Unit 25
In this essay I will write about channel 4 and about the television programs they make like the Inbetweeners. so that I can have a wider understanding of what channel 4 do and stand for. i will firstly be writing about the ownership, ethos then looks at the funding , the content, commissioning process then move on to talking about the effects theory, useless and gratification and reception theory then finally moving on to the regulatory issues, the advertising and marketing and emerging technologies.
The Inbetweeners is a sitcom, cringe comedy series that E4 released in 2008 about a teenage boy and his 3 friends that attend a school called rudge park comprehensive.
Channel 4 is mostly entirely funded by its own income for instance through there sales of merchandising like for instance The Inbetweeners DVD box sets, Posters, T-Shirts and through advertisement for example all of channels 4s channels have at least 5 minutes of adverts be played in between programs and many of theses ads are made for content owned by channel 4 like New Girl, Hollyoaks and Made In Chelsea. They also do advertise other products/services that don’t belong to them because they have contracts with the owners that they have to run ads for their products a certain amount of times during a certain amount of time. They also get funding by selling off their original content of programs like for instance they sold the Inbetweeners to an American company so that in America a similar show could be made there. However, a big part of there finding comes from sponsors.
Channel 4 also happens to own other channels such as More 4, E4 and Film 4 and also the online web site called 4OD where most of channels 4 content can be found. They only programs channel 4 actually make for them selves is the channel 4 new and channel 4 weather.
Channel 4 audiences is young adult age between 14 to 21 and the programs are there to teach young people about subjects they will not learn from anyone but through life experiences, and they do this by showing real people getting effected by there life choices and theses programs teach them life lessons they could only have learnt through experiences.
The ethos of channel 4 is to demonstrate innovated experimentation and creativity in all their programs. Channel 4 has the idea to show a variety of different diverse programs and make new ground breaking programs that show cultural diversity and also educational values. Channel 4 wants to be unique to other mainstream broadcasting channels.
How the commission process works
Channel 4 has a strict amount of rules for their commissioning. you first select the commissioning editor you would like to submit the idea to and also a interactive commissioning editor if its apppropriate. it will take roughly 2 weeks for a commissioning editor to contact someone with good or bad responces but if they need more time to decide the person will be infomed.
If ether editor sees potential in the idea they will arrange a meeting and will discuss funding and possibly development money will be awarded. in this meeting it will be made clear to them whether the idea would possibly work with there other departments.
After the idea has been produced a production timetable would be agreed by the "Commissioning Editor, the Programme Finance Manager, Business Affairs", The budget would then be "processed through three stages; the Commissioning Editor and Programme Finance Manager, the Head of Department and finally the Programme Finance Committee".
After that a draft agreement would be negotiated "then issued and a final agreement will be signed at least six weeks prior to pre-production commencing. Once production is underway the press and marketing potential of your programme will be discussed. In post-production there will be timetabled viewings and any on-line content production will take place."
this is a table showing the audience demographic
On this table it shows the societies different social class categories. on this table is show that social class A are the ones that earn more money early and the ones that have more income. this table also shows that social class E are the lower class and the ones with the lowest income and the people that need financial help from the government.
When making a television program it's important that the producers know there target audience so that when making a program they can have characters that the audience can relate to, they would also have to consider the setting that the filming would take place and the different type of jobs people would have and the steriotypical personality and the problems they would face int he society they live in.
For example, "Inbetweeners" would be for people aged 18-30 at a social grade "C2" and "D" and "Come dine with me" would be for people who are 20-40 and at a social class of "C1", "C2", "D"
this other table shows the audience psychographics
Psychographics is a more detailed way to distinguish a target audience for instance by finding out what their likes and their needs.
The show inbetweeners targets the strugglers, succeeders, explorers this program is so successful because it has different characters that could relate to different audiences. for example, all the main character fit the struggler role. which targets many young people in todays society. For instance, they eat junk food and buy lottery tickets. This attracts younger viewers because they can relate and laugh about the problems they have rather than be sat about it. However inbetweeners also attracts "explorers" people who want to see different thing, people who want to encounter different situations.
But on the other hand other programe like "Jersey Shore" For example, would appeal to an "Asprirers" audience. An audience that doesn't care much about program content but more about the appearance of the people in the show and the fashion sense that one might have. so this show is aimed more at materialistic people.
By looking at the different audience types between shows i have come to the conclusion that the Inbetweeners audience are more nicer and less judgmental than the Jersey shore audience as they care less about appearance and more about having fun.
When looking at demographic and psychographics the producer has an idea of what type of audience they want to aim for however having theses graphs doesn't necessarily show what audience it will attract. for instance, a person from social class A could like a program about strugglers or aspirers and this shows that theses graphs are just a rough outline of the target audience people want to.
Media effects theories
Hypodermic syringe theory
This theory suggest that the watchers take in the programmes information and doesn't question anything that it being said. showing that the media can influence a passive audience to believe what they want them to believe and not thinking twice about it . a great example of this theory is the popular program "made in chelsea"the program is set in the way of a reality show and this makes the audience feel that the events that happen are real and that they are real peoples lives but it's not it was all planned in advance the only thing that isn't planned is the stripped of the characters. even though the audience know the event have been all planned they don't question that it isn't real and are addicted to keep watching more and more. another example of this is the inbetweeners the young group of men that are acting to be school boys go though strange situations but for some reason the audience don't question it they just accept and carry on watching.
