Soap Opera Genre –

Target Audience

Name: Jack J Connell Candidate Number: 1103Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic SchoolCenter Number: 64135

OCR Media Studies – A2 Level

Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio

Stereotypical Target Audience For Trailer 1 -EastEnders

Socio-Economic Needs – The typical ‘EastEnders’ viewer tends to fall into the C1-E category which would include students and people who have working class jobs during the day. The reasons behind this are most likely because similar types of people are presented in the trailer, so working class people are attracted to watch drama that features other working class people as they can relate to it more easily. They want a sense of realism that they can connect with. An example of this is the army job and the verbal code at the start ‘slippery geezer’ which is a working class term.

Hartley’s 7 Subjectivities – Stereotypically speaking, soap operas like ‘EastEnders’ appeals to the female gender of an older generation as they tend to relate and sympathize to the dilemmas and issues showcased in the show. A theory that represents this idea is “the home, domestic tribulations and strong women, and as such, it has been long since said to appeal to the female audience” (Rebeca Feasey – 2007) as there is a clear example of domestic tribulations. The example here would be the eye level shot of the relationship being had between the white female and black male characters. Generally, people of the middle/lower class gravitate towards soap operas as the characters in the shows are predominantly from this class. Black and white males and females are present in the trailer which suggests that the audience could be made up of people from different ethnicities.

Stereotypical Target Audience For Trailer 1 -EastEnders

Katz’ Uses & Gratifications theory – ‘EastEnders’ forms part of a routine for the millions of people that watch the show as well as offering a ‘social launchpad’ for social interaction (Richard Kilborn –1992). This ‘routine‘ is proved by the structured running times. The audience of this trailer and the ‘EastEnders‘ series form ‘personal relationships‘ with the characters which adds to the drama of the show. The audience could also be seen as ‘thrill seekers‘ as there is a lot of physical and emotional drama within the sequence that has the potential to be hard hitting on the audience.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs – According to the hierarchy of needs the audience of this ‘EastEnders’ trailer can be denoted as both ‘Caregivers’ and ‘Survivors’. The audience sympathises with characters that are in predicaments and want characters that they perceive as being ‘good’ to not have bad things happen to them. They seek resolutions amongst characters and want everything to be ok which makes them ‘survivors’. The example here would be the eye level close up shots of the situation between Jane and Phil, with the verbal code “who are you hiding?” people are looking for a resolution.

Psychographics – The denotation of the target audience is that they are ‘mainstreamers’ who lead a regular lifestyle and would consume this program. These people can be in work or education and use the show to get away from their daily lives as a form of escape into other peoples lives. These kinds of people are featured within the trailer and the audience could be enticed into leading their life and making decisions based on how people in the show act which shows that the show has some influence on its audience. This can be proved as at the end of particularly dramatical ‘EastEnders’ episodes there is a contact number given for people who may have been effected.

Stereotypical Target Audience For Trailer 2 –Coronation Street

Hartley’s 7 Subjectivities – From deconstructing the ‘Coronation Street’ trailer it is immediately clear that this soap opera could appeal to people of all ages due the wide age range of people showcased in the trailer. In terms of class, this soap would appeal more towards a middle/ lower class audience as the people in the trailer are of a working class, there are examples of these people in the pictures such as the eye level shot of the café worker with the verbal code “cheap tart”. This is significant as working class people are more likely to connect with working class characters in shows as they share a common ground and are easily relatable. Unlike ‘EastEnders’ this trailer only features people of a white ethnicity which could suggest that the audience would also be predominantly white. Stereotypically soap’s appeal to females of an older generation and I think this may also apply for ‘Coronation Street’ however, there are more younger people in this trailer so the age range could be broader.

Socio-Economic Needs – Much like ‘EastEnders’ I think that the audience majority would fall into the C1 to E category as the characters featured within the trailer are of a lower working class such as the café worker. Again, the verbal code “cheap tart” is a working class phrase that helps to back this up. This is because of similar reasons to ‘EastEnders’ in that people tend to watch shows, particularly soap operas, that that they can relate to. These people would typically be students and people who have working class day jobs.

Stereotypical Target Audience For Trailer 2 –Coronation Street

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs – Due to the dramatic nature of this trailer I think that the audience can be denoted as ‘thrill seekers’ and ‘explorers’ as there is a lot of conflict between the characters which is presented in the fast-paced trailer. The audience seek resolutions amongst the characters much like the audience of ‘EastEnders’. This could be proved by the cliff hanger ending when there is an eye level medium close up shot of the two guilty characters in the doorway with the verbal code “I wanna know where he is”. The audience will want to know if the issues get resolved which makes them ‘survivors’.

Katz’ Uses & Gratifications theory – As mentioned before, the audience are able to build up a ‘personal relationship’ with the characters in the opera due to the personal conflicts and how the characters are of the same class as the audience majority. Examples such as the emotional scenes with the guilty female protagonist where there is a close up shot of her crying with the verbal code “I can’t do this” helps to prove this point. Much like ‘EastEnders’ there are set running times which provides the audience with a secure event in their day which gives them a sense of routine.

Psychographics – The casual dress code and lack of product placement in the ‘Coronation Street’ trailer could be an indicator that the audience are ‘mainstreamers’. An example would be the pink tracksuit jumper and hoop earing that the girl at the end is wearing as these are typical casual clothing items. These people lead fairly normal lives and use the show as a form of ‘escape’ to delve into someone else's life. This is why the audience are able to build up a ‘personal relationship’ with the characters. This could mean however, that the audience may feel the need to act and make decisions based on how people in the show do.

Scheduling- The soap operas are scheduled to air between 7pm – 11pm in the evening. This could help define the target audience as this falls perfectly in line with when people come home from work which could suggest that the soaps are aimed at people who have jobs, rather than people who are still in education. Both of these soaps are on before the watershed at 9pm which means that the target audience are not necessarily people who like strong language and violence. This is also a prime time slot which suggests that the soaps will be a big part of peoples evenings who watch the shows.

General Overview - Overall I think that the stereotypical target audience for these soap operas would be made up of mostly women of a middle to working class from a predominantly white ethnicity. These people are likely to have day jobs and they enjoy realism that they can relate to. They are stereotypically ‘mainstreamers’ who live a regular lifestyle and use soaps as a form of escapism. The age range of the target audience is wide which is reflected in the wide age range of characters featured in the soap opera trailers but would be mainly middle aged people.