Broadcast or narrowcast ? WHY DO YOU THINK THIS?

1. Broadcast or narrowcast? WHY DO YOU THINK THIS? On the left all the channels are broadcast. This is because sky 1 HD, BBC1 and ITV all broadcast a wide set of programs. As ITV1shows soaps and documentaries On the right all the channels are narrowcast. This is because BBC3, Dave, Gold and Sky Arts HD are all for a specific genre. For example Dave shows comedy shows.

2. Type of programmes – and some examples… What could you say about the shows on the channel? The shows on Fool are cooking shows that help and encourage people to cook new and healthy meals. Shows such as master chef and Richard Stein’s seafood odyssey are shown on food and they are shows that involve food. The shows shown on alibi are all about crime and mysteries. Shows such as new tricks and the inspector lynley mysteries are shown on alibi which are both crime themed shows The shows on Blighty are all about Britain and celebrates Britain's uniqueness. Shows like British Isle: A natural History are shown on brightly in which is related to Britain. shows on GOLD are classic and old The shows. Shows such as Last of summer wine 1995 special-Uncle of Bride and AlloAllo are shown on GOLD and they are both old shows. The shows on watch are shows that are scidi themed, documentaries and crime. Shows such as Beauty and the beast and who do you think you are? are shown on Watch and they are shows that involve crime The shows on Really portray an insight into peoples lives. Shows like Mary, Queen of shops and I am the Elephant man are shown on Really and they are shows that show an insight into peoples lives The shows on Home are inspirational and guide people to stylish homes. Shows such as DIY SOS and Extreme Makeover are shows that help create stylish homes The shows on Dave are all about witty humor and shows that appeal to men. Shows such as Top Gear and Lizard Lick Towing are shown on Dave and they are both shows that portray the rebellious side to men The shows on Eden are shows that stimulates peoples minds and gives a brighter look on the world. Shows such as planet earth and David Attenborough’s Natural Curiosities are shown on Eden and they are shows that explore the natural things on Earth.

3. Choose 3 channels – and define the target audience – using CARGEL – explaining WHY you think they are the target audience… Look at the programme listings to help you and think about the name of the channel 2.Dave-The target audience for Dave, using CARGEL would be gender, which is targeted at males. This is because Dave shows witty and funny programs that would only appeal to males but not females 1.Really-The target audience for Really, using CARGEL would be gender, which is targeted at females. This Is because Really shows female lifestyle programming. Also, Really is based on pop art style cartoon of women. 3.Blighty- The target audience for Blighty, using CARGEL would be location, which is Britain. This is because Blighty only show programs that have got to do with Britain. Also Blighty’s logo is the Union Jack but with multiple colours representing Britain. Your 3 Channel’s NARROWCAST to A NICHE audience – try to explain what this means Firstly, Narrowcasting means to transmit programs to specific audience. They are transmitted most commonly by satellite radio or cable Tv. Cable TV narrowcasts because the encrypted signals can only be viewed on a TV by first running through a descrambler provided by the cable company. Satellite radio narrowcasts as it does not have any advertisements and therefore you need to pay regularly. A niche audience means targeting a TV shows/magazine/website etc to a specific audience to appeal to their interests. So these 3 channels narrowcast (you need a cable TV to watch it) to a niche audience (they show programs of a specific genre)

4. Can you think of any other channels that narrowcast – to niche audiences What are the strengths and weaknesses of a ‘niche’ TV channel? Why do they show the same programmes day in day out? The channels show the same programs as they are a narrowcast channel which target a niche audience. The channel will only show programs that are related to the theme the channel show. For example, Blighty will only show programs that are related to Britain and they target people who live in Britain and are lovers of Britain Sky Sport narrowcasts to a niche audience. This is because they only show programs that are related to sport. They also target a niche audience as only people who like sport will watch. The strength's of a niche TV channel is that people who are interested in the channel enjoy it very much and are able to watch shows that consist of the same concept as much as they want. They weaknesses is that it excludes other people from watching the channel as some people may not be interested in watching shows that contain the same themes

5. To conclude - explain how these channels (DAVE, GOLD etc) appeal to different ranges of audience than the films we have already looked at  - even though arguably they are all “mainstream”. How are they able to do this? (Cheaper, repeats, no production costs) Channels that show repeats of programs are capable of owning a variety of different channels. This is because showing repeats costs less as there no production costs. This means they are saving a lot of money and are able to afford running a variety of niche channels. As they are able to own a variety of niche channels, this means they don’t have to just own one channel with a variety of different programs which would cost more, they can instead own a range of niche channels which is beneficial for the channel because it means more viewers which then leads to more money. Some of you should attempt to comment critically - i.e. is a ‘niche’ TV channel a good idea? Why & why not? A niche can sometimes be a good but at times it is not so good. This is because a niche TV channel may appeal to people that may enjoy watching a show dedicated to what they love. For example, if an aspiring forensic scientist wanted to learn more about crime but didn’t have any people they knew that was one, they could just watch a channel with a variety of programs so they don’t get bored of the same themed shows. Therefore< its is excluding other people and therefore losing viewers.

6. THE CHANNELS SHOW THE SAME TYPE OF PROGRAMMES BECAUSE THEY ARE TRYING TO APPEAL TO A SMALL AUDIENCE THAT LIKES SPECIFIC PROGRAMMES – KNOWN AS A “NICHE” AUDIENCE. THEY ARE “NARROWCASTING” THE PROGRAMMES TO A NICHE AUDIENCE. DEFINITIONS: NICHE AUDIENCE When a TV show (or website or magazine or radio station) is aimed at a person’s individual interests - they are said to be a “niche” audience. It appeals to a niche or small or specialist audience. NARROWCAST To transmit programmes (especially by cable / satellite television) confined to the interests of a specific group of viewers, subscribers, or listeners, such as business people, or teenagers. This is the opposite to BROADCAST - e.g. Eastenders appeals to a wide audience (it has 80 year old and 16 year old characters, of different classes and different ethnic groups) of 8 million per episode - therefore it is “broad”cast. Appealing to a wide (broad) audience.