Television: Industries and Audience

01/11/19

Television: Industries and Audiences.

Learning Objective: 

• To research the history, companies and regulators in the Television  Industry.

Publicly owned TV Channel-
A TV channel that is funded by the government & license fees for the public e.g. BBC.

Commercial TV channel-
Funded through advertising.

Convergence-
Process of joining different technologies into one device.

Watershed-

The time after which programmes that are regarded as unsuitable for children are broadcast on television. 9PM - 5:30AM in the UK.

Segmented market-
Dividing a market of potential customers into groups so you can target the audience appropriately.

Mainstream-
What is regarded as normal, mass audience.

Self-regulating-
Able to broadcast anything without the use of third party bodies or industries.

Franchise-
License from company if a product to use ideas.

Channel-surfing-
Switching to different channels frequently.

PSB-
Public Service Broadcasting: regulators demand channels fulfil certain requirements as part of their license to broadcast.

TV License-
A payment required to watch TV. Funds the BBC.

Scheduling-
Organising the broadcast of TV programmes on a channel.

Conglomerate-
A company that owns several smaller businesses whose products are very similar.

1) When was TV introduced to the UK?

- 1955

2) In 1965, how many channels were there in the UK and what were they?

- 2 channels. BBC and ITV.

3) When did ITV start? why was it different?

- 1959

4) Which UK channels have to follow PSB remits?

- BBC

5) Who regulates TV now?

- Ofcom

6) Who regulated TV channels in the 1960's?

ITV - Regulated by ITA

BBC - Self regulated

7) List the differences between TV in the 60s and now.

• Colour.
• More shows.
• Editing.
• Better technology. 
• Lack of choice ( Programmes - only 2)

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05/11/19

1960's

Learning Objective:

• Research the 1960's (UK) in terms of social, historic and political climate of the decade; research the TV show 'The Avengers'.

• Contraceptive Pill - The medical establishment wasn't quite ready to embrace free love in 1961. When the Pill was first introduced it could only be prescribed to married women. By the end of the Sixties, more than 80 percent of wives of childbearing age were using contraception after the federal government in 1960 approved a birth control pill. This freed many women from unwanted pregnancy and gave them many more choices, and freedom, in their personal lives.
• Avengers Representation - She wore a faux leather skirt which wasn't very traditional. In the 60's, woman traditionally wore long dresses/skirts, by her wearing a leather faux skirt it might have shocked an audience. The skirt shown alludes to the plastic invention  In the late 1950s and early 1960s, improvements in manufacturing processes brought the cost of making plastics down dramatically, paving the way for cheap mass production. This shows to the increase in pollution. 
• the start of the scene shows an eye winking which shows us the sexual nature of the 60's - a period of free love. Similarly in the programme it shows the man putting an umbrella on her backside - this links to the skirt to show the bondage/BSDM nature.  Sex became more socially acceptable in the 60's which shows this wouldn't have shocked an english audience. Although, because of the hollywood case  'Harvey Weinstein' where there was sexual assault allegations, therefore this shows how the 60's changed directing. It changed directing because it meant male directors was not casting woman for any sexual acts.
• The umbrella scene alludes to the dominance of men in the 60's even though woman had rights,  the man in the avengers seems to dominate the woman. 
• Racism - Racial segregation and discrimination were never mandated or sanctioned by law in the United Kingdom. Laws were passed in the 1960s that specifically prohibited segregation. Avengers is racist against German and Russia. All the characters are white and it doesn't represent any race - even though racism improved rapidly in the 1960's.
• Martin Luther King- 1963 I had a dream speech.
• Male Dominance -  During the 1960s, influenced and inspired by the Civil Rights Movement, women of all ages began to fight to secure a stronger role in American society.
• Woman - In 1966, the National Organization for Women (NOW), formed and proceeded to set an agenda for the feminist movement.
• Police Expectations - In the 60's you would expect to see police offers holding hands with children - although this soon changed after it was seen as 'noncy'. In 'Cuffs' the attitude of police men shows rudeness and less caring than the 60's.

