As the guests are likely to be forty years old at the very least, the songs that will be chosen and played are more likely to be from a number of different decades. This allows the audience to listen to a much broader variation of music than the vast majority of other radio stations. Why the guests chose their songs and what they represent in their life is probably of significant interest to the audience.
Something that is probably very appealing to the audience is the fact that they can more easily identify with the guest on this show (as opposed to a celebrity). I think this is because they are from the same area and have grown up in a similar environment and have achieved something they (the listener) could have possibly achieved.
I began the project by firstly deciding who the guest would be. I chose Diane King as she is now a successful business woman and has spent most of her life living in the local area. I thought that she would have an interesting life and could also provide some inspiration to any younger listeners in the audience in particular.
One problem I came across was finding the time to research the interviewee as she was very busy and was often free when I was working. However, once I managed to sit down with Diane she proved responsive and helpful with most of the research I was aiming to gather. However, she was a little unwilling to elaborate on what some of the songs meant to her which was a limitation. I had previously given her a questionnaire to fill in so I knew some basic information before developing more research. I chose to ask further questions about some of the information gathered from this questionnaire if I thought it was possibly a more influential part of Diane’s life.
A possible limitation of this project is that people can easily lie and only tell you what they want you to know. You could also touch on a sensitive subject which could make the interviewee less willing to interact, although I only came across these problems to a certain extent.
Once I had completed the piece of research, I thought that as an interesting, successful person, Diane King would appeal to the audience of Desert Island Discs and hold their interest throughout the show.
