Videogames case study 1: Lara Croft Go notes

Our first videogames Close-Study Product is phone/tablet game Lara Croft Go.

This is an in-depth topic so we need to make sure we have studied this product across media language, audience, industry and representation.

Lara Croft Go: notes

Lara Croft: history

Lara Croft first appeared in 1996 Eidos Playstation game Tomb Raider and was the first computer game to feature a female character as the protagonist rather than a supporting role or a secondary character.

The narrative of Tomb Raider was influenced by Indiana Jones and featured the daughter of a Lord (later a famous archaeologist), called Lara Croft on various missions through settings such as jungles, tombs and jungles. The genre is action-adventure and involves many conventions of this genre such as fighting villains using weaponry.

Evolution of Tomb Raider:




Lara Croft: beyond a videogame character

Lara Croft has featured in films (the first starring Angelina Jolie; 2018 version rebooted the character). She has appeared on magazine covers more times than any supermodel.

There have been advertising tie-ins, merchandise, comic books and  spin-offs featuring the character. The franchise has had numerous incarnations before Lara Croft Go in 2015. 

Lara Croft has been credited with bringing success on the Play Station for the games’ creators (selling 7 million copies world wide) and launching the female protagonist in games. She has also been widely thought of as a sex symbol. 

Lara Croft Go 

Lara Croft Go explores the ruins of an ancient civilization in the Amazon Jungle while fighting menacing enemies, overcome dangerous obstacles and traps, and ultimately, uncover the myth of the Queen of Venom.  There is no specific timescale – but is modern-day in Lara’s weaponry.

This concept of action adventure exploring and uncovering relics from ancient civilisations is not new and there is some intertextuality here with the Indiana Jones movies, original Tomb Raider games, Tomb Raider films and more.

Watch this online review of Lara Croft Go:



What are the features of the Lara Croft Go game?

In many ways, there are traditional Action Adventure elements to this game (she moves, she shoots, she avoids hazards).  However, this game is a ‘turn-based puzzle’ which involves by-passing enemies and unlocking paths in a sequential manner which suits the ‘short timespan’ that people can sometimes commit to mobile gaming. It faithfully preserves element of original Tomb Raider game and brings the original adventure up to date. 

The game also involves collecting items that unlock special powers and tools that help your progress through the game.  On the image to the left you can see many of the opponents that Lara comes across (Lizards, Snakes, Spiders) and some of the collectables. There are not many different enemies as memory is key.  

The three-act narrative structure proceeds from an orientation stage through various complications and blockages to a simple resolution.

Evolution of the character of Lara Croft

• Lara is depicted as athletic with brown eyes and hair, frequently tied back in a plait or ponytail.
• Her costume is usually a blue tank top, light brown shorts, calf high boots and long socks. 
• Accessories / Props include gloves, a backpack, a utility belt with holsters and two pistols. 
• Her original back story was that she was the daughter of an aristocrat who had a plane crash in the Himalayas, causing her to re-evaluate her life and seek adventure, leading her to become a thief and mercenary, living outside the law. The second era changed the narrative to her father being an archaeologist and her wanting to discover the reason for her mother’s disappearance. A third era focused more on both her parents being archaeologists and her mother disappearing and her father dying.
• All three narratives feature her transition from a vulnerable girl to an independent, fierce adventurer (hero).
• Most stories feature her being stranded on a mysterious, far away island although the location of this changes. 

Representation

Does Lara Croft reinforce female stereotypes in the media?

Yes (reinforces traditional stereotype):

• Object of sexual desire. Her body features were particularly exaggerated in early versions of games.
• Scantily-clad designed for male audience. Would a male character be designed like this?  
• Is Lara Croft is designed to be attractive to the male audience as she basically acquires all the features that some men would describe as perfect.

 No (subverts female stereotype):

• She is an action hero – traditionally a male stereotype in gaming.
• She is empowered female heroine – rare in gaming industry at the time.  “The heroine, Lara Croft, is an intelligent, butt-kicking, gun-wielding, sexpot, ready to take on whatever comes her way.” Katherine Walker, Portrayal of Women in Media (Video Games)

Industry

We need to learn about two distinct areas for the industries key concept:

• Videogame regulation
• The companies/franchises behind the game

Regulation: PEGI

PEGI stands for Pan European Game Information and is a European video game rating system established to help consumers make informed decisions when buying video games or apps through the use of age recommendations and content descriptors.


