Task 1
Now that the TV industry has moved into the digital world there are only a small number of analogue channels left. Them being BBC 1, BBC, ITV and Chanel 4. Along with this TV sets now come with free view, this being a free service allowing you to watch certain channels for free. Channels that come with free view are BBC 1, BBC 1, ITV Chanel 4, five, ITV2, more 4, film 4, five s, fiver and many others. The service provider for this is DTV Services[i].
When sky launched in 1989 with the launch of Astra. Sky TV has become more and more popular and now enables people to choose from thousands of channels. [ii]From 2008 people 85% of people now own sky TV in their homes. Sky TV has enables people to choose from a variety of channels.
With Digital TV becoming more popular and better than analogue TV, a digital switch over is now taking place. Many places over the UK have already switched over and many are yet to switch over. The digital switchover will not take place in Yorkshire until 2011.[iii] With their being so many channels many people often miss TV programs due to their being over TV programs and with family members having different taste in TV channels and programmes you can now record TV shows and pause them, rewind them and even fast-forward them. This is thanks to the arrival of Sky + which allows you to customise your TV schedule to fit around your life. Many over TV Channels that are similar to Sky + are virgin on demand, BT Vision and TIVO. Along with this if a programme is missed and can’t access a TV then you can watch missed programmes on the Internet. Thanks to catch up websites like 4 on Demand and BBCI player. To watch these then you would simply create an account for that website and then either choose to stream it or download it. On BBCI player it is free but the TV shows only stay on that website for seven days and after that it disappears. So if you download it then you only have it for seven days. 4 on demand (4OD) allows you to download programs and keep them for as long as you want. After 30 days then you have to pay to download it. This only applies to TV shows, for films then you always have to pay for them. So from this it s now possible to purchase TV from the Internet.
The audience input to TV is extremely important. Now TV viewers have input into some of the TV shows they watch, this is often done with the tag line “press the red button now”. Before this, TV shows would often get viewers to phone into The TV shows and get involved into TV contests, Phone-ins and games. When the digital era of sky arrived, the red button became popularised and now instead of phoning in you could do it using your sky remote. This would often have viewers voting for something or taking part in a poll, the audience’s input became a vital role into television. TV shows such a Big Brother and Strictly Come Dancing are good examples of how some television shows need the audiences input to run the show. In 2008 TV shows such as Rock Rivals and Echo Beach allowed viewers to choose how they wanted the TV show to end. Again the Red button could be used for this. This shows how much TV viewers get involved into shows and how some shows need the viewers input to survive.
Due to Sky + and TIVO and many channels to choose from family members no longer watch TV as a family like they originally did. Now that TV caters to people’s different tastes households now generally watch TV and individuals rather than a family. With their being so many channels and audience niches advertisers now no longer mass advertise and expect a massive audience to see it. Now they have to put the advertisement on the appropriate channel e.g.: advertising lampshades and clothes on the shopping channel instead of advertising them on the cooking channel. This is better as now if they put the channel on the appropriate channel then they can expect al large audience to see it. The disadvantages of this is cola adverts won’t have a massive viewing audience as there isn’t really a channel for that and it would be put on a number of channels. This wouldn’t guarantee a large audience to see it.
The uses and gratifications theory is now more relevant today because TV shows can appeal more to audiences by using the four basic needs of surveillance, personnel relations, entertainment and personal identity.
[i] Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeview_(UK)
[iii] http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/when_do_i_switch/yorkshire
Task 2
Since the launch of channel 4, this channel has largely increased and now has many other stations and activities. Chanel 4 owns E4, Film 4 and many other channels. Chanel 4 has also had 4HD, which airs its TV shows in High Definition. A feature for next gen TV’s and also has an online website 4 on demand. It is also available in digital, a feature that applies to people who have had the digital switch over. Chanel 4 is also imports many us TV shows giving us viewers a taste of American TV. They are commercially self-funded. In the future channel 4 plans on releasing it’s own music channel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_4
Task 3: How is the TV industry funded and how does this effect programming?