Uses and Gratification theory
Gratification theory is the opposite to hypodermic syringe theory instead of thinking that the media is influencing use this theory states that we use the media for are own entertainment and that the audience has the power to choose if they want to accept what is being shown and to believe what they are shown. a good example of this the the show "the 100" the audience can choose to accept the characters in the show however they won't accept that the events are true, they would choose to believe that they are actors playing characters and they event aren't real. but they choose to carry on watching because they enjoy the entertainment that the media gives. so this suggests that people use media as a form of pleasure escapism and also most importantly pleasure
Reception Theory
Reception Theory is the theory that the media has hidden messages included in their content and the audience interoperates it in what ever way they wish but in most cases the audience doesn't understand the hidden message involved so they fail to interpret it. However, some are able to decode the message that the producer was trying to convey.
Ofcom
Ofcom is the communications regulator. That regulates the media such as the TV and radio sectors and so on.
Channel 4 has there own program lawyers and a compliance advisers that have had previous experience with regulatory issues. the lawyers and compliance advisers help channel 4, by giving advise tot he producers what might not be appropriate they also help with the legal issues they might come to terms with. the lawyers are also the ones that make the guidelines when is needed for programs and they are the ones that stand to defend channel 4s content form Ofcom.
The popular program on channel 4 Benefit Street demonstrated the lives of people living on James turner street "A total of 887 viewers complained to the regulator, saying the show vilified and misrepresented benefits claimants."However, this time channel 4 was not in breach of its program because "According to Ofcom, though, it was clear the series was an observational documentary about one community in Birmingham's Winson Green area."
Channel 4 play their highly censored programs after the watershed after nine. this is so that channel 4 can change the type of programs they play, for a younger audience to an older mature audience. during the day channel 4 might play programs with the occasional swear word by holds there mature content for the night.
Channel 4s programs get a variety of cult followers. theses followers offers are a great type of promotion for there programs. For instance, shows like "The Peep Show", "Hollyoaks" and "The 100" there cult followers make online blogs and share there opinions on the show and they also talk about it through social media like Facebook, twitter, tumbler. they are also the ones that are going online to purchase box sets and other merchandise like T- shirts and necklaces. the followers are also the ones that spread the word to friends and family about the show and make channel 4 programs better known to a wider audience.
Channel 4 play their highly censored programs after the watershed after nine. this is so that channel 4 can change the type of programs they play, for a younger audience to an older mature audience. during the day channel 4 might play programs with the occasional swear word by holds there mature content for the night.
Channel 4s programs get a variety of cult followers. theses followers offers are a great type of promotion for there programs. For instance, shows like "The Peep Show", "Hollyoaks" and "The 100" there cult followers make online blogs and share there opinions on the show and they also talk about it through social media like Facebook, twitter, tumbler. they are also the ones that are going online to purchase box sets and other merchandise like T- shirts and necklaces. the followers are also the ones that spread the word to friends and family about the show and make channel 4 programs better known to a wider audience.
NEW TECHNOLOGY
Technology is growing and expanding everyday making it easier for people to watch their favourite tv show and films online for instance, channels like channel 4 make it possible to catch up on programs that have been missed by having all the episodes on there online website 4OD. Giving the viewers a chance to catch up and enjoy there shows at the touch of a button from there computers, laptops, phones and smart TV so on. by having this it increases channel 4 viewing ratings as they are constantly getting online views and making more fans of there content.
DVDs provide there owners with hours of entertainment, they are usually sold in local shopping stores like Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury but the most popular places that sell DVDs is HMV but some channels like channel 4 like to sell there own content form there own online stores. DVDs are slowly starting to become less popular due to streaming services. but most commonly theses online shops have a great deal of requests with box sets because people tent to want a hard copy more than just watching it online.
3D TVs make it now possible to have the full cinema experience from ones own home it makes the feeling even more special when watching ones favourite show at home and wacthing there favourite characters come out of the screen. having 3D TVs makes the audience feel fully connected to the program/show they are watching.
Programs on television tend to have interactive content like. For instance, the game show "Hugo"this show allowed the viewer to get involved. to this they had to call the production studio and this allowed them to take power of the characters in the game. they did this by using telephone buttons by there studio personnel.
Interactive tvs are starting to become the future they allow use to see the weather, news and sports.
panasonic has created a life wall with face face recognition technology. the idea of the life wall is to follow the viewer around the room and always give him the best view in any possible location. the wall adjusts size according to the distance of the viewer.
Internet streaming allows people to go online and watch programs, films online for free. however, you could be fined if discovered downloading illegal content.
Technology is growing and expanding everyday making it easier for people to watch their favourite tv show and films online for instance, channels like channel 4 make it possible to catch up on programs that have been missed by having all the episodes on there online website 4OD. Giving the viewers a chance to catch up and enjoy there shows at the touch of a button from there computers, laptops, phones and smart TV so on. by having this it increases channel 4 viewing ratings as they are constantly getting online views and making more fans of there content.
DVDs provide there owners with hours of entertainment, they are usually sold in local shopping stores like Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury but the most popular places that sell DVDs is HMV but some channels like channel 4 like to sell there own content form there own online stores. DVDs are slowly starting to become less popular due to streaming services. but most commonly theses online shops have a great deal of requests with box sets because people tent to want a hard copy more than just watching it online.
3D TVs make it now possible to have the full cinema experience from ones own home it makes the feeling even more special when watching ones favourite show at home and wacthing there favourite characters come out of the screen. having 3D TVs makes the audience feel fully connected to the program/show they are watching.
Programs on television tend to have interactive content like. For instance, the game show "Hugo"this show allowed the viewer to get involved. to this they had to call the production studio and this allowed them to take power of the characters in the game. they did this by using telephone buttons by there studio personnel.
Interactive tvs are starting to become the future they allow use to see the weather, news and sports.
panasonic has created a life wall with face face recognition technology. the idea of the life wall is to follow the viewer around the room and always give him the best view in any possible location. the wall adjusts size according to the distance of the viewer.
Internet streaming allows people to go online and watch programs, films online for free. however, you could be fined if discovered downloading illegal content.
RESOURCES
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_television
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