Evaluation - Institution

Metro FM is a local, commercial radio station targeting listeners in the London area, which is funded through the advertising revenue it generates through the sale of advertising space (this is one of the reasons why I felt it was important to include adverts on my station).

My show, The Weekend Gossip Show with Alicia and Will, is on air from 10am until 1pm on Saturdays and Sundays. I created my own completely original station rather than simply create a show for an existing radio station. Metro FM is similar to stations such as Capital FM in terms of the kind of contemporary popular music that it plays, the age and gender of its target audience and the types of news stories it includes in its bulletins. Unlike Capital, which has a number of sister stations that broadcast around the country (Capital Manchester and Capital East Midlands, for example), Metro FM just services the Greater London area.

It is a local radio station but as it broadcasts to the London area, the news stories are mixture of ones that would directly appeal to listeners living in and around London, but also national stories that may affect people living in the region. Capital FM London often also features a mix of specifically local stories and national stories.

Capital FM is owned by Global Radio and is available not only on FM and DAB, but also online and on various satellite TV networks, such as Sky, Freeview and Virgin Media. I Imagined that a company such as Global Radio would own Metro FM (though it is a much smaller station) and it may join other radio stations that Global Radio own, such as Chill FM, Gold, Heart, LBC and XFM. Many of these stations also broadcast in the London area whilst having specific sister stations that play in other regions.

The format of my radio station is a contemporary hit radio station, with news, entertainment, speech and showbiz. Most of the content, such as the examples I have included below, target the local London area, such as the outside broadcast at Borough Market (a famous London landmark), the weather for the London area, the jingles that repeatedly reference London and most of the stories in the news bulletin that make reference to London and the South-East (even the Camelot story will affect people in London).