Jacob Nyongesa

Com 361

Comparative analysis of 'Focus on Africa' and 'Akeshiteere'

Introduction

The basis of my critic will be on two programs on radio, one will be on an international radio while the other will be a local radio station program.

British Broadcasting cooperation broadcasts on Frequency modulation (93.9) in Kenya as well as 89.9. They have shows that run on a 24 hour schedule and the nature of their programs are mainly features, documentary and news around the world. It can be said of them that they produce magazine programs that can last for two hours or more.

On the other hand Royal media services operate different radio channels, some of the stations broadcasts in vernacular, one of them being Mulembe Fm which broadcast on 97.9 Fm in Nairobi. The nature of the programming takes the nature of magazine though they focus more on entertaining the audience through music alternating it with news around the country and some topical programs. The programming is aimed at the audience which is the Luhyia community that lives in Nairobi and Western part of the country that is pre dominantly luhyia.

Program in focus will be Focus on Africa on BBC and ‘Akeshiteere’ or the advisor. The two programs run are broadcasted on Monday’s. The show seeks to highlight the issues that are of interest to the audience.

Shows: focus on Africa/ Akeshiteere

It is aired on Monday from 8:00-8:30pm; the program highlights issues in Africa, the show starts with a program jingle and the presenter comes on to introduce the show and time check, there is a smooth transition of one show to other and the producer has employed the aspect of using station jingles to do that. The host gives a teaser of the news and plays the news jingle. On the other hand on Mulembe FM the show Akeshiteere which is a weekly show starts at 8:00-9:00pm, the host is called Nancy Lwosi, the show starts without the program jingle and the announcer and introduces the program and plays music for some time and fades it down to introduce the guest who is a doctor on call and the topic that the doctor will be tackling that day, the only difference between the two is that Mulembe Fm plays a lot of music for fill in while on Focus on Africa news take the rest of the time.

Presenters

They take control of the show till the end and they keep on reminding the listener of what is coming up next after in the next segment for BBC Fm and on Mulembe Fm the host does the back announcing and fore announcing of songs and artist. They both engage the audience by having call-ins as well as allowing them to text in. with knowledge that radio audience is very nomadic in nature the presenters tries to keep the audience locked in and the long run the listener benefits.

World view

This is the comprehensive view of the world and human life, in both radio programs the focus is on human related stories and the intention is to let the public be informed, entertained and educated. The role of the media and in this case radio is to ensure that the community is informed on what is happening and helps to shape the society through the messages passed across. Therefore there is need for the radio stations to be careful on the content of the shows in order to meet the needs of the listener.

Theme

The theme of the show is to ensure that the people who listen in to Mulembe Fm are well informed and enlightened on the issues of health, the producer’s idea of bringing having an expert in studio makes the program more credible and the listener is confident that their issues will be tackled. This means that there is a lot of research that was put in place before the show was first aired. The research helped the producer to know the needs of the people and therefore produce a program that suits their needs.

Stereotype

In the show one can not fail to identify that it is tailor made for a mature audience, the stereotype that is evident in the show is that the listener does not know much and therefore as a radio station we have a responsibility of giving him/her the information, the truth is that the listener has some know how on health matters and maybe the only difference is that they are more engraved in traditional form of health education. The positive of the show is that there is content in terms of what the doctor input, he is able to tackle the health issues with a lot of ease and this assures the listener. This also in the long run creates a loyal listener who will be tuning in to the show every Monday night to listen to the show. On the other hand those listening to BBC are thought to be mature people whose interest is to know what is happening around the world, it is very rare to find young people tuning in to the station, one because BBC is an all news station with very little on entertainment, a spot that many commercial radio stations are cashing in at the moment.

The negative in both programs is that their target audiences are biased in a way because they have a segmented their audiences hence narrowing their reach, 97.5 Mulembe Fm targets luhyia only while BBC is biased towards news.

