Here I will analyse the current radio 1 podcasts and how we can utilise their preexisting style and implement this into our own project.
The first podcast that Radio 1 currently produce is That’s What He Said (Greg James’ podcast). This podcast mixes best bits of his daytime programme which airs 4-7 pm weekdays and exclusive games and chats for his podcast that do not air anywhere else on Radio 1. The podcast is more than just say a new incarnation of the radio show, as it has the news reader Chris Smith involved in it as its co-host and backstage team members that produce the programme itself.
This means that the podcast is instinctively more chatty than say traditional radio where Greg James hosts the entire programme with limited interaction with other people whereas in the podcast due to the team being involved it’s much more random in terms of what is discussed in the podcast. The podcast also has reoccurring games and features that run over from podcast to podcast such as emails from listeners, this is mixed with interviews and funny features that happened on the daytime programme. In terms of overall comedic style, I would say that this podcast revolves around the listener reaction it gets and how this is used within the podcast and this is mixed with games that in their very nature are stupid and random, meaning that overall this podcast revolves around the randomness of it.
The next podcast that I will evaluate is Nick Grimshaw’s, again it is done in a similar manner to that of Greg James’ as it has more than one person hosting it, this is regularly the shows assistant producer Fiona who acts as the second voice. In terms of what is on the podcast it is again based on the content that had happened within the show itself airing from 6:30am-10am, meaning that on this edition of the podcast it was talking about petty exes etc. Compared to Jame’s this podcast was heavily focused on celebrity culture and entertainment news meaning the jokes that did come out of it were celebrity based. In terms of style it was very spontaneous and at times borderline stupid to make the programme funny.
Then there is the Scott Mills podcast which is an entire adaptation of his daytime programme and refers to itself as ‘Scott’s best bits without the music’. This means it is heavily caller based, with these being random or for features, due to the nature of the podcast being daily bits from the show this does mean that its entertainment value can change rapidly.
Finally, there is Ali Plumb’s movies, the only podcast that isn’t based of highlights from a show. This podcast is specifically about movies and runs down the top 5 at the box office alongside various interviews that have been conducted over the course of that week relevant to the movies released, then there is the actual movie review which at times can be borderline funny for me personally.
Ultimately the point is that nothing similar to what we intend to pilot is being produced currently and the podcasts that are all fairly mediocre in their commitment to it as they are mostly collated best bits from their original shows rather than being standalone. Alongside this none of them are strictly based on comedy alone and they are more to serve as entertainment, furthermore, there is no current affairs based podcast that radio 1 produces. Ultimately it is clear to see why Radio 1 have launched their new commisioning strand, as their podcasts aren’t to a similar level to that of Spotify’s and we believe that a political comedy podcast would differentiate from their current output and fit the brief (that can be found here).This works towards my individual objective of creating an innovative piece of radio/podcasting that has not been created before, as nothing that Radio 1 currently outputs is politics based or purely comedy.