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www.naturalhydrationcouncil.org.uk “The TV Water Shortage” Portrayal of water and other drinks on UK television programmes by The Natural Hydration Council supported by Media psychologist Emma Kenny, MBACP Published 14 th December 2015 Email: [email protected]

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Page 1: NHC report - FINAL (2) · 21 TableofContents!!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! PageNumber!! 1. Foreword1by1EmmaKenny1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 131 1 2. Introduction11 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 141 1 3. Objectives1

www.naturalhydrationcouncil.org.uk  

“The  TV  Water  Shortage”      

Portrayal  of  water  and  other  drinks  on  UK  television  programmes      

by      

The  Natural  Hydration  Council      

supported  by        

Media  psychologist  Emma  Kenny,  MBACP        

   

   

 Published  14th  December  2015     Email:  [email protected]  

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Table  of  Contents    

                    Page  Number    

1. Foreword  by  Emma  Kenny                  3    

2. Introduction                      4    3. Objectives                        4  

 4. Method                      4  

 5. Programmes  monitored                  7  

 6. Results                                8  

 6.1 Amount  of  Programme  Time  devoted  to  Drinks          8  

 6.2 Water  compared  with  other  Drinks                  9  

 6.3 Circumstances  in  which  water  shown  or  mentioned                              17  

 6.4 Gender  Profile                                        18  

 7. Summary  of  Key  Findings                                                      19    

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1.  Foreword    I  have  spent  my  entire  career  working  with  people  in  a  therapeutic  environment,  and  what  I  have  become  acutely  aware  of  in  the  interim  is  the  profound  link  between  mental  and  physical  health.  The  age-­‐old  adage,  ‘healthy  body,  healthy  mind,’  has  not  stood  the  test  of  time  by  pure  chance.  The  connection  between  our  physical  and  mental  self  is  key  to  a  happy,  healthy  life.  I  believe  in  this  proposition  so  strongly  that  I  have  built  a  business  upon  its  premise,  and  it  is  within  this  context  that  I  first  began  working  with  the  Natural  Hydration  Council.  Its  dedication  to  the  research  of  the  science  of  healthy  hydration  resonated  strongly  with  my  own  ethos  and  beliefs  within  the  arena  of  psychology  and  the  study  of  human  behaviour.      Accordingly,  I  applaud  the  Natural  Hydration  Council  for  its  research  into  the  portrayal  of  hydration  habits  in  popular  television  and  radio  programmes.  The  study  is  based  on  the  basic  hypothesis  that  water  does  not  feature  in  broadcasts  as  heavily  as  other  beverages  and  therefore  is  not  promoted  to  the  same  extent  as  other  drinks.  I  believe  that  valuable  research  such  as  this,  and  its  ultimate  findings,  is  sorely  needed,  given  that  media  broadcasts  have  become  more  readily  available  than  ever  before.  Catch  up  television,  box  sets  on  demand,  podcasts  and  24-­‐hour  access  to  a  wide  variety  of  material  have  conspired  to  offer  us  unprecedented  choice  in  our  viewing,  and  listening,  experience.  In  turn,  this  has  provided  programme-­‐makers  with  the  opportunity  to  exert  an  influence  over  an  ever-­‐growing  audience.    Accordingly,  with  over  30  million  Brits  watching  at  least  one  soap  opera  a  week1,  programme-­‐makers  should,  first  and  foremost,  recognise  the  sheer  extent  of  the  influence  their  productions  have  upon  viewer  behaviour  and  exercise  it  responsibly.  Specifically,  they  must  be  mindful  of  the  opportunity  to  positively  influence  the  hydration  choices  of  the  audience.      There  is  no  doubt  that  people  are  influenced  by  the  antics  of  the  characters  portrayed  in  popular  television  programmes.  As  a  society,  we  celebrate  celebrity  status  and  place  actors  on  a  pedestal.  This  is  especially  true  of  the  younger  generation,  who  will  often  look  up  to  their  favourite  fictional  characters  and  view  them  as  role  models,  mimicking  their  behaviour,  image,  dress  sense  and  manner  of  speech,  amongst  other  traits.  Programme-­‐makers  are,  therefore,  consistently  presented  with  the  perfect  opportunity  to  utilise  such  