• The most famous bands was Pink Floyd and The Beatles - this was rebellious to different music in the previous years like Buddy Holly. 
• Harold Macmillan and Harold Wilson was the prime ministers - labour party.
• The 3 main youth fashions were hippie, mods and rockers.  Hippies were druggies who smoked marijuana and were obsessed with neon colours which could have been because of the drugs. Mods rode scooters and rockers rode motorbikes who both wanted to fight each other. They both enjoyed violence. 
• Illegal drugs were a huge part of culture - especially for hippies.
• The scientific development that changed woman's lives was 'thalidomide'. A contraceptive pill used to stop pains in woman although the pill was extremely dangerous and caused a huge disability to children - where children was born with no legs or arms.0

The Avengers 1964

The Channel which produced The Avengers was ITV.

The Primary and Secondary audience was young adults 18-35, both men and woman.

The first episode aired  7 January 1961.

There was --- viewers.

6 Seasons were made.

The date/year of the last episode was 21 May 1969.

The budget for season 4 was 1 million.

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08/11/19

The town of no returns

The Narrative (Storyline):

Equilibrium - At the beginning, the episode starts with Mrs Peel waving a sword against her bosses backside. 

Disruption/s - 

• Mr Steed asks Mrs Peel to go and do an investigation in a town where agents are going missing.
• They've been locked in the pub.
• The death of the man.
• Mrs Steel gets kidnapped.

Resolution - Steed rescues Emma and they figure out there are imposters and find out people are trying to take over Britain, therefore they go into an underground layer to investigate.

New Equilibrium - The ending shot shows Mrs Peel and Mr Steed riding away on the motorbike as they stole the problem.

Character Function - 

Steed: Discovered the true identity of Piggy Warren, and Smallwood's brother as he goes to save 

Peel, kills his brother to find the true identity as he doesn't look anything like the photo Smallwood showed them.

• Free lance agents.
• Male 40.
• Female target audience - The sort of man, woman would have found attractive at the time.
• Male - Classic, slightly older because they want to be like him.
• Dresses like a stereotypical, British man; Suit, bowler hat that are showing the British behaviour. They also show them drinking tea on the train which is showing nationality. 

Peel: Discovered the true identity of the Vicar who faked everything in the church and hid the pages in the book. She also discovered the true school inspector.

• Free lance agents.
• Faux skirt.
• Female 25-25.
• Male target audience - She is young and attractive.
• Female target audience - They will like the fact she's an action hero, it shows how the war changed peoples views on woman and how they're not just wives.

Smallwood: He helped to discover that the blacksmith was fake, also as he gave them a picture of the real blacksmith, his brother.

The rest of the characters all had fake identities which Steed and Emma would discover, apart from the real school inspector.

Audience appeal - 

• This would have been more popular rather than the programme shown on BBC at the time. This is because 'The Avengers' was more edgy, and wasn't old unlike what was shown on BBC. The actors are younger and more attractive which would appeal to both genders. The Avengers was more appealing than 'Forsyte Saga'.

Social Context:

Gender - Breaks and follows gender stereotypes. Steed is a stereo typical alpha male; he's flirty, he's the boss, he can get his own way and uses violence to solve problems. On the other hand. Peel is a more complex character because she breaks gender stereotypes. This is because she has a job working as a spy and has fights. Although she also supports gender stereotypes because she's attractive and young and married.

Sexuality - Promotes heterosexual relationships, no gay relationships featured or mentioned.

Nationality -  Steed dresses like a stereotypical, British man; Suit, bowler hat that are showing the British behaviour. They also show them drinking tea on the train which is showing nationality.

Racism - Throughout this episode there is no other race featured which shows the racism at the time.

War Paranoia - The whole narrative is based around Britain being taken over by Russia or Germany. This shows that even 20 years after the war, Britain was still scared of being invaded.
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15/11/19

Television Industries: Ownership

Learning Objective:

• To explore the history of ownership in two key channels.

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PC Ryan Draper 

• The main character of the show
• He is represented as the typical police officer.
• His job is difficult due to government cuts which is what people were protesting about in the UK in 2015. 
• He is seen as a mentor 
• Many of the public would have seen officers at the time as a mentor due to attacks around Europe.

PC Jake Vickers

• Seen as a weaker character/police officer
• He is new to the job and does not know what to do. 
• He is the chiefs son, which soon becomes annoying and his mentor, PC Ryan Draper analyses his every move. 

