HEARTH NORTH WEST
Relaunched with its new name in May 2014, Hearth North West is operated by Global Radio, the owner of a large number of commercial radio stations across the UK. The station first opened under the name 'Century Radio' in 1998 and has had a number of operational names. Heart broadcasts across the North West on 105.4 MHz from studios at Exchange Quay in Salford. The station also allows listeners to tune in via the online website and mobile application. However unlike Radio Merseyside has no on demand functionality. Consumers can also watch HeartTV, a music based television channel.
Heart employs regular local presenters such as Joel Ross and Lorna Bancroft who present the breakfast show. The station broadcasts hourly regional news bulletins. However, they also broadcast national news updates from Globals Headquarters in London. Bulletins often start with 'from globals newsroom'. This is standardised and the same bulletin is broadcast also to Globals other stations such as Smooth North West and Juice FM. This suggests to me that although the stations are local and the news they present is mostly local, there is some requirement for one or two major national news stories. This could also be seen with Radio Merseyside as there were a few stories such as the alcohol related one which would have also been reported on elsewhere in the country.
THEIR SHOW...
Below is a break down of a news bulletin from Heart's radio program along with my thoughts and what i might be able to take from it.
0:06
The bulletin starts with the Heart Jingle which is integrated with an advertisement for Ford. This is to be expected as Heath is a commercial radio station. This, of course, differs to Radio Merseyside which is owned by the BBC hence has no advertisements.
0:12
This bulletin starts with the travel news. Each piece of information was given has the road name, road number, the direction of the problem, and the approximate delay. The travel news only includes road problems and not any news about public transport
0:40
Next is a transition to the news including the Heart jingle in the background and the presenter reading a script 'on FM, online, on your mobile and on a digital radio...' this transition speech seems to be standard across all of Globals stations.
0:48
The bulletin starts with the time and an introduction to the presenter. The bulletin then begins and the reports start.
1:09
During the first story, there is a cut out to a specialist reporter who has been in court who describes events there and describes any developments
2:23
In a later story, the presenter plays a short clip of an interview with a historian concerning the Flying Scotsman. This again is used to help develop the report.
2:24
After the news stories, there is a short weather report outlining the coming weather very briefly, similar to how it was done on Radio Merseyside.
2:40
The bulletin ends with another jingle and advertisement, this time for Fly Be and John Lennon Airport.
Overall I feel that this bulletin has similarities and difference to the one from Radio Merseyside. This bulletin feels faster paced when listening to it. This makes sense as it is only half as long and yet there are still 5 stories as well as travel and weather. I categorized these stories as 'Crime x2, Health, General, and Culture'. This bulletin had music in the background unlike the one from Radio Merseyside which I think also helped it to feel fast-paced. Also, there was much more going on in terms of sound fx to transition between sections of the bulletin. Hearts bulletin has made it clear that there are different approaches that can be taken when creating a news program and I will first have to decide my target audience before making any decisions on which approach I will take.
BRANDING
Unlike the branding of Radio Merseyside, Hearts logo is unique and independant, it shows no characteristics that would associate it with a bigger brand despite it being owned by Global. However it is similar in that it is very simple. It contains only one colour (red) and one font. The 'e' is rotated and the letter 'r' has been replaced by a heart symbol to give it a brand identity. The logo aslo includes '105.4' which is the frequency for the station. I think this is an important thing to include in the logo as this techincal information is required to be able to listen to the product. Therefore i may very well include a frequency in the branding of my radio station. Finally the logo includes the slogan 'more music variety' a catchy phrase which is used in many of the Heart jingles.
