“Dave and Sue still exist in their mindsets”

In the 2000’s the BBC launched ‘Project Bullseye’ as an operation to develop their radio programs. The aim of this project was to capture their target audience so they can tailor the radio programs to better suit the listeners.

The fictional characters ‘Dave and Sue’ were created as part of a marketing persona to represent the listeners of the local radio stations. ‘Dave’ is a 55-year-old self-employed plumber whilst ‘Sue’ is a school secretary. Both are divorcees with grown children, they shop at Asda, wear casual clothes and they have little interest in high culture or politics. They view the world as a “dangerous and depressing place,” so they listen to radio in hopes that it will cheer them up and make them laugh.

Although the characters died out during the BBC Local Radio 2010 strategy, journalist Jake Bowers stated at the LHC local radio cuts debate that “Dave and Sue are still being represented, they still exist in the mindset of the people who run local radio.”

As the only journalist from a Gypsy heritage in the UK, Bowers believes that the organisation is trapped as they still think that those are their listeners despite how multicultural and diverse the UK is.

The broadcaster has introduced a new strategy to focus more on online content to become a more “modern, digital-led" broadcaster to help them connect to more communities in the UK. This strategy comes after the BBC’s recent announcement of cuts being made to local radio programs.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-63455192

Staff at the BBC fear that the cuts will affect African Caribbean and Asian shows as only 6% of the BBC’s Radio News senior leadership across the UK are people of colour. This contributes to why the concept of ‘Dave and sue’ is still relevant in local radio. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/bbc-set-axe-black-asian-28492440

Concerns were raised by the members of the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity that this new strategy will not be effective if the local radio stations are still operating with the characters in mind.

As the characters represent the demographic of white working-class people aged 45-64 this could potentially create a gap between the younger generation and local radio stations because the content is not being made for them.

“The biggest tragedy is that it’s the BBC’s relevance that loses out because younger audiences are likely to switch off and go on TikTok instead.”

Bowers said: “We are lucky to have a public broadcaster in this country but if we do not fight for our right to be in it, then it is the BBC that suffers.