1 27%  of  the  UK  watch  soaps  on  a  daily  basis  and  19%  of  the  UK  watch  soaps  on  a  weekly  basis.  Data  collected  on  18-­‐21  September  2015,  Bilendi  conducted  an  online  survey  among  2,000  randomly  selected  British  adults  who  are  Maximiles  UK  panellists.    The  margin  of  error-­‐which  measures  sampling  variability-­‐is  +/-­‐  2.2%.  The  results  have  been  statistically  weighted  according  to  the  most  current  education,  age,  gender  and  regional  data  to  ensure  samples  representative  of  the  entire  adult  population  of  Great  Britain.  Discrepancies  in  or  between  totals  are  due  to  rounding.

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hero-­‐worshipping  tendencies  to  positively  influence  the  behaviour  of  the  viewer  –  including  his  or  her  choice  of  drinks.    To  date,  programme-­‐makers  have  failed  to  take  advantage  of  this  opportunity.  That  said,  they  are  certainly  not  alone.  There  has,  for  example,  arisen  in  more  recent  times  an  unfortunate  tendency  to  promote  unhealthy  hydration  at  highly  publicised  events,  such  as  football  matches,  where  it  often  features  as  an  official  sponsor.  It  is  a  shame  that  these  opportunities  to  champion  healthy  hydration  are  overlooked,  when  such  strategies  could  potentially  influence  viewers  to  make  better,  healthier  choices.      The  same  issue  is  mirrored  in  popular  television  programmes,  where  unhealthy  beverages  also  appear  far  more  regularly  than  healthy  hydration  alternatives,  and  water  makes  up  only  a  fraction  of  the  drinks  featured;  this  status  quo  cannot  continue.  The  UK  is  in  the  midst  of  a  growing  obesity  epidemic,  and  the  government  is  well  aware  of  the  current  strain  this  is  placing  on  both  the  nation’s  health  and  the  NHS.  The  healthcare  and  social  cost  to  the  country  in  dealing  with  an  increasingly  overweight  population  is  estimated  to  be  around  £50bn  per  year,  and  this  figure  is  only  set  to  increase.  Such  developments  have  led  to  many  healthcare  professionals  calling  for  a  ban  on  the  advertising  of  junk  food  in  all  forms,  as  has  been  the  case  with  cigarettes  since  2005.  There  is  also  growing  support  for  the  UK  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  countries  such  as  Mexico,  and  impose  a  ‘sugar  tax’  in  an  attempt  to  reduce  sales  of  unhealthy  food  and  drink.  Bearing  in  mind  the  dire  state  of  the  nation’s  health,  and  this  recognition  that  attitudes  towards  diet  and  related  policies  need  to  change,  it  is  perhaps  time  for  programme-­‐makers  to  follow  suit  and  take  steps  to  redress  the  balance  in  the  representation  of  healthy  drinks  in  their  productions,  with  a  view  to  influencing  viewer  behaviour  for  the  better.    I  hope  that  the  findings  of  this  report  will  prove  both  informative  and  shocking  to  the  reader  in  equal  measure,  and  open  his  or  her  eyes  to  the  current,  unacceptable  state  of  affairs  regarding  the  representation  of  healthy  hydration  in  some  of  the  nation’s  most  popular  television  programmes.  We  are  now,  as  a  nation,  surely  forced  to  consider  whether  programme-­‐makers  should,  by  way  of  good  practice  and  in  recognition  of  a  duty  of  care  towards  the  consumer,  adopt  an  ethical  approach  to  drink  placements  in  their  broadcasts  with  the  aim  of  encouraging  viewers  to  make  healthier  hydration  choices.    Emma  Kenny,  Media  psychologist,  MBACP    

December  2015            

 

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2. Introduction    The  Natural  Hydration  Council  commissioned  Pickersgill  Consultancy  &  Planning  Ltd  (PCP)  to  undertake  a  detailed  analysis  of  the  portrayal  of  water  on  television  programmes.        The   work   was   designed   to   review   whether   UK   television   programmes   are   using   their  influence  to  positively  impact  drink  choices  amongst  UK  consumers.      3. Objectives  

 The  objectives  of  the  analysis  were  to  review:      

• The  amount  of  programme  time  in  which  drinks  were  shown;    

• The   frequency  with  which  water  was   shown  compared  with  other  drinks,   i.e.  alcohol,  tea,  coffee,  milk,  juice  or  fizzy  drinks  etc.    

