Week 3: Media Producers and their Products & Introduction to Sitcoms

Within Media Studies I have continued learning about media producers and the products they create. A different aspect which I have learnt is what elements are used by media producers to create products which appeal to a specific audience. Over all forms of media, there are many different aspects which media producers consider to create a product appealing to a target audience, these include:

• Sound
• Images
• Words
• Sequences
• Colours
• Fonts
• Celebrity Endorsement within Adverts in magazines and newspapers.
• The font and Layout (amount of pictures:text)- This is important as the older generation may like to read spreadsheets, which includes more text than images. Whereas people who read newspapers such as The Daily Mirror, would like more images than text.
• Content included : Design and Colours.

Constructing Content: when constructing content for a product it always has a narrative structure. This is the structure of how the story is being told or the point being made. When creating a product the construction relies of codes and conventions of the product. This is when a product is created with common element which the audience are familiar with.

Sitcoms Codes and Conventions: Traditional and Non-traditional.
I have started researching into the codes and conventions of Sitcoms. This includes traditional and non-traditional Sitcoms. As a class we discussed the codes and conventions of a traditional sitcom, these include:

• Canned Laughter
• Humiliating Situations
• Small group of main characters
• Catchphrases
• Studio Filmed
• Catchy Theme Tune
• Linear Narrative

These codes and conventions are used within traditional sitcoms such as:
-Friends
-One Foot in the Grave
-Only Fools and Horses
-Fawlty Towers
-The Vicar of Dibley
-My Family
-Absolutely Fabulous
These are all traditional sitcoms which used the codes and conventions listed above.

Some of the non-traditional Sitcoms which also follow these codes and conventions are:
-Outnumbered
-Extras
-The Inbetweeners
-Peep Show
Although, the non-traditional sitcoms tend not to follow every code and convention, for example, Outnumbered doesn't contain canned laughter.

I have started to complete the worksheet in relation to sitcoms and their codes and conventions. For task 1 I am looking at the codes and conventions used within traditional and non-traditional sitcoms and comparing these. The sitcoms I am comparing are The Vicar of Dibley and Outnumbered.


Vicar of Dibley




Outnumbered

For task 2 I am researching into either the horror or soap genre and identify the codes and conventions of this genre.

Week 2: Worksheet 1 Completed

I have now finished worksheet 1 'The Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products'. This was a worksheet which focused on media products and their audience. I researched into BARB and RAJAR who are two research agencies who collect figures for TV and Radio. I have also created a Questionnaire which is a key method of gaining audience opinions and feedback on products. Through this research I have gained a lot of new knowledge surrounding media products and their audience, some of my knowledge gained includes:

• Why it is important for media producers to define their audience. I have learnt why it is important to many different media producers including: TV, Advertising, Magazines, Cinema, Newspapers, Radio and Internet. The reason for this is for the product to be a success, if the audience for the product is not defined the product will not sell.
• Another reason for defining audiences for media producers is advertising. This is important because advertising on both radio and TV is important for selling products. In terms of advertising, the adverts will appeal and be related to the audience listening or viewing a programme.
• How BARB (Broadcasters Audience Research Board) collect their viewing figures. The process which they go through to gain the average viewing figures for many TV channels and programmes. I have documented this within my report I have written about audience research agencies.
• How RAJAR collect their listening figures, similar to BARB there is a process. The participant has to complete a listening diary for a week documenting: station listened to, when and on which platform. RAJAR also define their audience using the demographics, as they are able to define who listens to which radio stations and programmes.

I have also learnt how to I could define an audience in terms of which type of audiences watch which programmes on TV. I created a questionnaire for this, I asked different questions related to defining the audience and if I were to carry out this questionnaire I would get a good response from the questions asked. Hopefully I would gain a clear insight into the different audiences and what programmes they like to watch on TV.

Overall, through completing this worksheet I have understood why it is important to define the audience and I have learnt about two main audience research agencies.

