Week 6.
This week’s
lecture brings attention to how audiences have been studied. We discussed the
impact of the media on its audience and the direct effect media content has on
people’s behaviour. The set reading for this week is Gillespie’s book ‘Television,
Ethnicity and Cultural change’, it studies audiences in relation to television.
Specifically concentrating on soap operas, and the relationship soaps have with
their audience. The reading focuses on audience reactions and interaction with
the soap opera ‘Neighbours.’
The television genre of soap operas includes a sense of realism. Audiences are able to relate to the events and characters especially, because of there being a ‘sense of local identity’ (Gillespie, 2003). The reading claims that the construction of Neighbours makes the show relatable to local life in Southall. This is because the soap opera is based around the normal lives of ordinary people. The central focus of soaps being on the ‘importance of family, a density of kin in a small, geographically bounded area; a high degree of face to face contact’ (Gillespie, 2003). The selection of characters and the construction of realist events makes each episode relatable to a wide audience. The multiple narratives mean that soap operas tend to appeal to a broad audience from young people to elderly. Story lines such as family issues, adultery, addictions and relationships appeal and relate to the audience in different ways.
Moreover, the reading then goes on to discuss audience reactions related to Neighbours. ‘When a storyline is so strong that it is a main topic of conversation it is reason enough to get someone watching so as not to be left out of the conversation’ (Gillespie, 2003). This evokes that soap opera success is because of dramatic storylines that inevitably grip the audience’s attention. Story lines based around adultery and criminal activity tend to become soap gossip that is discussed amongst young people because they ‘move so fluidly and seemingly unselfconsciously between ‘soap talk’ and ‘real talk’ (Gillespie, 2003).
The found reading I am using in comparison to Gillespie’s reading is a book I found by Annette Hill, who studies reality TV’s relationship with their audience. Like Gillespie, Hill suggests that young people are the main consumers of television, however in this book Hill concentrates on reality TV and suggests that ‘one of the reasons the reality genre has been so powerful in the television market is that it appeals to young adults in particular’ (2005). Perhaps the use of young celebrities in Big Brother attracts the young viewers, who casually discuss the events of the reality show with peers. The reality genre forces the audience to dispute about housemates, drama, and tasks. ‘Audience debate about reality programmes can only be healthy for the development of the reality genre’ (Hill, 2005). The audience do this through social media, like Twitter and Facebook, this is all part of reality TV’s viral marketing and how they gain publicity.
From this week’s focus on audience relationships with television, a topic I would like to research is how audiences interact with different reality shows, what type of reality shows gain the most success and publicity and why?
References
Gillespie, Marie (2003) “Television, Ethnicity and Cultural Change” IN Will Brooker and Deborah Jermyn (eds.) The Audience Studies Reader. London: Routledge.
Hill, Annette (2005) “Reality TV Audiences and popular factual television” USA and Canada. Routledge. Available through: https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=zoDj0C9a9q8C&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=audience+reactions+to+reality+televion&ots=DVY7wJmrrs&sig=H--haOrmzD8PefcUyvz3n_zlKn4#v=onepage&q=audience%20reactions%20to%20reality%20televion&f=false [Accessed 7th March].
The television genre of soap operas includes a sense of realism. Audiences are able to relate to the events and characters especially, because of there being a ‘sense of local identity’ (Gillespie, 2003). The reading claims that the construction of Neighbours makes the show relatable to local life in Southall. This is because the soap opera is based around the normal lives of ordinary people. The central focus of soaps being on the ‘importance of family, a density of kin in a small, geographically bounded area; a high degree of face to face contact’ (Gillespie, 2003). The selection of characters and the construction of realist events makes each episode relatable to a wide audience. The multiple narratives mean that soap operas tend to appeal to a broad audience from young people to elderly. Story lines such as family issues, adultery, addictions and relationships appeal and relate to the audience in different ways.
Moreover, the reading then goes on to discuss audience reactions related to Neighbours. ‘When a storyline is so strong that it is a main topic of conversation it is reason enough to get someone watching so as not to be left out of the conversation’ (Gillespie, 2003). This evokes that soap opera success is because of dramatic storylines that inevitably grip the audience’s attention. Story lines based around adultery and criminal activity tend to become soap gossip that is discussed amongst young people because they ‘move so fluidly and seemingly unselfconsciously between ‘soap talk’ and ‘real talk’ (Gillespie, 2003).
The found reading I am using in comparison to Gillespie’s reading is a book I found by Annette Hill, who studies reality TV’s relationship with their audience. Like Gillespie, Hill suggests that young people are the main consumers of television, however in this book Hill concentrates on reality TV and suggests that ‘one of the reasons the reality genre has been so powerful in the television market is that it appeals to young adults in particular’ (2005). Perhaps the use of young celebrities in Big Brother attracts the young viewers, who casually discuss the events of the reality show with peers. The reality genre forces the audience to dispute about housemates, drama, and tasks. ‘Audience debate about reality programmes can only be healthy for the development of the reality genre’ (Hill, 2005). The audience do this through social media, like Twitter and Facebook, this is all part of reality TV’s viral marketing and how they gain publicity.
From this week’s focus on audience relationships with television, a topic I would like to research is how audiences interact with different reality shows, what type of reality shows gain the most success and publicity and why?
References
Gillespie, Marie (2003) “Television, Ethnicity and Cultural Change” IN Will Brooker and Deborah Jermyn (eds.) The Audience Studies Reader. London: Routledge.
Hill, Annette (2005) “Reality TV Audiences and popular factual television” USA and Canada. Routledge. Available through: https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=zoDj0C9a9q8C&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=audience+reactions+to+reality+televion&ots=DVY7wJmrrs&sig=H--haOrmzD8PefcUyvz3n_zlKn4#v=onepage&q=audience%20reactions%20to%20reality%20televion&f=false [Accessed 7th March].
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