• The   circumstances   in   which   water   in   particular   was   portrayed   in   the  programme;    

 • Any  major  differences  by  type  of  programme  or  between  BBC  and  ITV;    • The   profile   of   the   person   handling,   consuming,   intending   to   consume   or  

mentioning  to  the  drink.      

 4. Method    Two  separate  weeks  of  programmes  were  monitored  in  order  to  ensure  that  the  analysis  had  not  by  chance  been  undertaken   for  a  week  when   the  programmes  were  unusual   in  some  respect.  A  gap  of  one  week  was  left  between  the  two  weeks  in  which  programmes  were  monitored   to   ensure   that   the   plot   lines   of   a   particular   series   were   likely   to   have  moved  on  from  those  in  the  first  week’s  episodes.    In   each   of   the   two   weeks,   all   programmes   which   met   the   following   criteria   were  monitored:      

• They  appeared  on  BBC1,  BBC2,  ITV1,  Channel  4,  Channel  5,  CBBC  or  CITV;    

• They  were  of   a   type   classified   as   “soap  opera”,   “drama”,   “sitcom”  or   “children’s  programme”;    

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• They  were  produced  in  the  UK;    

• They   were   not   repeats   (except   for   programmes   which   had   been   shown   on  channels   such  as  BBC3,   ITV3,   E4  previously  but  which  were  being   shown   for   the  first  time  on  the  above  channels);    

• They  were  not  films;    

• They  were  set  in  the  present  day  (for  this  reason,  a  programme  such  as  Downton  Abbey,  though  screened   in  both  the  weeks  under  review,  was  excluded  from  the  analysis);    

• In   the   case  of   the   children’s   programmes,   they   showed   “realistic”   situations   (for  example,  were  not  set  under  the  sea  or  did  not  feature  aliens);    

• They  were  shown  at  the  same  time  across  the  country  as  a  whole.    All   programmes   which   met   the   above   criteria   were   included   in   the   analysis.   This   was  important  to  remove  any  possibility  of  subjectivity  in  the  selection  of  programmes.    In   addition,   all   episodes   of   The   Archers   on   Radio   4   were   monitored   in   the   same   two  weeks.  In  this  case,  of  course,  the  analyst  was  simply  listening  for  any  mentions  of  a  drink  being  consumed  then  and  there  or  planned  for  a  later  time.      Recordings  of  all  programmes  which  met   the  above  criteria  were  viewed  or   listened   to.  This  allowed  the  analyst   the  ability   to  pause  whilst  points  of   interest  were  noted  or   the  scene   to   be   played   back   to   ensure   nothing   had   been  missed.   Detailed   information  was  entered  on  to  a  spreadsheet  every  time  a  drink  of  any  sort  was  mentioned  or  shown  on  screen.  Information  entered  included:    

• Whether  the  drink  was  actually  consumed,  was  visible  without  being  consumed  or  simply  mentioned;  

 • How  much  screen  time  was  devoted  to  the  scene  featuring  the  drink;    

 • Broad  characteristics  of  the  person  mentioning,  consuming  or  likely  to  consume  it.    

 In  addition,  a  note  was  made  of  any  occasions  when  a  meal  or  exercise  scene  was  shown  in  the  programme  without  drinks  of  any  sort  being  shown  or  mentioned.      It  should  be  noted  that,  to  qualify  for  inclusion,  the  drink  had  to  be  specifically  mentioned  or  intended  for  consumption  (whether  or  not  it  actually  was).  Thus:  

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 • A  water  dispenser,  or  other  drinks-­‐related  material   (such  as  bottles  of  wine  on  a  

supermarket  shelf),  shown  in  the  background  of  a  scene  was  not  included  unless  a  character  actually  used  the  material  for  a  drink;    

 • A   jug  or  glasses  of  water,   juice  or   some  other   liquid  were   included  even   if   there  

was   no   certainty   that   anyone   would   actually   consume   the   liquid.   For   example,  glasses  of  water  shown  on  the  benches  in  a  court  scene  or  on  a  bedside  table  were  included   on   the   basis   that   they   were   available   for   consumption   and   had  presumably  been  put   in  position   in   the  belief   that   someone  would  actually  drink  them.    

