Critical Approaches
Audience Theory
TV program's and shows appeal to different kinds of audiences. Over the years, we have opened up to more discoveries of different types of shows and different formats such as Game shows, reality TV shows etc. Program's tend to have an ideal demographic or specific audience in which they aim to relate to. This can be from culture, age to religion and social background. In order to succeed in attaining your ideal target audience, it is crucial that the airing time fits well. For example, if I were aiming to air ‘Family guy’ whom airs on BBC Three, I would not air it on a Monday at midday. I wouldn’t have the attention of my full audience. Time slot is vital. The audience for ‘Family Guy’ would most likely be watching TV on a weekday or weekend but at a later time. Therefore, this is what they have done and has it play every night at 10pm.
The reason audiences watch what they watch could come from many different theory’s. Audiences such as the hypodermic needle model this being used to inject information from a show or program and inserting it into an audiences brain , can be used to describe program's that air on TV and are extremely addictive to watch. This being, may be because it is on a specific time weekly or daily with an occurring storyline or the program's have been designed to create suspense or drama, captivating the audience’s attention keeping the audience keen and eager to keep watching. TV program's can heavily influence an audience’s behavior For example, viewers that may watch a show such as ‘The Valleys’ may try to act like the people there by behaving like fools and not caring and constantly partying and using abusive language. Or audiences who may watch ‘Bad Girls Club’ may want to be just as tough as the girls on there and start fighting and cursing the way the girls do on the show. This means the program has a negative effect on the audience because they are behaving in a manic manor which could lead to conflict and even legal action if the audience was to get into a serious fight. The audience may also not know that there are security men following the girls on the show everywhere they are just to assure that nobody is dangerously hurt.
The hypodermic needle model not only forces an audience to repetitively watch the show that has been prescribed to them. It can also have a different effect on an audience and change their behavior for the better. Different program's may have a common theme in which the audience may well just respond well to. Uses and gratifications theory is a lot more sympathetic than the Hypodermic needle model. This theory, take the audience into consideration and thinks about the outcome of how the audience may well respond to the program and the effect it may have on them. It raises the question of what people do with the media and talks about why people watch the program that they do, it gives the audience a freedom of speech and a decision being able to choose what they like to watch for what reasons such as personal identity, knowledge, social companionship, diversion, relaxation and escape. People chose watch to watch by their satisfaction of personal needs. They may chose to watch an inspiring program to make them feel better or a funny program to make them feel better. It is a theory which depends mostly on the audiences taste and decision.
Going back to explanations, here are more examples of different theories..
Personal Identity = Often, people tend to watch something to add to their personality or character.
Surveillance = Often, people tend to watch program's about more factual things in order to find out more and expand their knowledge.
Entertainment = Often, people tend to watch TV for entertainment purposes. Either because it is fun or to just pass time.
Personal Relationships = Often, people tend to watch program's just to fit in with the people around them and find a common interest with someone else. This could be through culture, social group or community.
The receptive theory is more about how a specific group may see something. People may be offended or disagree with what it is they are watching. This can also include personal identity as some people may not be able to handle a situation that someone else can whether this being because it offends their image, culture or social reputation. A good example of this are Muslims people. Muslims are people whom follow the religion of Islam. If something is shown in a negative light, Muslims will be offended because there has already been a lot of talk of Islamic people in negative light.
The effects debate argues with the impact in which a character or story may have on someone. This theory means, that if people are continuously seeing people doing wrong things such as selling drugs, shooting people or men mistreating women in shows and films, they will be influenced and what to do something of similar action. For example, In most music videos we see rappers surrounded by naked ladies treating them with no respect and selling drugs. A young boy watching this, will want to follow in his footsteps because he will see how much the drugs, money and girls are being glamourised.
The program ‘Ugly Betty’ provides a fashionable knowledge and inside interest of the world of fashion and magazine to their audiences. Although it is about a business, it provides drama, romance and comedy making it incredibly entertaining for the audience as it already provides their interest which is fashion, but adds all the extra content to make it that little bit more exciting to watch. ‘Ugly Betty’ is a good example of the Uses and gratifications theory where the audience makes the decision and decides on whether the program meets their needs or not.
Audiences can now use technology to access different formats of media. One popular way is online players such as 4OD or IPlayer. These allow audiences to download or watch an episode that they may have missed, for free. They can be done through many different devices such as smart phones, laptops or tablets. This gives the audience the opportunity of watching what they want when they want and a way to access their favorite shows.
Going back to explanations, here are more examples of different theories..
Personal Identity = Often, people tend to watch something to add to their personality or character.
Surveillance = Often, people tend to watch program's about more factual things in order to find out more and expand their knowledge.
Entertainment = Often, people tend to watch TV for entertainment purposes. Either because it is fun or to just pass time.
Personal Relationships = Often, people tend to watch program's just to fit in with the people around them and find a common interest with someone else. This could be through culture, social group or community.
The receptive theory is more about how a specific group may see something. People may be offended or disagree with what it is they are watching. This can also include personal identity as some people may not be able to handle a situation that someone else can whether this being because it offends their image, culture or social reputation. A good example of this are Muslims people. Muslims are people whom follow the religion of Islam. If something is shown in a negative light, Muslims will be offended because there has already been a lot of talk of Islamic people in negative light.
The effects debate argues with the impact in which a character or story may have on someone. This theory means, that if people are continuously seeing people doing wrong things such as selling drugs, shooting people or men mistreating women in shows and films, they will be influenced and what to do something of similar action. For example, In most music videos we see rappers surrounded by naked ladies treating them with no respect and selling drugs. A young boy watching this, will want to follow in his footsteps because he will see how much the drugs, money and girls are being glamourised.
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