102.7 FM

OBJECTIVES:
1. To become familiar with a successful radio station’s format
2. To hear successful air personality techniques
3. To analyze all of the programming elements that make up a successful radio show
DIRECTIONS:
1. Listen to one of the radio stations on assigned list. (Located on separate page in
assignments folder)
a. Listen for one (1) hour continuously, starting at the top of the hour
b. Listen within the following time periods: 6AM – Midnight
2. Write down everything you hear. (Use this as a guideline to type your work)
a. Write down information about: music, news, commercials, promos, PSAs,
jingles, personality talk, traffic, weather, contests, etc.
b. If possible, tape the hour so you may refer back frequently for accuracy.
c. Concentrate—do your listening someplace where you can write and where you
will not be disturbed for the hour.
d. Example of written format to follow:
3:00-3:02 News (Claudia Marshall: local fire, movie star dies, sports, etc)
3:02 Commercial (Nissan Altima :30)
3:02:30 Commercial (Disneyland :60)
3:03:30 Personality (PSA – Red Cross 10K Run) over jingle intro
3:03:30 Jingle to song (medium up-tempo female vocalist)
3:08 Personality talk over intro of next song (slow ballad male vocal)
NOTE: Section 2 above (the handwritten portion pages) are not required to submit.
TYPED PORTION: (Sections 3 & 4)
3. Analyze the data (Both this section and Section 4 need to be in paragraph form)
a. Commercials
• how many commercials were played during the hour?
• how many commercial minutes total for the hour?
• how long was each commercial?
• how many commercials were played together in clusters?
• at which times in the hour where there commercial ‘stop sets’
• what were the products being advertised?
• what audience demographics were the commercials aimed at?
b. Music (Ignore if using a talk format)
• how many songs total were played during the hour?
• how many new songs? recurrents? (6 months-2 years old?)
• how many older songs? (over 2 years old?)
• how many upbeat songs?
• how many slow songs?
• how many songs in a row with nothing in between?
• how many different styles of music are played? (country, soft rock,
new wave, top 40, rap, heaving metal, vocals, hip-hop?)

c. Air personalities:
• how often does DJ talk? (before every song, two songs?)
• how long does DJ talk? (how many seconds each time)
• if it is a talk show format, how long is each talk segment?
• does DJ always talk over record intro, or with no music behind?
• how often does DJ or talk personality announce station call letters?
• what does DJ talk about, not including title or artist?
• how often does DJ give song title and artist information?
• what is the name of the air personality you listened to?
d. News/Sports/Traffic/Other programming elements:
• is there a newscast within the hour of listening? when?
• what is the name of the news person? delivery style?
• how much is L.A. news? California? National? Global? Fun news?
• is any sports information given in the newscast?
• any public service announcements? how many? how long?
• any contest promos in the hour? for which contest?
• any other station promos, jingles, or other elements you found?
4. Draw conclusions about the radio station. (Your opinion)
a. what is the image of the station?
b. what audience is the station trying to attract? (example: men 18-34)
c. what did you like or dislike about the station?
5. Turn in assignment in on the due date according to class schedule.
a. follow directions above for the typed portion.(Sections 3 & 4)
b. answer questions in sentence and paragraph form, NOT in an outline style.
REASONS WHY A SUMMARY WILL GET A GOOD GRADE:
• Sections 3 & 4 typed with no errors in grammar, spelling, or sentence structure
• A good opening introductory sentence or paragraph to establish written work material
• Neat, professional appearance without noticeable errors or erasures
• Including all the elements listed in Sections 3 & 4
• Using the proper format sheet
• Use of proper font, font size, and double spaced
• Length of typed portion a minimum of three pages
REASONS WHY A SUMMARY WOULD NOT BE ACCEPTED, OR WOULD HAVE POINTS
DEDUCTED FROM THE TOTAL:
• Sections 3 & 4 not typewritten
• The summary is poorly written with spelling and grammatical errors.
• No opening sentence or paragraph to establish written work material
• Half credit maximum given for work presented within one week of due date
• Work turned in over one week past due date will not be given credit
• Not using required font and type size
• Not following the format sheet
• Assignment not turned in on time (up to one week late)
• Incorrect required choice of station analyzed
• Proper sections not typed and double spaced
• Analysis not in paragraph form