 As  it  happened,  quite  a  high  proportion  of  screen  time  in  which  a  drink  appeared  or  was  mentioned   fell   into   this   second  category  and   it  was  often  not  clear  who,   if  anyone,  was  likely  to  consume  the  drink.  For  this  reason,  the  results  showing  the  profile  of  the  ultimate  consumer  are  necessarily  quite  limited.      The  spreadsheet  on  which  the  relevant  information  was  recorded  is  attached  as  Appendix  One.      5. Programmes  monitored    All   programmes   which   met   the   above   criteria   in   the   weeks   Saturday   26   September   –  Friday  3  October  and  Saturday  11  October  –  Friday  17  October  were  monitored.    A  total  of  45½  hours  of  programme  time  was  monitored,  made  up  as  follows:                        Hours             Week  One     Week  Two     Total    TV  Soap  operas              4.3                4.8        9.1    Drama  programmes            12.5              12.5                              25.0      Sitcoms                0.5                0.5        1.0    Children’s  programmes            3.5                3.9        7.4    The  Archers                1.5                1.5        3.0    The  full  list  of  programmes  monitored  is  shown  as  Appendix  Two.    

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     6. Results    The  spreadsheet  attached  as  Appendix  One  was  completed  for  every  scene  in  any  of  the  monitored   programmes   in   which   a   drink   of   any   sort   was   shown   or   mentioned.   This  detailed  spreadsheet  can  be  made  available  if  required.      6.1 Amount  of  Programme  time  devoted  to  drinks    Typically,   around   10%   of   screen   time   for   the   adult   programmes   showed   or  mentioned  drinks.   Drama   programmes   were   the   least   likely   type   of   adult   programme   to   show   or  mention   to   drinks.   Only   3%   of   screen   time   for   the   children’s   programmes   showed   or  mentioned  drinks.  There  were  25  mentions  of  drinks  in  the  12  15-­‐minute  editions  of  The  Archers  over  the  two  weeks,  accounting  for  less  than  1%  of  programme  time.               %  of  programme  time  in  which  drinks  shown  or  mentioned                        Week  one       Week  Two            Weeks  One  and  Two    Soap  operas                  11                              13                        12      Drama  programmes                13                                5                                                  9    Sitcoms                  29                                8                                                20    Children’s  programmes              1                                5                          3    The  Archers                  1                                1                          1    All   the   soap   operas   devoted   similar   amounts   of   screen   time   to   drinks   (13-­‐14%   in   each  case)  with  the  exception  of  Hollyoaks  (only  6%).      Amongst   drama   programmes,   Doctor   Foster   (27%)   and   New   Tricks   (25%)   devoted   the  greatest  amount  of   screen   time   to  drinks.  River   (3%),  Doc  Martin   (3%),  Holby  City   (4%),  From  Darkness  (5%),  Unforgotten  (5%),  Lewis  (6%)  and  Casualty  (6%)  all  included  only  very  occasional  mentions,  or  sight  of,  drinks.    Amongst  sitcoms,  Boy  meets  Girl  devoted  29%  screen  time  to  drinks,  The  Job  Lot  only  8%.    

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The   5   children’s   programmes  monitored   devoted   a   maximum   of   8%   of   screen   time   to  drinks.   Hank   Zipzer   at   8%   devoted   the   greatest   amount   of   time,   Rocket’s   Island   (1%),  Horrid  Henry  (2%)  and  House  of  Anubis  (2%)  the  least.      

