St. Paul’s Catholic CollegeUnit G324: Advanced Portfolio in Media

Target Audience

Name of Production: Upon Thames

TARGET AUDIENCE: 18-25 year olds, male and female.

My target audience is very similar to that of the popular soap opera Hollyoaks and the teen drama Skins. Whilst I aim to target ’18-25’ year old ‘males’ and ‘females’ (Hartley), Hollyoaks appeals to a ’16-30’ year old male and female audience, whilst Skin’s target audience is roughly ’16-20’ year olds of both genders also. I believe I can successfully appeal to this demographic as many of the actors and actresses in my trailer will be around 18. A younger demographic of viewers are more likely to form a “personal relationship” (Katz) with ‘stars’ (Dyer) that are of a similar age to them, as they will be able to “personally identify” (Katz) with the situations and experiences of these characters.

As ‘Upon Thames’ is a new soap, I want to ensure that the needs of my intended audience are directly catered for, so that viewers can gain gratification from watching the soap. Ultimately, this will enhance its popularity and will lead to the formation of a passionate fan base. I want ‘Upon Thames’ to become well established and achieve the same success as a soap opera like Hollyoaks. The plot of a murder is a stereotypical narrative of the genre and so this should appeal to my intended viewership.

Hollyoaks is exhibited on both Channel 4 and E4. In contrast, E4 is solely responsible for exhibiting Skins. Therefore, a major difference between ‘Upon Thames’ and the soaps that share a similar target audience with me is that ‘Upon Thames’ will air on BBC 2.

I have chosen BBC 2 as the network to air my trailer as I believe ‘Upon Thames’ conforms to John Reith’s values of “inform, educate and entertain”. Viewers will be entertained through the action unfolding around the murder of a resident; they will be educated about how a community can be filled with lies and disturbing truths, as well as being informed about whom the characters are and what they are like as people.

My trailer will appeal to both a ‘male’ and ‘female’ (Hartley) demographic. Therefore, I plan to use both male and female actors. According to Katz my trailer will appeal to those who want a form of “diversion”. The trailer will create tension as different suspects will be captured performing tasks that make them look guilty or as if they have committed the murder. Hence, through watching the action unfold, viewers can escape reality and immerse themselves in the text.

The media text will also appeal to “survivors” and “caregivers” according to Maslow. “Survivors” will tune in to ‘Upon Thames’ after viewing the trailer as they need the security of knowing that everything will be okay and all the horror will be resolved. For example, they might tune in to see whether the murderer is discovered and is punished for his/her crime. It would also appeal to “caregivers” as they may sympathies for the character that has died and so may tune in to see how the death of the resident impacts the victims close family/friends.