TV CHANNEL AUDIENCES

Matthew Kilty

E4 is a British digital television channel, launched as a pay-TV companion to Channel 4 on 18 January 2001. The "E" stands for entertainment, and the channel is mainly aimed at the lucrative 15–35 age group. Programming includes U.S. imports such as The Cleveland Show, The O.C., Smallville, Veronica Mars, Everwood, What About Brian?, Desperate Housewives, How I Met Your Mother, 90210, One Tree Hill, Ugly Betty, Scrubs, Rules of Engagement, The Big Bang Theory, 2 Broke Girls, Revenge, and formerly Friends. Other programming includes British shows such as Misfits, The Ricky Gervais Show, Shameless, Hollyoaks, Skins, The Inbetweeners, Made in Chelsea, and My Mad Fat Diary. Some U.S. imports, such as Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty are screened on E4 up to one week ahead of their Channel 4 broadcasts. Its most successful broadcast to date was on 11 October 2010 when an episode of The Inbetweeners pulled in over 3.7 million viewers.

General Info

Channel 4's primary purpose is the fulfilment of its public service remit, which is defined in the 2003 Communications Act.

This states that "the public service remit for Channel 4 is the provision of a broad range of high quality and diverse programming which, in particular:

(a) demonstrates innovation, experiment and creativity in the form and content of programmes;

(b) appeals to the tastes and interests of a culturally diverse society;

(c) makes a significant contribution to meeting the need for the licensed public service channels to include programmes of an educational nature and other programmes of educative value; and

(d) exhibits a distinctive character." The remit was updated by the 2010 Digital Economy Act, which, in addition

to the above, requires Channel 4 to participate in a broader range of activities.

The Digital Economy Act 2010 requires Channel 4 to participate in: the making of a broad range of relevant media content of high quality that,

taken as a whole, appeals to the tastes and interests of a culturally diverse society.

The E4 remit continues on the following page: http://bit.ly/lvaxdH

Remit

E4 appeals mainly to younger people such as young adults from 16+. This is down to the nature of the programmes such as The Big Bang Theory, How I met your Mother, Hollyoaks, Skins and so on. The gender of the audience is both men and women but as the majority of shows follow a comedy genre, it may appeal to young adult men more. The viewers will typically be on a low or no income at all due to the young age and could either be single or in a relationship. In terms of psychographics the audience will be the strugglers as they don’t have any plans for tomorrow and tend to be young adults who people might see as losers and so they use the programmes on this channel such as The Big Bang Theory to immerse themselves in and escape from reality. Also possibly mainstreamers who attend university as the programmes fit in with their daily university schedule that they are in and are looking for stability and trust in their lives.

Audience

Hollyoaks is a long-running British television teen drama, first broadcast on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was originally devised by Phil Redmond, who had also devised the Channel 4 soap Brookside. The programme is set in a fictional suburb of Chester called Hollyoaks, and features a large cast of characters primarily aged between 16 and 35. Beginning with a cast of just seven major characters in 1995, the serial now has approximately 50 main cast members. Hollyoaks has a high cast turnover in comparison with other British soaps; as of December 2012, just thirteen characters have spent 5 years or longer on the show.

This programme matches E4’s target audience of the strugglers as it appeals mainly to younger adults around the ages of 15-16+, the primary age range of characters in the programme also reflect this as they are mainly between 16 and 35 and so people of this age will be attracted to it. It is also for people who find escapism essential as the storylines allows people to fully immerse themselves in the hectic lives of all of the different characters.

Press release for upcoming storyline: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s13/hollyoaks/news/a528644/hollyoaks-male-rape-storyline-expert-qa-with-advisor-duncan-craig.html

Hollyoaks

Misfits is a British science fiction comedy-drama television show, on the network Channel 4, about a group of young offenders sentenced to work in a community service programme, where they obtain supernatural powers after a strange electrical storm. The series started in 2009 and is currently ongoing.Antonia Thomas, Iwan Rheon, Lauren Socha, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, and Robert Sheehan are introduced as Alisha Daniels, Simon Bellamy, Kelly Bailey, Curtis Donovan, and Nathan Young respectively. Sheehan left after the second series, replaced in the third by Joseph Gilgun as Rudy Wade. On 19 March 2013, Channel 4 announced at a press event that they have renewed Misfits for a fifth and final series containing 8 episodes.

It matches to the audience of E4 which are strugglers of the ages 16+ as they don’t have any plans for tomorrow and live for today and people may see them as losers and wasters so Misfits will be relatable to them.