6.2    Water  compared  with  other  Drinks    The  programme  time  in  which  drinks  were  featured  was  broken  down  into  categories  of  drink,  defined  as  follows:          Hot  Drinks    Tea  Coffee  Unspecified  drink  out  of  mug  or  cup    Alcohol    Beer/lager  Wine/port  Champagne  Spirits  Cocktails    Soft  /  Fizzy  Drinks    Fizzy  drinks  (cola,  lemonade  etc)  Fruit  juice  Squash  Smoothie    Milk    Hot  and  cold  milk,  milk  shakes    Water    Bottled  and  tap  water,  sparkling  and  still  water.    

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Note  that  “intelligent  guesswork”  was  required  on  occasions  to  assess  whether  the  drink  was  hot  and  non  alcoholic  (drinking  from  a  mug  was  the  most  commonly  used  indicator)  or  alcoholic.  In  these  cases,  it  was  not  possible  to  specify  the  exact  type  of  drink  within  the  category.    There  were  no  mentions  or  showings  of  sports  /  energy  drinks  in  any  of  the  programmes  monitored.    The   table   below   demonstrates   that   when   a   drink   was   shown   or   mentioned   on   a   soap  opera,  it  was  most  likely  to  be  an  alcoholic  or  a  hot  drink.  Water  accounted  for  only  6%  of  the  screen  time  in  which  a  drink  was  shown  for  these  programmes.      Water  was  more  likely  to  appear  on  drama  and  children’s  programmes  (18%  and  20%  of  “drinks  screen  time”  respectively).  However   it  was  still  much   less   likely  than  alcohol  and  hot  drinks  to  feature  on  drama  programmes  and  much  less  likely  than  soft/fizzy  drinks  to  feature  on  children’s  programmes.      The  two  sitcoms  monitored,  and  the  12  editions  of  The  Archers,  did  not  show  or  mention  water  in  any  scene.               Soap  operas        Sitcoms      Drama   Children’s   The  Archers                   Programmes  %  drinks  screen  time  given  to:       %              %     %     %     %    Water         6              0     18                          20                          0    Hot  drinks                            48                              58                                  34                                          17                                        52  Alcohol                            39            25                            34                                            1                                            44  Soft/fizzy  drinks                       7            10     15                          64                          0    Milk         0              6      2     8                          4          Note  that  some  of  the  figures  add  to  more  than  100%  as  more  than  one  type  of  drink  was  shown  in  some  scenes.    The  chart  below  shows  that  there  was  very  little  variability  between  the  two  weeks  in  the  breakdowns  by  type  of  drink  for  soap  operas  and  broad  consistency  also  between  the  two  weeks  for  children’s  programmes.  Although  there  were  differences  in  the  extent  to  which  hot  drinks  and  alcohol  were  featured  in  the  two  weeks  for  drama  programmes,  water  was  dominated  by  one  or  other  of  these  drink  types  in  each  of  the  weeks.      

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“Drinks”  Screen  Time  by  Drink  TypeWeeks  One  and  Two

8 4 0 0

1429

16 21

0 0

4948 56

66

23

64

22 16 5745

33 44 310

41

14

01

43

45

10 513

0

20

2

6464

0

0

0 0 0

34

2 3 010

09

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Soaps Sitcoms Drama Children's The  Archers

Milk

Soft/fizzy  drinks

Alcohol

Hot  drinks

Water

Wk  1            Wk  2 Wk  1          Wk  2Wk  1        Wk2 Wk  1        Wk  2 Wk  1      Wk  2

   Again   some  of   the   figures  add  up   to  more   than  100%  as  more   than  one  drink   type  was  shown  in  some  scenes.    In  all   the   soap  operas  monitored  water  accounted   for   less   than  10%  of   the   screen   time  devoted   to   drinks.   The   two   BBC   soap   operas   (EastEnders   and   Doctors)   did,   however,  record  slightly  higher  percentages  at  9%  and  8%  respectively  compared  with  Coronation  Street,  Emmerdale  and  Hollyoaks.      