PEGI was set up by the ISFE* – an independent group that represents European software companies. Important: this is an example of self-regulation, not government.

Lara Croft Go: companies and franchises

Lara Croft Go is the combination of two successful franchises – Lara Croft Tomb Raider and the Hitman Go mobile game.

Tomb Raider is a media franchise that originated with an action-adventure video game series created by British gaming company Core Design. Formerly owned by Eidos Interactive, it is now controlled by Square Enix after their acquisition of Eidos in 2009. 

Square Enix developed Hitman Go in 2014 based on the successful Hitman game franchise.

Audience

We need to think about the following for the audience key concept:

• Audience pleasures
• Target audience for Lara Croft Go – and whether videogame audiences are changing

What is the appeal of Lara Croft Go?

“Acrobatics and platforming are key features of a Tomb Raider adventure, and we quickly realized that Lara had to be fully animated. Our animator did an amazing job of quickly producing a first batch of short animations for Lara, and immediately everything felt better. Again, we looked back at Lara’s classic animations from the first Tomb Raider and they fit right in with our turn-based game.”

– Square Enix

Audience pleasures: Blumler and Katz Uses and Gratifications Theory

Remember that audiences consume media products for a variety of reasons (from Blumler and Katz: Uses and Gratification Theory)

1. The need to be INFORMED and EDUCATED about the world in which we live (Surveillance) 
2. The need to IDENTIFY personally with characters and situations in order to learn more about themselves (Personal Identity)
3. The need to be ENTERTAINED (Diversion) and escape daily life. 
4. The need for SOCIAL INTERACTION (Personal Relationships)

Which of these apply to Lara Croft Go?

Target audience

Who is the target audience for Tomb Raider / Lara Croft games?  They fall into various groups and may be a mixture of all three:

1. Those interested in the quality of the innovative gameplay.
2. Those with brand loyalty to the Hitman Go series.
3. Those with brand loyalty based on the feminine empowerment displayed.
4. Those with brand loyalty based on nostalgia or even the sexualisation of Lara Croft (especially if they played older Croft games when at a formative age)

Videogames case study 1: Lara Croft Go blog tasks

Go to Google Classroom and answer the questions Ms Fowler has set for you.

Optional extension tasks

Exam practice example question:

“Videogames are increasingly played and enjoyed by a wider and more diverse audience." 

Does your study of Lara Croft Go support this view?

Write a detailed three-paragraph answer to this question using the information you have learned in this case study.

Top grade extension tasks

Language
1) Watch some Lara Croft Go gameplay online or, even better, play the game yourself. How is the game constructed to attract and maintain the engagement of an audience?

2) How is narrative, character, iconography and setting used to create intertextuality? (Links to other genres and media texts)

Representation
1) Read this NME feature on the history of the Lara Croft character. Do you agree that she is now a 'feminist icon' rather than a 'trapezoid-boobed pinup'? What do these terms mean?

2) Have later versions of the Tomb Raider/Lara Croft franchise featured a less-sexualised version of the character? Does this suggest society is changing in its attitude towards women?

Industries
1) Why do videogame producers prefer the self-regulation of PEGI to government regulation? Why is videogame regulation increasingly important in the 21st century?

2) Watch the full lecture embedded above: Distilling a franchise - the making of Lara Croft Go. How did the designers make conscious decisions based on previous franchises to create a successful game?

Audience
1) How has the marketing of Lara Croft/Tomb Raider franchise changed over the last 20 years and how might an audience respond to this? Think about reception theory - preferred and oppositional readings. 

2) Does Lara Croft Go target a female audience? Why do you think female gamers dominate the phone/tablet market?

December assessment - feedback and learner response

You will have received your Media PPE results (for Autumn 2021) and now we need to analyse our performance in those exams and identify areas to revise and improve for future exams.

The most important aspect of any mock exam is making mistakes and learning from them.

Here, we need to closely analyse our performance across each question in the paper. Complete the following learner response tasks in a new blogpost on your personal blog called 'Autumn 2021- PPE learner response':

1) First, copy down the teacher's comments from your paper. Next, did you succeed in meeting or exceeding your target grade for GCSE Media? If not, how many additional marks do you need to achieve your target grade in this paper? Write this in a full answer. 