DS Jo Moffat 

• She is a talented detective, and diligent and organised. 
• However her personal life isn't so good. 
• She is a single woman and divorced. 
• She represents a lot of struggle which would have happened in the police force, like not having funds for certain cases and struggles with solving cases like not getting an interview

Chief Super Robert Vickers

• Father of Jake, Robert is the head chief of the police force. 
• He organises most things and presents cases to the media. 
• He is a great representation of the struggles of the police force and budget cuts which happened in 2015, he has to present mistakes to the media which could have been solved via better communication or a higher budget.

DC Carl Hawkins

• Carl is a detective constable on the police force, he believes everything will eventually turn out okay. 

DI Felix Kane

• Felix is detective inspector on the police force, he has always been a loner however is diligent and organised on the job.

PC Donna Prager

• Donna is another one of the leading officers, she is haed working and always up for the job. 
• Her and Lino are best mates and always up for the job.

PC Lino Moretti 

• Lino is again one of the other leading officers in the job, he isn't the most hard working or up to scale on fitness but him and Donna are a good duo in fighting the crime.

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10/01/20

1960's

Learning Objective: 

• Research the 1960's.

Cold war - Ongoing in the 60s, was a race to see who would use nuclear weapons first between Russia and America. Cold war was a huge influence for spies e.g James Bond. 

Womans Right  - Patriarchal society still, woman had more rights but didn't completely have rights. Equality was changing but it was still male dominated. 

Generation - Peel was used to illustrate the younger generation who were more liberal whereas Steed was made to be illustrated as the older generation. Steed is more conservative and traditional. Steed shows the male dominance, he would be seen as a stronger character. 

Social/Historical Context - Avengers:

Gender equality changing:

• Mrs Peel was seen fighting during this episode of The Avengers, this wasn't a typical portrait of woman and usually it was more of a masculine activity.
• Woman usually wasn't given high job roles, the fact Mrs Peel is a spy it shows the increase of gender equality growing. Woman would have the stereotype of staying home cooking and cleaning, especially during the war. 
• Breaks and follows gender stereotypes. Steed is a stereo typical alpha male; he's flirty, he's the boss, he can get his own way and uses violence to solve problems. 
• On the other hand. Peel is a more complex character because she breaks gender stereotypes. This is because she has a job working as a spy and has fights. Although she also supports gender stereotypes because she's attractive and young and married.

Patriarchal Society:

• The camera work used on Steed (High angle) shows how male dominance was still highly looked at. The low angle used on Mrs Peel shows the patriarchal society. 

Youth movement in fashion/art/music:

• Mrs Peel wears a leather outfit which shows the change in fashion - although this made sure woman were sexualised by men. 

Changing attitudes to sexuality:

• The start of the scene shows an eye winking which shows us the sexual nature of the 60's - a period of free love. 
• Similarly in the programme it shows the man putting an umbrella on her backside - this links to the skirt to show the bondage/BSDM nature.  
• Sex became more socially acceptable in the 60's which shows this wouldn't have shocked an english audience. Although, because of the hollywood case  'Harvey Weinstein' where there was sexual assault allegations, therefore this shows how the 60's changed directing. It changed directing because it meant male directors was not casting woman for any sexual acts.

Fear of the cold war/invasion:

Civil rights:

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Cuffs Revision -

• Brighton.
• Tells us its a police drama because of the radio

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31/01/20

Television industries: 2010

Learning Objective:

• To explore the TV industry in 2010s and the effect on TV shows and audiences.

Tv Industry:

• There are about 80 channels available to watch for FREE.
• There are different ways to watch TV; catch up, recording etc 

Different methods:

• Shifting audiences - lack of channel loyalty and identity.
• Loss of large mass audience except for 'Event TV'.
• Catch up TV.
• Streaming Tv.
• Box sets streaming.
• Serials instead of series - the ongoing narrative to hook viewers.
• Need for stars and glossy production values.
• use of pre-title hooks to entice/keep viewers.
• Use of trailers and cross-channel programming.

Audiences:

• Break up of a family viewing - the fragmented audience.
• Channel surfing - Seeking the eye catching.
• Demand for content.
• Demand for quality - stars and production values.
• Binge viewing.
• Impact of meme tv shows - Breaking Bad
• Search for the latest 'on trend' shows to share on social media.
• Need for shock or issue based Tv to attract attention.
• Tv shows as brands.
• Using social media to comment on live TV - duel screening.