Originality

The shows are very original and hence their likeability, for any radio station to have a following in terms of an audience it means there is something that its doing that is different from the rest. There are many stations that have concentrated on entertainment but BBC chose a program that will be focused on the issues on Africa. Mulembe chose to broadcast in luhyia in order to have an impact on their audience as it regards to health matters “Akeshiteere” meaning tough matters. The reason I say the idea is original is due to the fact that the other radio stations could be doing what they are doing but with a different audience in mind.

Program source

For Mulembe Fm the idea I believe came from the owner of the royal media service s who had the vision of reaching different communities with information in their own vernacular and I believe he has succeeded in doing that because the show has a good number of listeners, this is evident in the number of people who call in to ask and get answers from the doctor in studio. The content is Kenyan and very Luhyia. subsequently on BBC the idea is an local idea and the management of the station saw a need of having a program that will be more focused on Africa in general and hence the need for them to start a show that will bring news to the listener.

Production aspects

1. Audio

The audio is up to the standards in the two show and this is owed to the type of equipment in place, the other aspect is that their frequencies are lower BBC( 93.9) and Mulembe ( 97.9), the lower the frequency the better quality and a wider spectrum.

2. Sound effects

The nature of the programs does not allow the producer to use any sound effects, for BBC they use real actualities from the field and live interviews in studio, this helps in maintaining an audience through the listener participation buy calling in and sending text messages. While on the ‘akeshiteere’ on Mulembe Fm there is no use interviews but the producer has used music to keep the listener tuned in.

3. Mood

The mood can be determined by the time of airing the program and the timing of the two programs is perfect because normally at 8:00 pm the rest of the household is at home and they are relaxing after a long day at work or school and parents want to catch on the latest in focus on Africa, while on the other hand there is someone who may be struggling with a disease and they want an opinion from an expert they can tune in to Akeshiteere for answers.

4. Continuity

On focus on Africa there is a smooth transition of one program to the other and form one segment to the other, the producer has managed to do this by using program jingle and station promos. The presenter sounds to be organized with a script for every item, this being a news program there is need to have a script. While on ‘akeshiteere’ the continuity lacks to some extent and this means the listener is not prepared enough for the next item coming on.. The show does not have a jingle and there is no program jingle and the presenter rarely does the time check. The story line is not well crafted and this indicates that there is no script being used in the show because in some occasion the doctor takes over the show and the host is left to fade music in and out.

5. Agenda

The agenda being advanced in the two programs is that of empowering the listener through information being shared. The audience is encouraged to take proactive measures and help in shaping the community by empowering them.

What I would do differently

I would ensure that more research is done to give the listener the right information that will help them to be agents of change in the society, I would also add variety to the show especially on the “Akeshiteere” show on Mulembe Fm, have feature and documentary on health, play less music and give quality information to the listener. On focus on Africa I may look into highlighting the good things that are happening in Africa countries rather than on the many negatives that the continent is going through. The best way to impact a society is by letting people know what is happening around them and providing the way forward.

The other thing I would do is to do marketing for the program, this will give the listener prior information on the show and they can tune in at the time of the program going on air. I will also introduce a routine and in the program and have different segments in the show to create interest and variety, for Focus on Africa on BBC I would play some music because an all talk radio with news can be a bit boring to the listener. For the Akishiteere on Mulembe Fm I will ensure that the host does research or works with the research team to come up with content of the show. I will also ensure that each program has a pre-recorded show or episode, just in case the presenter or the doctor can not make it to the studio. This will help in having a show run to maintain the audience that is loyal to the program. Still on Akeshiteere I will make a total change of time from traditional time to a much late night because of the content, some of the questions asked sometimes can be termed offensive to the young children who may be listening in at that time of the night. Lastly I will create program promos that can be played before and during the show to act as a puller for an audience.

Conclusion

With the understanding that radio is personal media and it reaches a wider audience who are segmented by demographics, region or language there is need for any producer or presenter to have the audience in mind when preparing the content of the show. With increased promotion of the show through other media channels can be an added advantage to any producer or presenter and not forgetting feedback from the listener. Finally knowing that you are serving a community around you there is need to delve into co-operate social responsibility activities and engage the people in attitude change towards their environment.