My target grade is...

My mark for this paper was...

To achieve my target grade of a ___, I would need to get ____ more marks

We don't know exactly what grade boundaries AQA will set in the real exams. These are the boundaries we've used (out of 40) 

7 = 32; 6 = 28; 5 = 24; 4 = 20; 3 = 16; 2 = 12; 1 = 8, u = below 8.

Now read through the mark scheme, question by question. 

2) Write a question-by-question analysis of your performance. For each question, write how many marks you got from the number available and identify any points that you missed by carefully studying the 'possible content' part of the mark scheme:

Example:

Q3: 3/8 marks

Additional points: I didn't mention Peer to Peer or My Space when talking about how Arctic Monkeys used social media so I was too vague. I need to give more specific examples. 

3) Based on the whole of your learner response and my comments, choose one of the below LRs that you need to do, going forward (there may be more than one but please copy down just one to focus on for now):

LR1- Revise the CSP content so that I know facts about them such as names, dates which show I know the content well. 

LR2- Improve my use of media terminology so that I am using media specific words from the glossary and not just general words. 

LR3- Written English. Make sure my answers make sense and my SPAG (spelling, punctuation and grammar) are accurate so the reader can understand my work. 

LR4- Learn my Media theory so that I can apply it when it appears in questions (e.g. Blumler and Katz' Uses and Gratifications) 

LR5- Read the questions and make sure I am answering / engaging with the question and constructing an argument in the essay questions. 

In your own words, say HOW you are going to try and complete that learner response (e.g. read my glossary and make flash cards of key terms, go back over Glo Words in my book before the next assessment, summarise my CSPs in revision notes, complete my missing blog posts, challenge myself by doing more of the extension tasks...)

Extension task: Focus on the 20-mark question (Q9). Write a full essay plan for this question using the indicative content in the mark scheme and with enough content to meet the criteria for the top level. This will be somewhere between 4-5 well-developed paragraphs planned in some detail. 

OSP & Videogames: An introduction

Our new media topic is called Online, Social, Participatory media and Videogames - an in-depth area of study on new and digital media with three Close-Study Products.

Over the next few weeks, we need to study the following CSPs:

Lara Croft GO
Kim Kardashian: Hollywood

Marcus Rashford

We need to study these products using all four key concepts: Language, Industry, Audience and Representation. Both Lara Croft GO and Kim Kardashian: Hollywood are good examples of the changing nature of the videogames industry.

A brief history of videogames: blog task

Watch the YouTube video outlining the history of the videogames industry from the 1970s to the 2010s. Now answer the following questions:

1) What were the first videogames like?

2) How have videogames changed over time?

3) What do the most successful games have in common? Answer this in as much detail as you can. Think about audience pleasures - what do people like about playing videogames?

4) What criticisms have been made towards videogames?

Extension task: read this news story reporting that Prince Harry has called for Fortnite to be banned. Why does the Prince think Fortnite producer Epic Games is irresponsible?

You will have lesson time to work on this but will need to complete for homework - due date on Google Classroom.

Music Video: BLACKPINK - How You Like That

Our second music video CSP is BLACKPINK - How You Like That.

This 2020 video promoted the lead single from Blackpink’s first Korean-language studio album, The Album. The video, released on 26th June 2020, was premiered on Blackpink's YouTube channel at the same time as the single was released. 

The video broke many YouTube records, including most-watched premiere (1.66 million concurrent viewers), most views within 24 hours for a music video (86 million views) and fastest video to achieve 100, 200 and 600 million views. It was the 3rd most viewed music video of 2020. As of Autumn 2021, the video has had over 1 BILLION views.

BLACKPINK: How You Like That

K-pop: global phenomenon 

The K-pop genre reflects the global nature of the media and music industries. Over the last 20 years, K-pop has become a cultural sensation as groups like BTS and BLACKPINK enjoyed global success. This has also resulted in Korean culture becoming mainstream in the West.

Audience

BLACKPINK’s audience: Blinks

BLACKPINK fans are known as ‘Blinks’ and are largely teenage girls and young women. Their fans are worldwide but they are particularly big in the Philippines and Indonesia as well as western countries such as the UK and USA.