                             

%  of  “Drinks”  Screen  Time  devoted  to  WaterSoap  Operas

9

8

4

3

4

0

2

4

6

8

10

East  Enders Doctors Coronation  Street Emmerdale   Hollyoaks

%

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The  most  popular  category  of  non-­‐alcoholic  drinks  across  all  the  soaps  was  ‘hot  drinks’,  which  are  often  seen  in  mugs  and  could  be  tea,  coffee  or  any  other  hot  drink.  Hot  drinks  represented  over  80%  of  the  drinks  shown  on  Emmerdale,  while  water  represented  just  5%  of  drinks  shown.  Just  over  20%  of  drinks  shown  on  Hollyoaks  were  soft  or  fizzy  drinks.    

     The  most  popular  alcoholic  drinks  category  shown  or  mentioned  in  Coronation  Street  and  Emmerdale  was  ‘beer/  lager/  ale’.  Eastenders  and  Doctors’  characters  drank  wine  more  than  any  other  category.  ‘Other  alcoholic  drinks’  represented  over  20%  of  the  alcoholic  drinks  on  Hollyoaks  and  these  were  often  cocktails,  with  wine  and  beer/  lager/  ale  being  most  popular,  both  representing  36%  of  drinks  shown.  Spirits  represented  almost  20%  of  drinks  shown  on  Coronation  Street  with  whiskey  specifically  representing  over  20%  of  drinks  shown  on  Doctors.  Whiskey  and  other  spirits  represented  20%  of  drinks  shown  on  Eastenders.                        

75   75  

85  

71   68  

8  0   0   0   0  

13  17  

5  13   11  

5   8   10  16  

21  

0  

10  

20  

30  

40  

50  

60  

70  

80  

90  

Coronaoon  Street  

Eastenders   Emmerdale   Doctors   Hollyoaks  

%  

%  breakdown  of  non-­‐alcoholic  drinks  shown  or  menooned  in  Soap  Operas  

Hot  drink    

Milk  

Water  

Sop  /fizzy  drink    

49  

24  

51  

27  36  

30   32  

21  

40   36  

19  

4  9  

0   0  0  

16  

2  

23  

0  0  8   11   7   5  3  

16  7   3  

23  

0  10  20  30  40  50  60  

%  

%  breakdown  of  alcoholic  drinks  shown  or  menooned    in  Soap  Operas  

Beer/lager/ale  

Wine  

Spirits  

Whiskey  

Champagne/  cava  

Other'  alcoholic  drink  

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   Across  the  analysis  period,  there  were  a  number  of  episodes  in  all  the  soaps  monitored  that  didn’t  show  or  mention  any  drinks  of  water  at  all.      70%  of  Hollyoaks  episodes  analysed  showed  no  drinks  of  water,  with  Coronation  Street  and  Emmerdale  closely  behind  at  67%  and  64%  respectively.    Three  of  the  four  drama  programmes  with  the  highest  exposure  of  water  relative  to  other  drinks  had  a  medical  theme  (Doctor  Foster,  Casualty  and  Holby  City).  The  tendency  for  medical  dramas  to  give  high  exposure  to  water  was  not  universal,  however,  as  ITV’s  Doc  Martin  recorded  only  6%  of  exposure  to  drinks  accounted  for  by  water.        The  programme  with  the  single  greatest  level  of  exposure  of  water  relative  to  other  drinks  was  BBC1’s  From  Darkness  (59%).  Other  BBC  drama  programmes  (New  Tricks  and  River),  however,  did  not  give  any  screen  time  to  water.        

37  

60  67   64  

70  

0  

10  

20  

30  

40  

50  

60  

70  

80  

Eastenders   Doctors   Coronaoon  Street  

Emmerdale   Hollyoaks  

%  

%  of  episodes  with  no  water  shown  

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 Bearing   in  mind   that  Doctors   showed  one  of   the  higher  percentages   for  water  amongst  the  soap  operas,  there  does  seem  to  be  some  evidence  that  programmes  with  a  medical  theme  give  the  greatest  exposure  to  water  and  least  exposure  to  soft  /  fizzy  drinks.  At  the  other   extreme,   police/crime   programmes   such   as   Lewis,   River   and   New   Tricks   did   not  feature  water  at  all.             “Medical”  drama   Other  drama    %  drinks  screen  time  devoted  to:     %                          %                      Water         28                    9    Hot  drinks       36                                                          31  Alcohol       33                  35  Soft/fizzy  drinks      1                  29  Milk          2                      1    Note  that  the  figures  for  other  dramas  add  to  more  than  100%  as  some  scenes  featured  more  than  one  type  of  drink.    Both   the  sitcom  programmes  monitored   (BBC1’s  Boy  meets  Girl  and   ITV1’s  The   Job  Lot)  gave  no  exposure  at  all  to  water.    