Cuffs Trailers:

1. What elements did the producers chose to include and why?

The producer switches views throughout the trailer which could allow us to relate to each story. The trailer allows us to see the struggles of everyday life and the constant challenges face, this attracts an audience because we want to discover why live is hard and why the police lack respect. The fast pace music (non diegetic) alludes to the fast pace of action during the series.

2. How have they represented Police life?

The trailer has represented police life as difficult. They present it as pressurising. "This job is hard enough. No respect from the public" alluded to the tough nature of police life. They have presented police life as challenging.

3. How have they represented personal dramas?

they have presented relationships as hard, but adventurous.

4. How have they used Media Language (editing,sound and miss en scene) to make it appeal to the target audience?

The beach and the diegetic ambitious sound of seagulls makes it looks like a leisure society and how briton has the money and time to go to the sea.. The fact the location is set in Brighton shows how equality has changed, and how LGBT has been accepted more now than it was back when the avengers were made.The fact it's set in Brighton shows equality and the LGBTQ liberal.

Passive v Active Audiences

Passive  - A passive audience is an audience that merely observes and event rather than actively responding it.

Active - Active audience theory argues that media audiencesdo not just receive information passively but are actively involved, often unconsciously, in making sense of the message within their personal and social contexts.

Explain how the audiences for The Avengers and Cuffs would have been very different and why.

How did the producers of Cuffs use the following to target a mainstream family audience:

• Comedy Elements 
• A range of multicultural Characters
• Authentic locations
• Exciting Police Scenes

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07/02/20

Cuffs and Social Values.

• The BBC is a Public Service Broadcaster and is funded through the licence fee (which viewers pay). A Public Service Broadcaster means it is created for the benefit of the public and not for a commercial use. Most other TV channels, unlike the BBC, are sponsored through advertising.
• The wednesday 8pm schedules for Cuffs was significant - Cuffs needed to offer a diverse audience a relatable range of characters to identify with. A pre-watershed slot meant that the often darker content of the police drama genre could not be represented.

How were the following areas represented in the episode:

• Ethnicity
• Gender
• Sexuality

Gender was represented more equal then the gender representation in Advengers. The camera angles in cuffs are usually high when it comes to the male characters - however in cuffs there is also a woman police officer which shows society has changed rapidly when it comes to making gender equality equal. The equal gender police roles reflect the equal society. 

A range of ethnicity is shown in cuffs, theres black theres white there asian etc. There are a mixture of skin colours and religion. This shows Britain in 2015 

How are the characters established?

• Ryan is presented as honest.
• Jake is trying to prove himself (Wants to be better than what people think).
• Ryan is more hot headed.
• Shows jakes insecurity.

In what ways does the clip represent the idea of being 'modern' and 'relatable'?

• The job is hard (challenging)/

What might appeal to the different segments of the wide 16-65 year old demographic?

• Jake represents the younger generation.

In what ways is it's pre-watershed scheduling in this clip?

• Acceptable swear words to show anger and realism.
• Jake stops himself from swearing.
• No violence.

PSB Remit

• Intended for public benefit rather than to serve purely commercial interests.
• PSB purposes: Informing our understanding of the world, Stimulating knowledge and learning, Reflecting the UK's cultural identity, Representing diversity and alternative viewpoints.
• PSB Characteristics: High quality, Original, Innovative, Challenging, Widely available and Distinctive.

The BBC core mission is "To inform, educate and entertain".

How does Cuffs meet the PSB remit and the BBC's core mission? [5]

Firstly, Cuff meets the PSB remit by informing the audiences understanding of the world. Throughout episode 1 we are constantly faced with the challenging nature of policing, and how the public have a huge lack of respect for the police. "This job is hard enough. No respect from the public" alludes to the challenging nature. Furthermore, this attracts an audience because we want to discover why living as a police man/woman is hard and why the police lack respect - This means it meets the BBC core mission to inform and educate. The continuous police chases throughout meets the purpose to entertain us as an audience. The chases show struggle, however they educate us because we get a range of crimes and we start to get an idea of what the police are constantly dealing with.

Secondly, Cuffs represents different diversities and alternate viewpoints. For example, the lead character of Cuffs is black and we also see white and asian throughout the TV show.  A different viewpoint is shown when Ryan and Jake have a feud. Ryan tries to deal with the situation calmly and even though he swears - it emphasis the challenging police life he struggles with. Jake however deals with the station with more anger.

In conclusion this shows how Cuff does meet the PSB remit and the BBC's core mission.

In this extract,