From Vogue’s feature on How BLACKPINK became the biggest K-pop girlband on the planet:

Avril, a 16-year-old Blink (Blackpink’s fandom name) from Peru discovered them in 2018. “Everything about them made me become a fan,” she tells Vogue over Twitter. “The way they perform, their iconic songs and choreos, their friendship, even the way they dress. Blackpink were on a whole new level.”

Audience pleasures

Applying Blumler and Katz Uses and Gratifications theory:

• Diversion: music video conventions – performance, effects, fast pace etc.
• Personal relationships: Fan interaction online through social media is a key element of K-pop’s global success. Fans feel like they ‘know’ the band members.
• Personal identity: K-pop fandom often involves copying the look of band members and seeing their own style reflected on screen.
• Surveillance: Western audiences gain knowledge of Korean music and culture.

Marketing and promotion to the audience

The video’s release was preceded by a series of teasers on the band’s social media accounts (including posters, photos focusing on individual band members and videos) and a reality show (24/365 with Blackpink, available on YouTube). 

A “dance performance” video including the choreography for the music video was released in July 2020; by March 2021 this had achieved over 600 million views and was placed in the top 20 videos of the year by Billboard magazine.

Dance performance:

BLACKPINK 24/365 - Behind the scenes of the How You Like It music video shoot:

Industries

BLACKPINK: manufactured by YG Entertainment

Blackpink was formed in 2016 by Korean entertainment company YG Entertainment and by 2020 was one of the most successful K-Pop bands in the world. As of 2021, the band was the most followed girl group on Spotify and the most-subscribed music group, female act, and Asian act on YouTube.

The changing nature of the music industry

How You Like That demonstrates the changing nature of the music industry and how important YouTube and social media has become for music artists. 

The way people consume music videos has changed – now phones, tablets and YouTube are the primary ways audiences engage with music videos (known as technological convergence). It shows music video has become a media form in its own right, not just a way to sell an album. 

BLACKPINK’s billions of YouTube views also bring in money through advertising. 

Music: a global industry

K-pop demonstrates the global nature of the industry with BLACKPINK selling out arenas across the UK and USA as well as in the East. They played Wembley Arena in 2019 as well as huge US music festival Coachella. 

Music videos: regulation

With music videos now largely consumed on YouTube, regulating the content of music videos is very difficult. Some UK-based record companies get their music videos rated by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).

The kinds of issues the BBFC considers in classifying music videos include bad language, dangerous behaviour presented as safe, drug misuse, sexual behaviour and nudity, and threatening behaviour and violence.

You can find out more about this process on the BBFC website here.

BLACKPINK - How You Like That: Blog tasks

Audience

1) What are BLACKPINK fans known as - and what would the demographics / psychographics be for the BLACKPINK audience?

2) What audience pleasures are offered by the music video for How You Like That?

3) Pick out three particular shots, scenes or moments in the video that would particularly appeal to BLACKPINK fans. Why did you choose those moments? 

4) How was the How You Like That music video marketed and promoted to the audience?

5) Why is K-pop a global phenomenon and what has helped it to become so popular?

Industry

1) How were BLACKPINK formed and what records have they broken?

2) What other successful artists have YG Entertainment created? You may need to Google this.

3) How has technology and the internet (known as technological convergence) changed the way audiences consume music videos?

4) How do BLACKPINK and K-pop show that the media and music industries are now global?

5) How are UK-based music videos regulated and what types of content require warnings? 


Grade 8/9 extension tasks

Read this Guardian review of BLACKPINK's album. What does the writer say about the band and songs?

Read this Variety feature on a controversy that offended some global fans of BLACKPINK. What was the problem and how did they respond?

Read this Teen Vogue feature on the music video release of How You Like That. How else did the group promote the release of the song?

Here's another Teen Vogue feature offering a brief history of K-Pop. How the genre go global? 

Finally, read this excellent Medium blog on the future of the music video in the digital age. Summarise the main points of the blog in 100 words.


You'll need to finish this case study for homework - due date on Google Classroom.

Music video: Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor

Our first music video CSP is Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor.

