on which is more popular between the two, popular music or sports commentary. The main logic for our research is to make conclusions and recommendations for the Station to make further study. This can also make improvements, and the Station can focus more on certain areas. Yorkshire is an historic county of Great Britain. It also has a history of devotion to Sports like cricket. Presently, Yorkshire Radio focuses its program on live football commentary of Leeds United AFC games. The county has a history of great love for sports. Before football, championships were held in the area in cricket. Founded in 1895 was the Yorkshire County Cricket Club XI in 1895, captained by Lord Hawke. Research Data and Research Methods Data is the carrier of information. There are two main kinds of data sources: primary data and secondary data. Primary data is original data collected by the researcher for the research problem at hand. Secondary data is information collected by others for their own purpose, which can be different from the researchers'. Secondary data must be available, relevant, accurate and sufficient before it can be used as the only source of information, which can help solve the research problem (Ghauri, et al, 1995). Normally, observations, surveys (questionnaires) and interviews can be used when collecting data (Ghauri et al, 1995). There are several methods used in the interviews to collect data. The strengths of these interviews are shown below: Table: Research Methods Criterion Telephone Mail Personal 1. Ability to handle complex questionnaires Good Poor Excellent 2. Ability to collect large amounts of data Good Fair Excellent 3. Accuracy on 'sensitive' questions Good Good Fair 4. Control of interviewer effects Fair Excellent Poor 5. Degree of sample control Excellent Fair Fair 6. Time required Excellent Poor Good 7. Probable response rate Fair Fair Fair 8. Cost Fair Good Fair Source: (Donald and Del, 1993, p: 181) Mail Interviews collect information from respondents via mail or similar techniques. Generally, they are mailed to the respondent and the completed questionnaire is returned by mail to the researcher (Donald, and Del, 1993). Due to the limit of time and cost, Mail Interview is not suitable for this research. Email Interviews collect information from respondents via email. It can reduce cost and get response in a short time. Due to time constraints, email interviews were conducted on a number of sample of Yorkshire Radio listeners. Personal Interviews collect information in a face to-face situation. Personal interviews are widely used in marketing research. The interview may take place at the respondent's home or at a central location or a public place, such as a shopping mall or a research office (Donald, and Del, 1993). Telephone Interviews collect information from respondents via telephone. Telephone interviews involve the presentation of the questionnaire by telephone. This is the easiest way of conducting surveys. It does not cost much, and has good control of time and explanations of questionnaire to respondents. This research is about the popularity of Yorkshire Radio in broadcasting popular music and live sports commentaries. Which of these two areas of broadcasting the Station conducts is more preferred by the listeners is the focus of study. Surveys conducted on a sample of listeners of Yorkshire reveal the following data. This involved a sample of 150 listeners of Yorkshire Radio Station who are residents in the area. From the sample taken from Yorkshire populace, it can be concluded that majority of the listeners prefer to listen to sports commentaries than popular music. A radio station has only its broadcasting programs as its products. Its programming activities are what the listening public patronizes. In the case of Yorkshire Radio Station, the listening public has to choose which of its two main broadcasting programs should the radio station popularize. In the surveys, sports commentaries takes the lead. But this is not to say that popular music should be scrapped out. The station can go on with its regular programming. It's on its right track. COMPETITOR ANALYSIS ON BBC This is also necessary in order to study the programs in broadcasting of a popular Yorkshire Radio competitor, such as BBC Radio. Which programs of BBC does the listening public patronize Competitor profiling is recommended, while other businesses prefer on hiring competitor intelligence professionals to obtain information regarding competitors. BBC has this information: it has BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, BBC Four, CBBC, CBeebies, BBC News 24, BBC Parliament; and more competitive are its Radios - BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4 FM, BBC Radio Five Live, BBC Five Live Sports Extra, 1Xtra, BBC6Music, BBC7, BBC World Service, and Asian Network. It is safe to presume that BBC is hard to compete and beat. It has more established far and wide. It can advance, and benchmark within its own organisation. ANALYSIS IN THE MARKET We have to apply various analysis on the market, these are, among others SWOT, PEST or the 7Ps. Market analysis enables businesses to improve their products or remain competitive. A comprehensive approach on Yorkshire can give its plan and objectives more improved and developed, and can answer the demands of the community as pertains broadcasting popular music and live sports commentaries. SWOT, which