PSB stands for public service broadcasting, and this means the TV stations BBC and BBC2 have a TV licence which is funded by the public. Due to this the BBC have to follow a remit, this means there TV shows have to be educational, informative and entertaining. PSB also means that there aren’t many TV shows that get axed, even if only one person is watching it. PSB is very important because it without that then there would only be us imports and mainstreamTV,as it would depend ratings and advertisements. In the future PSB will continue to be a big part of TV as that allows us to watch other things other than commercial TV. The PSB remit ITV as it allows them to create TV dramas of good quality. It also stops us imports from having a large amount of airtime allowing there to be variety.Subscription channels are when you have to subscribe to them to view them. Certain subscriptions also allow you to customise your channels and decide which channels you want and don’t want. To view stations and channels you do have to subscribe to them first. Subscriptions are good as after a while you can often upgrade, allowing you to get more from the channel and get it for a better price.
Pay-per-view allows people to pay for what they’re watching, allowing people to pay for only the programmes they want to watch rather than a monthly fee. Boxing is usually a pay-to-view channel, as audiences don’t want to pay and subscribe to the whole channel, they just want to view the boxing.
Companies and businesses now sponsor many TV shows. The sponsors usually target the primary audience for that TV show. E.G Ferreira Roche now sponsor Desperate Housewives, due to the primary target audience being females and females like chocolate. This way the sponsors know they have successfully promoted their company or business to the appropriate target group. Sponsors usually give the TV show funding in return for the TV show advertising them.
With there now being so many different TV channels as opposed to the two channels that started out, advertising has now become allot more difficult. Now advertisers have to make sure there advertisements are on the right channel, and the right audience niche is viewing it. E.G a ford car advert would be very successful with a large viewing audience on top gear on DAVE as opposed to it being on MTV.
Product placement can help fund a TV programme, as people now don’t pay attention to advertisements therefore they don’t really see much advertised. This is bad for the advertisers, as they aren’t attracting any buyers. With product placement many items could be advertised in the shows as the audiences pay attention to the programmes therefore advertisers are attracting audience viewers.
http://www.btvision.bt.com/what-is-bt-vision/
http://www.seesawmedia.co.uk/services_tv_exposure.htm
4: Produce a short documentary or presentation.
Task 5: Use the resources below to create an organisational chart/essay/powerpoint/speech package/short film that highlights the different jobs available in the TV and Film Industries. (P2 M2 D2)
Task 6: You are a special guest on a radio programme and you are on the show as an industry specialist. Choose a specific job role, preferably a role that you are interested in pursuing in the future and research the role.
Task 7: Explain some of the different types of jobs and contracts that are being advertised currently at the BBC.
Attachment- this contract allows people to work for a certain department while still being contracted to that company.
Fixed term- this contract ties you to a company for a certain amount of time, once that time is up or the job is completed the contract would end. The contracts length varies depending on the job role. In some circumstances fixed term contracts can be extended.
Casual-
Flexi – This allows workers to have a flexible work time, meaning they can do all their work in the morning and leave in the afternoon. Or vice versa. The give people more flexibility over there work hours allowing more free time for the worker. These contracts are ideal for new time parents or people with busy home lives.
Freelance- Freelance essentially means you work for yourself. You have the choice to balance various projects at the same time. Whilst there is a chance you still have to sign a contract with a business, it won’t be as strict as the other contracts. Freelancers get to choose there work schedule and often develop a broad portfolio due to the different jobs.
Secondment -
Voluntary- People volunteer to work for a company. This is often done to gain experience in that particular field.
Confidentiality contracts would often be used in soaps, various members of the cast and crew would have to sign a contract that restricts them from telling anybody about certain plotlines. During press conferences and interviews the persons being interviewed can control how much of what they say is printed, if they don’t like what they say then they can get it retracted by saying “strike that”, this then means what they have said can’t be repeated. Confidentiality contracts may also be signed by agents, PR company’s etc… This means they can’t give out any personal information about there clients.
Certain celebrities are contracted to only work with certain TV stations. These include Jonathan Ross, who is only permitted to work with the BBC, through TV and radio. [i]
You need to pass all units to pass the course Kam and this unit is nowhere near complete.
ReplyDelete