Arctic Monkeys are an English indie rock band from Sheffield. The lead singer is called Alex Turner. Since forming in 2002, they have released six albums and won seven Brit Awards. They were one of the first bands to come to the public’s attention due to the internet, heralding a new way that bands are produced and marketed.

I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor is their first single from debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not released with niche, independent record label Domino. It was released in 2005 and went straight to number 1 on the singles chart.

Unlike manufactured pop acts, Arctic Monkeys weren’t put together by a record label, they were all friends from school. They formed in 2002 and wrote songs based on their lives and what they saw on nights out in Sheffield. They played pubs and small venues in and around Sheffield, and built up a huge following online using Myspace.



Video analysis and audience appeal

The power of the internet

• Social Media was only starting to be introduced in the early 2000s.
• You could chat to people with similar interests on chatroom or forums
• You used AOL or MSN Messenger to talk to your friends, send emojis and share pictures and music
• Myspace was released in 2003 and was one of the first major social networking sites. Myspace was used by bands and artists to gain fans without the need for a record company.
• Arctic Monkeys' music was shared on P2P sites, though this wasn’t known by the band or promoted when they found out. It allowed their music to be heard by their audience
• The sharing of their music encouraged people to talk about and share their music, which created a buzz about the band.
• Their fan base moved online, creating online communities where they could share songs and information

Convergence and technology

• ‘Convergence’ is the process of combining different, often old and new, technologies to create a new or better product.
• Technological convergence is the development of technology (such as phones and tablets) that allows us to access all types of media through one device. This has fundamentally changed the way music videos are produced, consumed and shared. 
• Technological convergence has created both challenges and opportunities for the music industry - both artists and record companies.

Arctic Monkeys: performance video

• This is a performance video designed to look like a 1980s TV performance on programmes such as Top of the Pops or The Old Grey Whistle Test'. It was filmed using old 1980s Ikegami 3-tube colour TV cameras to give it an authentic, nostalgic effect.
• The simple performance video subverts music video conventions that became steadily more complicated and narrative-based in the 1980s and 1990s.
• It opens with the singer introducing the song and adding the words 'Don't believe the hype'. This could be a reference to the online following the band built up using Myspace.  

Audience 

• Arctic Monkeys' audience are likely to be white, middle class and reasonably young. Psychographic groups might include Reformers and Explorers. Recent global success pushed the band into bigger psychographic groups such as Mainstreamers.
• Audience pleasures would include diversion - the song is upbeat and fast-paced. Fans who followed the band from the early days might find a sense of personal relationship while many young people would get a sense of personal identity from the lyrics to the song (about going out to a club and drinking).
• Older fans would enjoy a sense of nostalgia from the 1980s-style performance video.

Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor: Blog tasks

Impact of new/digital media on music industry

You'll need to read our music video introduction and notes blogpost to answer some of these questions.

1) How do audiences generally watch music videos these days?

2) What opportunities has the growth of digital technology and YouTube created for new music artists?

3) What is P2P and why did it cause huge problems for the music industry?

4) Do you think the internet has given audiences more power over who becomes successful in the music industry? Why? 

5) How has Fortnite demonstrated the potential future for music videos and promotional opportunities for the music industry? You can read more on this event in this Verge feature.


Arctic Monkeys: Industry

1) How did the Arctic Monkeys first achieve success and build up their fanbase?

2) Why was P2P file sharing an unexpected aspect to Arctic Monkeys' early success?

3) How did Arctic Monkeys first form as a band and become famous? 

4) How has YouTube and the internet changed the music industry?

5) Has the internet been a positive or negative development for traditional record companies? Why?


Arctic Monkeys: Audience

1) What is the main Arctic Monkeys audience - demographics and psychographics?

2) What audience pleasures are offered by the music video for I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor?

3) Pick out three particular shots, scenes or moments in the video that would particularly appeal to Arctic Monkeys fans. Why did you choose those moments?

4) What is nostalgia and why is it a key audience pleasure for the Arctic Monkeys music video?

5) How are fans positioned to respond to the video? What does the artist want fans to take from their video?


Grade 7+ extension tasks

Read this excellent Guardian feature on the Arctic Monkeys on the 10th anniversary of I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor. What key statistics can you take from the article concerning developments in the industry and the Arctic Monkeys' role in these changes?

