Audiences TV Comedy

TV Comedy - Introduction

Audiences & Institutions

MTV & ITV• Logos/Channel Idents tell us a lot about a

target audience

• They give clues about what kind of channel they are ‘the institution’

• One of these channels is aimed at a ‘mass audience’

• One is aimed at a ‘niche audience’

Mass Audience• A wide range of people

• Young & old

• Men & women

• Rich & poor

• Interested in mainstream entertainment

Niche Audience• Narrower range

• Share similar interests

• Similar attitudes

How are the idents different?• MTV is more edgy, graffiti style, 3D M, TV

almost breaks out from the M – they say they are fresh, honest & groundbreaking and their ident reflects this.

• ITV is ordered, sober and they say they are popular and represent quality. Their ident reflects their mass audience.

Scheduling – ITV (2009)• Emmerdale (soap opera)

• Jeremy Kyle (talk show)

• Midsomer Murders (detective drama)

• News at Ten

• Golden Balls (game show)

• In the Line of Fire (docu on firearms)

• Doctors & Nurses at War (docu)

Scheduling - MTV• 10 showings of Ashlee Simpson Show

(6am to 11am)

• 10 episodes of The Hills (11am to 4pm)

• 5 episodes of the reality TV show MTV Digs (4 to 7pm)

• 2 episodes of The City (7pm to 8pm)

• Clearly a niche audience, all characters are all young, wealthy and aspire to do well.

Your Task• Find two logos for two different channels

• Annotate those logos explaining what they represent

• Identify their audience (niche vs. mass)

• Use an online TV Guide to compare their scheduling for one day (you can copy and paste as shown on the next slide)

Section of on morning’s TV

10am-12pm

Wallpaper suggests a homebody, Dave is very clear and simple, a male name suggests a male target audience. The programmes focus on a stereotypical male interest

‘cars & money’…