Press release for upcoming series:http://www.channel4.com/info/press/news/misfits-series-5

Misfits

ITV (previously ITV1 from 2001 to 2013) is the flagship television channel of ITV plc in the United Kingdom. Having previously been a collective name for a network of separate regional television channels, it is now the brand name of the ITV Network operating in England, Wales, southern Scotland (Dumfries & Galloway, the Scottish Borders), the Isle of Man, and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. From 2001 until 2013, the channel was known as 'ITV1', because the 'ITV1' brand name was introduced by Granada and Carlton in August 2001, alongside the regional identities of their eleven regional companies. ITV1 replaced these regional brands completely in October 2002, before Granada acquired Carlton in a corporate takeover and merged to form ITV plc in 2004. The ITV brand, however, should be distinguished from the UK-wide ITV, of which ITV forms a large proportion.ITV and its predecessor channels (collectively known simply as ITV from 1955 to 2001, and always treated as a single channel for ratings purposes), have contended with BBC One for the status of the UK's most watched television channel since the 1950s. However in line with other terrestrial channels, ITV's audience share has fallen in the era of multi-channel television. ITV is the biggest and most popular commercial television channel in the United Kingdom.

ITV plc replaced the ITV1 name on 14 January 2013 in favour of the channel's former name, 'ITV'.

General Info

ITV1 is a mainstream public service channel funded by advertising revenue. It

aims to attract the widest possible audience by offering a range of high quality

programmes that are inclusive in their appeal, particularly at peak viewing times. Whilst principally targeted at mass audiences, ITV1 also shows programmes for particular sections of the audience: for example children, adults under 35, men, and people watching at home during the day. ITV1

has no specific remit to cater for specific minorities or to be innovative in form

or content, though these qualities will be present in the schedule from time to time. The Communications Bill published in November 2002 proposes that ITV1’s statutory remit shall, from enactment during the course of 2003,

become “the provision of a range of high quality and diverse programming”. That is

what ITV has sought to offer throughout its nearly fifty years of broadcasting. Investment in original UK production distinguishes ITV1 from other

commercial channels; it aims to remain the largest investor in original production of any European broadcaster outside the BBC. This commitment to original

The ITV remit continues on the following page: http://bit.ly/18nNsE8

Remit

ITV1’s target audience varies greatly, targeting the majority of potential audience members as well as current ones depending on the times throughout the day. During the early morning programmes such as Daybreak and Lorraine are broadcast, which appeal to almost the entire TV market, especially businessmen and women who are on higher income who are married and have children who follow a mainstreamer psychographic as it gives current and accurate news stories and interviews from all around the world and mainstreamers enjoy their daily routine and security, trust and stability is vital but also succeeders. During midday, programmes such as Loose Women and Peter Andre’s 60 min makeover are broadcast and these would appeal to mainly women of 35+ who maybe are unemployed / work part time on low incomes as during this time most people would be working. They might however, be married and prioritise housewife duties or might be single, possibly with children. Then evening television consists of game shows and soap operas which would mainly appeal to older generations that are primarily female who might be retired, these people would fall into the resigned category but the soaps do appeal to younger to middle aged people as well, mainly women who can be classed as mainstreamers.

Audience

Marchlands is a five-part supernatural drama first shown on ITV in the United Kingdom on 3 February 2011, telling the story of three different families living in the same house at three different time periods, in 1968, 1987 and 2010. The three families are linked by the spirit of a young girl who died in mysterious circumstances in 1967. The first episode has the appearance of a ghost story spanning three different time periods and generations in a single house in Yorkshire.

This ITV1 drama links to the target audience of ITV1 because the storyline and the setting of the story links to older people as the story involves a lot of these due to it being set over 3 different time periods, so people belonging to the resigned group who are around the ages of 50+ might find the drama interesting. Another target audience it matches to is the mainstreamers as these are people who are in a daily, stable routine and will enjoy it as a nice way to finish off their night, they will be married or couples in a relationship around 35+. It also appeals to explorers as it is a horror mystery and the discoverers might find the mystery and investigation shown in the drama a fun, new experience.

