TASK 1

1. TASK 1 VS. Magazine Show Comparison.

2. Background Info. • This Morning. • ‘This Morning’ (first aired in 1988) is a British daytime television magazine show that usually broadcasts on ITV from 10.30am. Recent presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby have attracted up to 1.6 million viewers by featuring celebrity interviews and gossip, live performances, competitions and advice on health and cooking. Have I Got News For You. ‘Have I Got News For You’ is a British comedy panel show that discusses contemporary news in a light-hearted and witty format since 1991. With an astonishing 7 million viewers we see the participants Paul Merton and Ian Hislop as team captains, each accompanied by a guest who has relevance to recent news as they discuss and banter over the latest scandals.

3. Content. (Click on the links to see examples of each type of content) ‘This Morning’ has a variety of different sections that make up the magazine show. For instance: • Home and Garden:Property experts are invited onto the show to value a house along with professionals who give advice on what would make your house look better. • Style and Beauty: Often celebrities giving an insight into their own fashion and beauty sense, usually followed by a performance if the guest is a singer. • Food: Similar to a cooking show, ‘This Morning’ offers ideas on healthy eating. • Showbiz: Actors from popular soap operas are invited onto the show to chat about their career. • Lastly, real life stories that follows someone with an incredible talent, survived an incident or have had a life-changing experience.

4. Content ‘Have I Got News For You’ follows the basic conventions of a comedy panel show whereby the show consists of 2 teams who compete in the game show. These groups each have a leading presenter and a guest who spend most the show ad-libbing and joking about the recent news in question. However, joking aside, ‘Have I got News For You’ is still a very knowledgeable and intelligent show that discusses very serious matters within today's news.

5. Content Compared. The content of ‘This Morning’ is clearly more packed and holds a lot more information in regards to the audiences interest compared to ‘Have I Got News For You’ which basically discusses recent news in a very comical way. Nevertheless, we see that these 2 shows contain very different content due to the time of which they are broadcasted as well as the audience. For instance, ‘This Morning’ is created for housewives, therefore, gossip, fashion and cooking tips is a must. Whereas, ‘HIGNFY’ is aired in the late evening, mainly for the male gender who have just finished a long day at work and need entertainment. In terms of similarities however, each show contains guest appearances, yet ‘This Morning’ only has these guests performing. Furthermore, the content used is always light-hearted, funny and informal to easily entertain and relax the audience, along with up-to-date news so the audience is always in the know of contemporary issues.

6. Presentation Presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby are always friendly, chatty, informal and ready to gossip to give that ‘coffee with your friends’ feel, therefore, making the audience more relaxed and comfortable. The standard ‘Man and Woman’ presenter is also seen on this show to bounce off one another, as Holly attracts the younger females, whereas Phillip’s funny and outgoing nature attracts a sense of humour and light-hearted comedy into the show. Furthermore, their appearance always anchors the health and beauty content of ‘This Morning’ as they appear clean, attractive, with styled hair along with fashionable clothing.

7. Presentation During ‘Have I Got News For You’ we see a different celebrity host every episode to add variety to the show. This has proved successful as the viewing figures has risen from 6 million to an astonishing 7 million viewers. We see the main presenters Ian Hislop and Paul Merton every week joined by a guest presenter on each team (usually a comedian, politician or someone who has particular relevance to recent news). They are always witty, informal and very funny throughout the show to keep that comedy aspect current. In terms of their appearance, each presenter looks very smart and business-like in suits to re-enforce the fact that they are still very intelligent men. Additionally, by having an all-male cast anchors the idea that this show was created for men, as well as their appearance indicating a more upper-class audience.

8. Presentation Compared. We see that both shows have very out-going and chatty presenters however, ‘This Morning’ are more friendly and un-threatening due to the style of the show and target audience, whereas, ‘HIGNFY’ are more boisterous and offensive to create a better comedy effect as we know that they are simply joking about the news and not us. Therefore, creating a similarity as neither shows create demanding or intimidating atmospheres, just simply entertainment. In terms of their image, ‘This Morning’ give a more stylish, attractive approach to their appearance, whereas, ‘HIGNFY’ portray the target audience through their upper-class, serious, suit image to anchor the important issues that are brought up. Furthermore, there is a clear difference through the presenters used as we see the same main presenters Holly and Phillip appear everyday on ‘This Morning’ whereas there are constantly new presenters on ‘HIGNFY’. The fact that they are always male anchors the target audience, similar to a mixed gender cast on ‘This Morning’ to create a more homey atmosphere.

9. The Look & Sound. ‘This Morning’ is always a very charming, bright, happy and soothing show that lets you escape the reality of housework, cooking etc. As not only do the presenter’s friendly approach help with this, but also the homey, living-room-like set make the audience feel more at home and therefore, they will feel more comfortable. The sound used is also very similar to the style of the set as the delightful tune is both calming and exciting as it gets you ready for the actual show. On ‘HIGNFY’ however, it anchors their male audience by having rather the opposite of ‘This Morning’, which is an obvious panel show that gives no reference to a homey set. This therefore, emphasises the serious nature of their content even though they make jokes. Furthermore, the dark colours show not only the evening time of day, but also these represent a more masculine image rather than the neutral, bright colours within ‘This Morning’. In terms of the titles, ‘HIGNFY’ have an animated sequence that gives a humorous approach to the issues within the news today. This is then anchored by the background pictures on set that distort celebrity images to enforce the comedy aspect of the show. Very different to ‘This Morning’ title sequence that includes a happy melody and again, bright neutral colours to emphasise the style of the show. Again different to ‘This Morning’ is the sound used, as not only does the panel show set show an obvious studio setting, but also the constant background laughter to remind viewers back home that there is an audience watching this studio-based show. Furthermore, in terms of the music within the title sequence, it appears to be more of a rock genre than ‘This Morning’s’ happy melody to enforce the male cast and audience.

10. Audience As I have mentioned throughout this presentation, the audience for ‘This Morning’ is obviously a working class, housewife relaxing after the family have left the house. Therefore, the show is directed mainly at the viewers sitting in the comfort of their own home. ‘Have I got News For You’ however, constantly reminds the audience back home that there is also an audience within the studio through this audience being shown on screen throughout the show as well as cheering and laughing being heard. Yet the presenters are always talking and looking into the camera, therefore, indicating that they are trying to reach viewers back home rather than the viewers in the studio. This is similar to ‘This Morning’ as the presenters are always talking directly through the camera to the audience at home, indicating an informal conversation between the viewer and the presenter.

11. Overall I find that each show works well for it’s target audience and the time of which it is broadcasted as ‘This Morning’ offers a wide range of items that keep you entertained whereas ‘HIGNFY’ have such a funny cast, that they do not need much variety as their comedy skills keep you entertained through the whole show. ‘This Morning’ nevertheless is a nice, easy to watch show that brings you happily into the day without any stress or inconvenience. ‘HIGNFY’ also does its job very well by providing excellent entertainment as well as an informative show by bringing its audience up-to-date on the issues brought up in recent news. Other than the obvious differences within their studio set, target audience and show content, I find both shows provide excellent service for their target audience and successfully entertain in their own unique ways as I have stated above and throughout my presentation.