%  of  “Drinks”  Screen  Time  devoted  to  WaterDrama  Programmes

24

48

20

59

0 06 8

0

17

0

20

40

60

80

%

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Amongst   children’s   programmes,   Hank   Zipzer   and  Horrid  Henry   gave  more   exposure   to  water   than  either  Rocket’s   Island  or  House  of  Anubis.  The  one  episode  of  The  Dumping  Ground  (lasting  30  minutes)  contained  no  mentions  to,  or  sight  of,  water  at  all.  

 Across   all   the   soap   operas   and   drama   programmes   monitored,   those   shown   on   BBC  tended  to  give  more  prominence  to  water  compared  to  ITV.  It  seems  likely,  however,  that  this  is  more  a  reflection  of  the  type  of  programme  shown  in  the  two  weeks  (in  particular  the  greater  emphasis  of  medical  programmes  on  BBC)  than  a  channel  difference  per  se.      

%  of  “Drinks”  Screen  Time  devoted  to  WaterChildren’s  Programmes

25

13

8

36

00

10

20

30

40

Horrid  Henry Rocket's  Island House  of  Anubis Hank  Zipzer The  Dumping  Ground

%

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   On  two  occasions   in  the  adult  programmes  monitored,  a  meal  took  place  with  no  drinks  present.  These  occasions  took  up  36  seconds  of  screen  time  (less  than  0.5%  of  all  screen  time).  The  two  scenes  were  from  Emmerdale  and  Lewis.      One  exercise  scene  (from  Coronation  Street)  was  shown  occupying  12  seconds  of  screen  time.      We   also   monitored   what   characters   were   drinking   during   mealtimes   on   children’s  programming.    In  five  mealtime  scenes  monitored,  no  drinks  were  shown  at  all.  The  most  popular  drink  that  was  put  on  the  table  during  children’s  programming  was  squash.  Water  was  the  least  popular  drink  choice  and  only  included  for  one  episode.    

 

0  

1  

2  

3  

4  

5  

6  

No  drink   Squash   Milk   Tea   Juice   Coffee   Water  

Num

ber    of  sc

enes  

Drinks  in  mealome  scenes  

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 There   were   five   scenes   in   the   children’s   programmes   monitored   in   which   a   meal   was  shown  with  no  drinks  present.  These  scenes  took  up  86  seconds  of  screen  time  (less  than  0.5%  of  all   screen   time   for   the  children’s  programmes  monitored).  Four  of   these  scenes  were  from  Horrid  Henry  (occupying  67  seconds  of  screen  time),  one  was  from  Hank  Zipzer  (19  seconds  of  screen  time).      

6.3 Circumstances  in  which  water  shown  or  mentioned      Even  when  water  was  shown   in  the  course  of  a  programme,   it  was  by  no  means  always  shown   as   being   drunk,   even   partially   (see   Table   below).   For   adult   programmes,  approximately  half  of  the  screen  time   in  which  water  featured  showed  a  scene   in  which  some  of  the  water  was  drunk.  Most  of  the  remaining  scenes  showed  a  drink  present  but  not  actually  being  consumed.  There  were  a  few  scenes  in  which  the  water  was  mentioned  without  being  shown.      There  were  just  six  occasions  on  which  water  was  shown  or  mentioned  during  one  of  the  children’s  programmes.  On  none  of  these  occasions  was  the  water  shown  actually  being  drunk.          