Week 2: Defining Target Audience and Worksheet Continued

In today's lesson our class continued with defining target audiences, this is very important within the media industry. Throughout the last 2 weeks I have learnt why defining the target audience of a product/programme is important, these include:

• Advertising and Marketing
• Programme Scheduling
• Appeal to the audience for product to be a success
• Appropriate Content for audience

These are the main reasons for defining the audience of a product. The research methods which media producers carry out to help define their audience includes:

• Questionnaires
• Interviews
• Focus Groups

From these methods, Quantitative and Qualitative data is formed. Quantitative data is in the form of data (figures) and statistics. Whereas Qualitative research is in the form of opinions from interviews and focus groups. From these two types of research the media producer is able to get reliable information in the form of statistics and opinions.

I have also continued with my first worksheet. I have completed the research and report into the BARB and RAJAR- audience research agencies who measures the audience of TV and Radio. I have created a questionnaire for task 2, this is based on finding which type of audience watches which programmes on TV. I have asked questions such as:



• Age
• Gender
• Hobbies and Interests
• How often they watch TV
• What programmes they watch and what genres they like (e.g: Soaps, Documentary)

Questionnaire Screenshot (Task 2)

I will complete this worksheet by adding some information into my written report about the questionnaire I have created and how I would define an audience from this.

Week 1: Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products: Audience Research Agencies

I have now completed my notes and research into the two research agencies who measure figures. These were BARB which measures TV viewing figures and RAJAR which measures radio listening figures. I have gained more knowledge into these companies. I have continued to write the report on these two companies, by writing this report I have been able to see the similarities and differences between the ways the figures are collected. There are strong similarities between these two research agencies and these include:

·         Both non-profit organisations.

·         Their systems are relevant to both media producers and the consumer.

·         The reason they collect their figures are similar (to see the amount of listeners and viewers for programmes and the demographics of the audience).

·         Detailed demographics of the audience are recorded: This is a very important aspect in creating a programme or product, as the product is being made for a certain target audience. By the figures being collected the producer is able to see whether their programme is indeed reaching their target audience.

I have also learnt how they collect their figures; each research company has a survey or diary to be completed, which involves people chosen at random to participate. Through completing the first task I have been able to see why these companies collect figures and why it is important to the industry, including media producers and the consumer (target audience). 
The image below shows a screenshot of the audience figures collect by BARB showing TV Viewing Figures.


BARB Weekly Viewing Figures Screenshot

This graph below from the BARB Website shows the average weekly hours of people age 4+. This is shown for 2011, by hours and week numbers.



Week 1: Worksheet Continued and Knowledge Gained

In this afternoons lesson I have been continuing with my first worksheet focusing on Audience Research. I have gained secondary research into BARB and RAJAR, who measure different audiences. I have started to write the written report for the questions on the worksheet in relation to these two companies and the work they do. This task has helped me in understanding why audience research agencies collect listening and viewing figures. I now have knowledge in understanding what the agencies do and why they collect figures, especially for other media producers.

BARB Logo

RAJAR Logo

Win, Learn, Change System: I was also introduced to the Win, Learn, Change system, which enabled me to reflect on the skills I have, what I want to learn and what I would like to change in my abilities this year. Some of my 'Win' skills included: Motivation, Working in a Team and Meeting Deadlines. Some of my Learn Skills included: Use different resources within research and be more creative within production stage of a product. The areas I would like to change include: Improve Confidence Level and Contribute to class discussions more.
I also completed a worksheet about time management. This really helped me in understanding how I could manage my time more effectively. I believe I would now be able to get an equal balance each day of time, including: college, homework and social life.

Week 1: Media Studies Introduction: Target Audience

Today I was introduced to the media studies unit of my course. Throughout the course unit we will be looking at Critical Approaches to Media Products. In our lesson today we discussed and learnt about Target Audience. We started to learn about how media producers define their target audience for their products. As the target audience is very important to appeal to for a product, else the product will not sell. We learnt about Audience Classification, which is how media producers define target audiences. The definition of this is that media producers put target audiences into categories and the media producer is then able to categories their certain target audience. Some of these categories include: Age, Gender and Occupation.Many different media producers need to define their target audience including: TV, Advertisers, Magazines and Newspapers. It is important for all media producers to define their target audience, for the product to appeal to the target audience for the product to sell.

I have started my research into my first worksheet about Critical Approaches to Creative Media Products. I have started on task 1 and started research into two companies, BARB and RAJAR, two audience research agencies. I am looking into what the company does, how they are funded, why they collect audience figures and if their work is beneficial to the consumer. I will continue to complete task 1 on the worksheet and write a written document showing my findings about these companies.