is the acronym for strength, weakness, opportunity and threat, is a marketing analysis now popular among young and experienced businesses and organisations. For Yorkshire Radio Station, SWOT is definitely applicable. On the other hand, Pest is another marketing analysis that stands for political, economic, socio-cultural and technological. PEST analysis on the situational aspects of Yorkshire will be applied to determine the viability or success of Yorkshire Radio Station as a business and radio station with main focus "to cover Leeds United, with exclusive access to the managers, players and chairman plus Full Match Commentary on every game home and away on DAB Digital Radio across Yorkshire with expert analysis from Leeds legends Norman Hunter and Peter Lorimer."4 SWOT versus PEST It is logical to start first with PEST and proceed with SWOT later. SWOT measures business or organisation; PEST measures a market. We are going to apply this with Yorkshire Radio Station and its relationship to Yorkshire and even the entire UK. SWOT now will measure and examine the radio station; PEST measures and examines the location Yorkshire. This is the usual combination conducted on successful businesses here and across UK: SWOT on the radio station which is subjective; Pest on Yorkshire is objective. PEST definitely helps to identify SWOT factors. There is overlap between PEST and SWOT, in that similar factors would appear in each. That said, PEST and SWOT are certainly two different perspectives: PEST assesses a market, including competitors, from the standpoint of a particular proposition or a business; SWOT is an assessment of a business or a proposition, whether your own or a competitor's.5 Strategic planning is not a precise science - no tool is mandatory - it's a matter of pragmatic choice as to what helps best to identify and explain the issues. At the same time, PEST becomes more useful and relevant to the larger and more complex business, but even for a very small local business, a PEST analysis can still throw up one or two very significant issues that might otherwise be missed.6 All businesses benefit from a SWOT analysis, and all businesses benefit from completing a SWOT analysis of their main competitors, which interestingly can then provide some feedback into the economic aspects of the PEST analysis. PEST is an important preliminary step in the marketing planning process. This analysis forces you to take a closer look at external factors that influence your library. This is also known as the big picture. Political Yorkshire Radio is Yorkshire's Music & Sport Radio Station broadcasting live from Elland Road. Yorkshire is historic county, the largest in England and Great Britain. It covers just under 6,000 sq. miles with a population of around five million. The coverage is rather large, and it is assumed that the station already knows the big picture. It has been serving Yorkshire, delivering news and commentaries on sports, and allowing music to fly the air. Economic The economic situation in Yorkshire is suited to radio business. Broadcasting music and sports is competitive. Young and old alike are attuned to listening music and reports of their favorite sports. Socio-Cultural Business must also take into consideration the socio-cultural background of the people in Yorkshire. It is even more necessary because a radio station has to respond to the cultural needs of the people it is serving. Technological Technological know-how and background of the people in the company is crucial to the business of Yorkshire Radio. How knowledgeable are the people of Yorkshire Radio when it comes to handling the equipment and technical aspects of the business After determining the PEST factors, analysis can now be focused on SWOT, which is commendable for evaluating Yorkshire Radio Station. It can be focused to assess its commercial viability, the methods used in portraying its role to the public as service-oriented radio station. CONCLUSION: Yorkshire Radio is more listened to or patronized by millions of listeners because of its coverage of live sports commentaries. This is because the people of Yorkshire has a history of great love for sports. Therefore, sports commentaries are more popular than music broadcasting. Love for music takes second lead in the Station's broadcasting programs. The present program of broadcasting activities of Yorkshire Radio Station - popular music and live sports commentaries - are still commendable. There can be slight modifications in future programming, but as a whole, it' still commendable and can go on with business not being too much affected. REFERENCES Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Market Research Defined, Columbia University Press, Licensed from Columbia University Press, as cited in http://www.reference.com, retrieved 2007-03-06. Donald, S.T. and Del, I.H. (1993), Marketing Research Management and Method, 6th ed, London, Prentice Hall Ghauri, P., GrOnhaug and Kristianslund, I. (1995), Research Methods in Business Studies -A Practical Guide, Essex, Financial Times Prentice Hall Market Research Definition, online on Reference.com, can be found on http://www.reference.com PEST Analysis, online can be found on http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article, retrieved 2007-03-06. Yorkshire, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorkshire, retrieved 2007-03-06. Read More