Press released for the ITV Drama Marshlands:http://www.itv.com/dramapremieres/marchlands /

Marchlands

Downton Abbey is a British period drama television series created by Julian Fellowes and co-produced by Carnival Films and Masterpiece. It first aired on ITV in the United Kingdom & Ireland on 26 September 2010 and on PBS in the US on 9 January 2011. Four series have been made so far. The series which is set in the Yorkshire country estate of Downton Abbey depicts the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the post-Edwardian era – with the great events in history having an affect on their lives and the British social hierarchy such as the RMS Titanic, WWI, Spanish Influenza pandemic, the Marconi scandal, Interwar period, the formation of the Irish Free State and the Teapot Dome scandal.

Downton Abbeys primary audience are the resigned. This is because Downton Abbey is nostalgic and traditional and matches the profile of the resigned and can be associated with the unchanging values the resigned group have and these people will be of both gender of ages 50+ who are maybe on or used to be on a high income. A secondary audience for Downton Abbey can be the aspirers as both the characters of Downton Abbey and aspirers value their image and appearance and both find need for status is vital as the Downton characters especially do.

Press release for the planned new series of the ITV Drama Downton Abbey:http://www.itv.com/presscentre/press-releases/itv-commissions-fifth-series-downton-abbey#.

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Downton Abbey

BBC One is the flagship television channel of the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Channel Islands. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution. It used the Marconi-EMI all-electronic television service and, for the first three months, the Baird 240-line intermediate film system. Germany introduced television with a medium level of image resolution (180 lines) in 1935, initially based on intermediate film, but fully electronic by 1936. It was renamed '''BBC TV''' in 1960, using this name until the launch of sister channel BBC Two/BBC2 in 1964, whereupon the BBC TV channel became known as 'BBC1, with the current spelling adopted in 1997.

General Info

You can rely on the BBC to reflect the many communities that exist in the UK. These communities may be based on geography, on faith, on language, or on a shared interest such as sport. You can expect the BBC to stimulate debate within and between the communities of the UK, and to encourage people to get involved with their local communities.

What the BBC will do to achieve this Purpose 1. Represent the different nations, regions and communities to the rest of the UK. Across the range of its network output, the BBC should portray and celebrate the range of cultures and

communities across the UK at national, regional and local level. 2. Cater for the different nations, regions and communities of the UK. The BBC should provide a range of output, including original content, designed to meet the needs of the

nations, regions and communities of the UK. 3. Bring people together for shared experiences. The BBC should broadcast individual programmes that bring together a very wide range of people – for

example, great state occasions, important national sports events and high-quality entertainment. 4. Encourage interest in, and conversation about local communities. The BBC should provide engaging output that gives an accurate picture of the many communities that make up

the UK and that informs understanding and stimulates discussion about their concerns. The BBC should provide forums in which these communities can debate among themselves and with other UK communities.

5. Reflect the different religious and other beliefs in the UK. The BBC should give people opportunities to understand the beliefs of others, and to examine their own beliefs

critically. 6. Provide output in minority languages. In its output, the BBC should support the UK’s indigenous languages where appropriate. It may also provide

output in other languages used by licence fee payers in appropriate contexts.

The BBC 1 remit continues on the following page: http://bbc.in/n5NA5h

Remit

BBC 1 has a very wide target audience. Similarly to ITV, the audience BBC 1 aims itself at changes throughout the day. In the morning, programmes such as Breakfast are broadcast. These type of news programmes can appeal to anybody but they mainly appeal to working adults who are on an average or high wage who are around the age of 25 and over who could maybe be married or have kids in the house and want to keep up to date with the latest news. These people could fall into the mainstreamer category but it anybody from any category would find the morning programmes appealing. The afternoon schedules consist of programmes such as Escape to the Country and Bargain Hunt, appealing to more of an older audience from the ages of 40 – 50 and older, who are unemployed possibly and may be single or looking after the children within the household. The resigned group would find these programmes appealing as they are traditional, nostalgic and the resigned will find the contents of the programmes familiar; this continues with later programmes such as Antiques Road Trip and Pointless. In the evening BBC 1s target audience widens again with soap operas (Eastenders) and entertainment programmes (A Question of Sport) being broadcast. The target audience for this time can be anybody of any gender, mainly between the ages of 16-70 who may be part of a family unit.

Audience

Holby City is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a Spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999. The show follows the lives of medical and ancillary staff at the fictional Holby City Hospital, the same hospital as ''Casualty'', in the fictional city of Holby, and sometimes features the occasional crossover of characters and plots with Casualty. The show's first executive producers were Mal and Johnathan Young, who were succeeded by Kathleen Hutchison from 2003 to 2004, Richard Stokes (producer) from 2004 to 2006, McHale from 2006 to 2010, Belinda Campbell from 2010 to 2011, Johnathan Young from 2011 to 2013, and Oliver Kent from 2013. The series won a British Academy Television Awards (BAFTA) in 2008 for Best Continuing Drama, and consistently draws over 5 million viewers per week on BBC One.