Read this short blog on how the social media website Myspace helped the Arctic Monkeys make it big. What did the website allow the band to do?

You'll need to finish this case study for homework - due date on Google Classroom.

Music video: Introduction

Our next media topic is Music Video.

We will be studying the industry and audience contexts for this topic and need to cover two CSPs:

BLACKPINK: How You Like That

Arctic Monkeys: I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor



We need to study the industry and audience contexts for these products: 

Industry: how music video is produced and marketed and how this has changed over time.
Audience: Target audience and audience pleasures. How the internet has changed the position of the audience.
PLUS: Historical, cultural and social significance of the music videos and the impact of the internet on the music industry.

Music video: introduction and history

Music video key conventions

Music videos typically feature movement – often fast paced either in terms of actors, camerawork or editing. Many contain a performance element or narrative. Music videos can also feature visual effects and intertextuality.

Music videos were originally designed as a promotional device to sell the band or artist’s music but have developed over time to become a recognised artform or product in their own right. Modern music videos no longer have the huge budgets of the 1980s and 1990s but digital media means they are now more accessible than ever. Videos such as Psy’s Gangnam Style have received over 3 billion views on YouTube.


Intertextuality

Intertextuality is when one media text references another media text – through genre, conventions, mise-en-scene or specific cultural references.

Music videos often use intertextual references – often to classic films but also to television, popular culture, news, videogames or even other music videos.

Music video history

Originally, music videos were made like mini ‘films’ of the bands performing (e.g. The Beatles, Elvis)

MTV was launched in 1981 as a platform for music videos and the first music channel on television. Programs such as BBC show Top of The Pops also showcased music videos from the charts alongside ‘live’ stage performances. 

In the 1980s and 1990s big budgets were spent on producing innovative and creative music videos such as Michael Jackson’s Thriller that had a film narrative, a well known director and featured intertextuality (horror films).

Music video in the digital age

In 2005 the launch of Youtube changed the way that consumers access and enjoy music video. Now self-promotion is more common.

The rise of new and digital media paved the way for bands such as One Direction - ‘manufactured’ by the industry and increasingly promoted through convergence on social media to maximise profits for the record companies.

Other artists were able to make it big thanks to YouTube, digital media and fans' word of mouth:



Problems with piracy

Piracy became a huge problem for the music industry as they could not keep up with illegal downloading and streaming services where fans shared content for free therefore… The 2000s saw the rise of streaming services with subscriptions such as Spotify, Apple Music, Beats Music and YouTube Music. 

New platforms and music apps on smart phones mean that listeners are now becoming one-device consumers and using their phones for all media access. This is called media convergence. 

Introduction to Music Video: Blog tasks

Answer the questions below to complete your introduction to the Music Video topic: 

1) What are the key conventions of music video?

2) What is intertextuality?

3) When did music videos first become a major part of the music industry?

4) What launched in 1981 and why were music videos an important part of the music industry in the 1980s and 1990s?

5) How do audiences tend to access and watch music videos today?

Extension tasks

Read this Guardian feature asking whether YouTube is good or bad for the music industry. What is your opinion on this crucial question?

Read this Guardian feature on how videogames are now more important than music videos for breaking new artists. Do you agree videogames are now more influential than music videos?


Complete for homework - details on Google Classroom.

Radio: KISS FM Breakfast show CSP

Our second Radio CSP is the KISS FM Breakfast show.

Remember, our Radio products are targeted CSPs and need to be studied with reference to two elements of the theoretical framework - Audiences and Industries as well as Historical, Social and Cultural Contexts. This means we need to study the way radio audiences and industries have changed over time and what impact this may have on society.

Notes from the lesson: KISS FM Breakfast show

You'll find the notes from our lessons on KISS FM below.

Background and history

Kiss FM first broadcast on 7 October 1985 as a pirate radio station, initially to South London then across the whole city. Transmitting seven-days from the start, it would be regularly taken off-air by the authorities and so became a weekend operation shortly afterwards. This means that it has its origins in common with radio in the 1960s (such as Tony Blackburn’s Radio Caroline show) as KISS was originally an illegal station that became legitimate as it grew in popularity. KISS FM is now seen as more mainstream and less controversial and has been operating legally since 1990.

