In this focus, I would like to research how BBC Radio 1 has managed to cultivate a loyal community (or 'fanbase') using New Media and viral techniques.
BBC Radio 1 (R1) has used various methods over the past few years to booster the loyalty amongst its 'Daytime' schedule. They have used an ARG (Alternative Reality Game), social networking websites like MySpace and Facebook and personalisation tools to brand your webpage. The R1 website is interactive from the top down, using chatrooms, message boards, webcams, galleries and displays text messages online as they are sent in to the station. Using events such as the Radio 1 Big Weekend, BBCi interactive steams of high profile gigs and extending its range of audio and video podcasts to 12 in total, R1 has entered the world of New Media and attracted new young audiences.
By extending their reach of services, R1 has seen a rise in their overall audience share, recovering from an all time low in the late 1990s. The Chris Moyles Show (dubbed 'The Saviour of Radio 1') has grown in popularity and is now the second most popular radio programme in the UK. I believe this is the root of R1's newly found success because 'brand loyalty' has produced a fanbase which stays loyal to R1 through The Chris Moyles Show's success and market dominance. This is shown by the unexpected success of The Chris Moyles show fanpage on Facebook - as documented by Paul Smith on the OrganGrinder blog.
There isn't a lot of theory examining nationwide communities as a result of nationwide stations - nor much research on the influence on New Media. Moreover, it's hard to know where to focus. It's a broad idea which touches on the Advertising topic too. Would this be too complicated to negotiate? Although I like this topic area, it would be hard to ground this in sourcable theory.
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