Soap  operas                Drama            Children’s  Programmes                          %       %                            %  Mentioned,  not  shown                                      5                              5                            0    Shown,  but  not  drunk                  48                            38                        100    Drunk  (at  least  partially)                46                            57                            0        An  alternative  analysis   looked   in   greater  detail   at   the   circumstances   in  which   the  water  was  mentioned  or  shown.  This  analysis  distinguished  the  occasions:    

• When   the   water   was   present   (for   example   in   a   court   scene)   without   it   being  necessarily   required   by   any   particular   person.   These   occasions   have   been  mentioned  as  “in  case  of  need”  in  the  table  below.    

 • When   the   water   appeared   to   have   been   provided   for   purposes   of   actual  

consumption  by  a  particular  individual  (even  if  that  consumption  was  not  shown  in  the  scene).  An  example  was  a  drink  by  someone’s  bedside  table.    

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 • When  the  water  was  drunk  for  medicinal  reasons  such  as  pregnancy  or  recovering  

from  a  fainting  fit.    

• When   the   water   was   drunk   for   general   reassurance   (for   example   because   the  person  was  feeling  under  stress).  

 • When  the  water  was  drunk  because  the  individual  had  drug  or  alcohol  problems.  

   

Soap  operas                          Drama                  Children’s  Programmes                          %                                    %                              %  “In  case  of  need”                    27                                  27       21    For  general  hydration                                            50                                  71                              79    For  medical  reasons                      8                                    2        0    For  general  reassurance                    5            0          0      Because  of  alcohol,    drug  problems                      10            0        0    It  can  be  seen  that   in  soap  operas,  water  was  shown  or  mentioned  as  being  needed  for  other  reasons  than  general  hydration  or  ‘in  case  of  need’.  Examples  were  for  overcoming  stress  or  as  an  alternative  to  those  suffering  from  alcohol  or  drugs  problems.      

6.4 Gender  Profile      As   indicated  above,  the  analysis  of  the  profile  of  the  gender  of  the  person  or  persons   in  scenes  portraying  or  mentioning  water  should  be  treated  with  caution:      

• There  were  some  scenes  in  which  the  person  likely  to  be  consuming  the  drink  was  not  clear;  

 • Even  when  a  person  could  be  linked  to  the  water  shown  or  mentioned,  he/she  was  

not  necessarily  the  ultimate  consumer  rather  than  simply  preparing  it  or  taking  it  to  another  person.    

 Nevertheless,   despite   these  difficulties   of   interpretation,   there  does   appear   to  be   some  evidence  that  drama  programmes  were  more  likely  to  portray  females  rather  than  males  when  water  appeared  on  screen  or  was  mentioned.  

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Soap  operas                          Drama                    Children’s  Programmes                            %                                      %                                %  Male                                          51          36        91    Female                                    50          57                                81    General  scene                                          3                                      32        0    The  figures  add  to  more  than  100%  as  some  occasions  showed  both  a  specific  male  and  a  specific  female  character  as  the  likely  consumer  of  the  water.  Indeed,  it  can  be  seen  that  on   the   majority   of   occasions   when   water   was   shown   or   mentioned   in   a   children’s  programme,  both  a  male  and  a  female  were  involved.    

 7 Summary  of  Key  Findings      

• Soft  /  fizzy  drinks  dominated  when  drinks  were  shown  or  mentioned  in  Children’s  programmes.  

 • No   water   was   actually   seen   to   be   consumed   during   the   children’s   programmes  

monitored.    

• Typically,   around   10%   of   screen   time   of   soap   operas   and   drama   programmes  showed  or  mentioned  drinks.    

 • When  drinks  were  shown  or  mentioned,  water  was  featured  much  less  frequently  

than  other  drinks.  This  was  particularly  the  case  for  soap  operas  and  sitcoms.    

• Only  about  half  the  screen  time  in  which  water  was  shown  or  mentioned  on  adult  programmes  featured  a  scene  in  which  the  water  was  actually  drunk.      

• Hot  drinks  and  alcohol  were  the  dominant  types  of  drink  portrayed  in  soap  operas.      

• Drama  programmes  showed  a  more  even  split  between  alcohol  and  soft  drinks.      

• The  “medical”  drama  programmes  gave  greater  prominence  to  water  than  was  the  case  for  other  dramas.