The station developed a committed following across London of mostly young people with figures in the press at the time stating that the station attracted some 500,000 listeners while operating as an unlicensed pirate station.

Gordon Mac approached a successful London club promoter, Guy Wingate, to discuss ways of improving the KISS FM profile. As a result, Wingate launched the very successful Kiss nights at the Wag Club where DJs from the station would DJ night club nights. These nights increased the station's reputation as a young person’s music radio station. 

KISS has tried to move with the times by engaging on social media with its listeners and by bringing in DJs who they think will appeal to a younger target audience. 

KISS FM Breakfast show with Jordan and Perri

KISS has tried to move with the times by engaging on social media with its listeners and by bringing in DJs who they think will appeal to a younger target audience. Jordan and Perri took over the KISS FM Breakfast show in summer 2020 after previous hosts Rickie, Melvin and Charlie left for BBC Radio 1.

KISS FM deliberately chose younger replacements who have a big social media following (Perri has over one million followers on TikTok).

You can read more about Jordan and Perri taking over the Breakfast show in this BBC website interview.

Personal relationships: important for breakfast radio

Applying Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory, a key aspect of the KISS FM Breakfast show is the personal relationship the audience feel they have with the presenters Jordan and Perri. They took over the KISS FM Breakfast show in July 2020 after finding fame as part of the dance group Diversity and also presenting a weekend show on the station. The two are good friends who have worked together for over 10 years and KISS hope that natural chemistry will appeal to their listeners.

Here's just one of the ways KISS FM first introduced their Breakfast show team:

KISS FM deliberately chose breakfast show hosts who are:

• Members of a dance troupe called Diversity who appeared on Britain’s Got Talent (watch their first performance below)
• Friends in real life and have a natural 'chemistry' which is so important for breakfast radio and connecting with audiences. They are known for their 'banter' and personality.
• Connected to political movements such as Black Lives Matter (see clip below)

Diversity - Britain's Got Talent audition:

Diversity - Black Lives Matter:

Active v passive audience

What opportunities are there on KISS FM for audiences to actively engage?

• Listeners can send in requests or shout outs to friends via social media platforms (KISS FM are particularly active across Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok).
• Audience interaction and involvement is a key aspect to the Breakfast show and Perri has over a million followers on TikTok. 
• Audiences can download the KISS Kube app to stream shows at a time convenient to them.
• KISS runs over 100 events every summer that helps them connect with 300,000+ listeners. They also host an annual Halloween event at Wembley Arena for 11,000 fans. 

Industry contexts

KISS is part of Bauer Radio, a subsidiary of the Bauer Media Group (BMG). This multinational cross-media group owns numerous magazine and radio brands but also has interests in digital media, TV streaming and event organisation, mostly linked to its radio and magazine properties. 

The KISS Network is made up of KISS, KISSTORY and KISS Fresh alongside recently launched online stations KISS Bliss (chilled out music), KISS Dance and KISS Garage. Each of these targets its own audience within the 15–34 age group with different styles and types of content. All are available on a number of different platforms, but the range is not the same for each of the brands. 

All are available on the KISS website and the KISS Kube app, but only KISS is available on FM radio. In contrast, only KISS and KISSTORY can be received on DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting).

KISS listening figures

Like most traditional media brands, KISS FM is struggling to maintain its audience in the digital age. The previous breakfast show hosted by Rickie, Melvin and Charlie had over 2 million listeners but by the time Jordan and Perri took over it was already down to 1.4m. The most recent figures have Jordan and Perri at 980,000 listeners so less than half the 2m figure the KISS FM Breakfast show used to enjoy.

How does KISS FM make money?

Bauer Media Group revenue was 1.5 BILLION euros in 2020 which demonstrates how much money is made across their many media brands. 

KISS FM makes money through advertising, sponsorship and events (such as summer festivals and the Wembley Arena Halloween party). The KISS FM Breakfast show is one of the most popular slots for the radio station so losing around one million listeners over the last few years means Bauer Media cannot make as much money from the KISS brand as it used to. Indeed, Bauer Media Group's revenue is down from 2.3bn euros - in part due to the increasing pressure on traditional media such as magazines and radio.

