THE TELEVISION INDUSTRY

Television is a specialised industry

approx 6-8 episodes in UK drama series
6 episodes in UK comedy series
Humans was made in England, there is 8 episodes, drama series

TV in 21st century

• global, rather than national industry
• increasingly commercial 
• HBO home box office, global success
• the tv industry has totally fragmented
• channels "narrowcast", which means they target more niche audiences 
• audiences consume television in a variety of different ways 

television was the first example of mass media

nazis used it for propaganda - assumed audience could be manipulated and were passive (passive audience theory)

DISTRIBUTION, CIRCULATION AND MARKETING

DISTRIBUTION  how the product gets there

CIRCULATION  how many people see it

MARKETING  how the product is sold/promoted

Humans advert

• viral marketing - distributed on Youtube as opposed to traditional tv broadcasts
• audience led distributing - audience may share it, hashtag, rich in hermeneutic codes, no clear product 
• extremely American, cheesy, American voiceover is stereotypically happy and confident 
• conventions of American-style medical advert - clean mise en scene, gestures of synths are threatening
• "faster than before" - suggesting something went wrong with them before

• there is an option to return your synth on the website and it provides a returns slip - proairetic code that something will go wrong/ they are faulty
• immersion - totally involved in running the website and social media
• the marketing campaign has been successful because there are currently 3 seasons of the show 

OWNERSHIP AND ECONOMIC FACTORS

• OWNERSHIP  owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation, a public corporation of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

• FUNDING  sale of on-air advertising, programme sponsorship, and the sale of any programme content and merchandising rights it owns, such as overseas sales and video sales, they now also get a small % of the license fee

• IDEOLOGIES "experimental, encourage innovation and style, risk and non-conformism to engage a younger generation"

• ASSOCIATED CHANNELS  channel 4, E4, more4, film4, 4seven, 4music, all4, hd+1 channels, each channel targets a specific niche audience

• SCHEDULING  makes use of the watershed placing, reputation for challenging programming

• NOTABLE RELEASES  big brother, hollyoaks, brookside, celebs go dating, gogglebox, made in chelsea, inbetweeners, skins

The Target Audience

AGE 27
NAME  david

GENDER male
NATIONALITY english
LOCATION  
SEXUALITY heterosexual 
SOCIO ECONOMIC CLASS  working class
OCCUPATION  teacher
HOBBIES  going to cinema

the process of commercial television is selling audience. ads are very specific.

BREAKFAST SCENE - how does it appeal to the audience and maintain?

• "microchips" - dad joke
• establishing shot of 'nuclear family' - creates an aspirational image 
• slow pan of breakfast table - an easily identifiable scene for middle class audience
• close up of Laura's face - establishes her dislike of Anita, relatable situation for target audience who may debate over wether or not to get a maid
• "this is what breakfast is suppose to be like" - lowkey dig at Laura, failing to provide properly for her family, assumes she never does breakfast properly 
• all sitting down and eating together - hyperreal, perfect breakfast
• MES of dressing gowns - most of them wearing them, convention of sitcom genre, unconventional of sci-fi genre, keeps interest, repetition and difference (STEVE NEALE)

watershed - 9pm

OFCOM - regulate tv, they try to limit harm and offence

it is getting harder to regulate tv as you can now find the programmes online - Livingstone and Lunt

HARM AND OFFENCE

 kidnapping - may trigger memories - depicts unconscious woman - connotations of murder and sexual assault

black synth treated badly - shot to the ground - connotations of slavery 

threatening behaviour - close up - stern facial expressions - may offend people who have been involved in violence 

gun in background

STUART HALL

RECEPTION THEORY

preferred reading, negotiated reading, oppositional reading

• preferred - uncomfortable, feel sorry for Niska
• negotiated - can see why the man thinks he can do what he wants, but may still feel uncomfortable watching it
• oppositional - the man can do what he wants, Niska is just a synth so she doesn't feel anything