The audience of Holby City might be adults around the ages of 25+ who might work in the healthcare profession, the gender of the audience can be both male and female and might be married with children (especially if they are over 30). Holby City might appeal to the succeeders as they seek reward and prestige, confident and goal orientated, as are the doctors and nurses in this TV drama.

Holby City Storyline Press Release: http://bit.ly/1bvkbvN

Holby City

Doctors is a British Television Drama Soap Opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 27 March 2000. Set in the fictional English Midlands town of Letherbridge, defined as being close to the city of Birmingham, the soap follows the staff and their families of a doctor's office/doctor's surgery. Doctors is produced by BBC Birmingham and is screened on BBC One, with the first episode broadcast on 27 March 2000. It was created by Chris Murray, with Mal Young developing it and Carson Black the original producer. The show has been shown at lunchtime since its inception, originally at 12.30pm as a lead-in to the BBC's ''One O'Clock News''. After it was temporarily moved to allow for extended news coverage of the September 11th 2001 attacks.

The Audience of Doctors is mainly females who are unemployed or retired due to time the show is aired (midday during the week), these people would be around 30-70 years of age. It would also appeal to men as well but as a secondary audience as the main audience would be women.

Press Release/Spoilers for Doctors: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s16/doctors/

Doctors

BBC Three is a television channel from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, Freeview (UK)/terrestrial, IPTV and Satellite television/satellite platforms. The channel has the purpose of providing innovative content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent and new technologies. The channel is on-air from 19:00 to around 05:00 each night, in order to share terrestrial television Bandwidth (signal processing) with CBBC (TV channel). Unlike its commercial rivals, 90% of BBC Three's output is from the United Kingdom and other European Union countries. 80% is original, covering all genres, from current affairs, to drama, to comedy to animation. BBC Three has a unique 60 Seconds format for its news bulletins. This was adopted so that operation of the channel could be completely automated, without the complication of dealing with variable length live news broadcasts. The current controller of the station is Zai Bennett and the Head of Scheduling is Dan McGolpin.

General Info

The remit of BBC Three is to bring younger audiences to high quality public service broadcasting through a mixed-genre schedule of innovative UK content featuring new UK talent. The channel should use the full range of digital platforms to deliver its content and to build an interactive relationship with its audience. The channel’s target audience is 16-34 year olds.

Remit

BBC three broadcasts evening and nighttime entertainment shows that are made to appeal to an audience of 16-34 year olds. The majority of viewers are likely to be male young adults but a lot of females of the same age range will also watch the channel. The primary audience are likely to be single and unemployed/students or work on low income due to the content within programmes such as Family Guy and Bad Education. They are unlikely to have any children, they might be the children within the household. In terms of psychographics I can imagine a large majority of viewers belonging to the strugglers category, this is because they live for today and don’t have plans for tomorrow, others may see them as loser and they seek escapism, young adults will have these qualities and they are reflected in the content BBC three broadcasts and will offer them escapism through the shows. Aspirers might also be attracted to the channel as there are a lot of fashion and reality TV programmes broadcast such as Snog, Marry, Avoid and aspirers will gain inspiration from these types of programmes.

Audience

Doctor Who is a British Science-Fiction TV programme produced by the BBC. It depicts the adventures of a Time Lord – a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor. He explores the universe in his TARDIS which appears as a blue British police box. The programme has received recognition as one of Britain’s most success and finest television programmes, winning the 2006 British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series and 5 consecutive awards at the NTA’s. In 2011, Matt Smith became the first Doctor to be nominated for a BAFTA award for Best Actor. In 2013, the Peabody Awards honoured Doctor Who with an Institutional Peabody for evolving with technology and the times like nothing else in the know television universe. Doctor Who is also listed in the Guinness World Records as the longest running science fiction television show in the world and the most successful science fiction show of all time.

Doctor Who has a wide audience as it as been running for 50 years and so many fans who grew up watching it as children still do today. This means Doctor Who has an audience of both male and female, of all ages from as young as 6 to 46 who are either married, single, in a relationship are on high income or are unemployed. Doctor Who matches to pretty much all different psychographic groups as well.

Press Release for 50th Anniversary: http://bbc.in/1cDSjFq

Doctor Who