The changing nature of radio

Young people tend to listen to radio much less as the media landscape is saturated with other products for them to consume (games, apps, numerous TV channels, streaming services, etc).  

Also, people now expect to consume media products not in a linear fashion (you turn on the radio and hear what’s currently broadcast) but on-demand (streaming services such as Spotify, Amazon Music and Deezer). This means Kiss FM is attempting to target an audience of 15-34 year olds who are consuming media in a totally different way compared to radio in the 1960s.

Radio in the 1960s v radio today

There are many differences in the radio industry between the launch of BBC Radio 1 in 1967 and the global online marketplace we see today:

• More radio stations broadcasting (There are around 600 licensed radio stations in the country) and thousands of online broadcasters.
• Improved quality as radio moved from AM to FM and now to DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting).
• Radio stations have become increasingly specialised (look at KISS, KISSTORY and KISS FRESH or rivals Absolute Radio, Absolute 60s, 70s, 80s, etc.)
• Many shows are downloadable on-demand (e.g. as podcasts), on a range of devices (e.g. using iPlayer on TV) and streaming-only ‘stations’ (e.g. Spotify ‘stations with no DJs')

Regulation: how is KISS FM regulated?

KISS FM is regulated by Ofcom. This means the KISS FM Breakfast show must follow the Ofcom broadcasting code and not include anything inappropriate for children or younger listeners. 

In 2006, KISS was fined a record fee for any UK commercial radio station of £175,000 by media regulator Ofcom. Ofcom punished KISS for "numerous and serious breaches" of broadcasting codes after receiving 10 complaints from April to November 2005. They involved prank calls on the Bam Bam breakfast show where consent was not sought from the "victims" and controversial material aired when children were likely to be listening. KISS said it accepted the findings and apologised for any offence. You can read more on that case here.

KISS FM Breakfast show CSP: blog tasks

Work through the following questions to complete your final Radio case study on the KISS FM Breakfast show CSP:

Audience

Look at the KISS media pack carefully. This will give you a brilliant background to the brand and how they target their audience. Answer the following questions:

1) Read page 2. What is KISS FM's mission?

2) Look at page 3. What is the target audience for KISS FM? As well as writing the key statistics from the media pack, try and suggest what psychographic groups would fit the KISS audience too.

3) Now look at page 5 - The KISS network. How does KISS use digital media and technology to reach its audience? 

4) Now look at the other side of page 5. What content do KISS Fresh and KISSTORY offer and how can audiences access those stations?  

5) Read page 6. What are the different ways audiences can engage with the KISS radio brand? 

6) Now think about the clips you've watched or listened to of the KISS FM Breakfast show with Jordan and Perri. What audience pleasures are offered by the KISS FM Breakfast show? Use Blumler and Katz Uses and Gratifications theory here.

7) How does the KISS FM Breakfast show contrast with Tony Blackburn's 1967 Radio 1 Breakfast show and the launch of BBC Radio 1?

8) Use Stuart Hall's Reception theory to offer a preferred and oppositional reading of the KISS FM Breakfast show. For the preferred reading, why do fans love the show? On the oppositional side, why might someone criticise the show or not want to listen?

Industry

1) How have audiences changed in terms of how they listen to music since the 1960s?

2) When did KISS FM first launch and what type of station was it then? 

3) Look at the Bauer Media Group's list of brands. How many different types of media can you find on there? What brands do you recognise? 

4) How does KISS FM make money and how much revenue did Bauer Media Group make in 2020?

5) Who regulates KISS FM and what can happen if they break the rules?

Grade 8/9 extension tasks

Read this BBC feature on Jordan and Perri taking over the KISS FM Breakfast show. Pick out three reasons KISS FM were keen to get the pair to present their breakfast show.

Read this On The Radio article on listener figures for UK radio stations. How does the KISS FM Breakfast show compare with rivals? Why are many traditional radio stations struggling? 

Read this BBC feature on the previous KISS FM breakfast show hosts and how they were poached by BBC Radio 1. What can you find in the article regarding the importance of BBC Radio 1 and also KISS FM's success?

Read more about Kiss being fined for breaking the Ofcom broadcasting code in this BBC article here.  

Finally, try this exam question on Radio: How successful have radio stations like KISS FM been in attracting a young audience to traditional radio? 

Due date on Google Classroom