Questions on TV funding

              Questions

1) What is television funding?

The sources a media company uses to get money for producing their shows

2) What is the BBC’s main source of funding and how does it work?

75% of the BBC’s funding comes from the TV licence fee which 

currently costs £147 for a colour TV and £49.50 for a black and white TV.

3) What other methods does BBC use to raise funds?

The remaining income comes from commercial activities such as:

•          Worldwide sales of its programmes
•          Publications such as Radio Times, Top Gear (not anymore), Good Food, etc
• 
  

4) What issues are there with the BBC’s funding model?

People feel like they should not be obliged to pay for a TV licence when they may not even watch BBC. Or have other subscriptions and things to pay for - such as Netflix.

5) What other methods are there for funding TV? 

Other methods for funding is advertisements and product placement. Companies will pay for their products to be in a 30 second advert or subtly brought up in a scene.

6) What issues are there with commercial TV funding?

- There are other commercial channels competing for advertisers

- The internet is now a big competition 

-  Streaming and catch up is increasing in popularity

- TV adverts are seen as less effective now

 

 

Ownership questions on 'Cuffs'

Ownership, regulation and funding    

What is public service broadcasting?

Programmes that are made for the public. There is no advertisements.

What are some examples of public service broadcasting on the BBC? 

Eastenders and David Attenborough, you can learn from both examples. Eastenders can teach you how to get through something you may be going through. David Attenborough may teach you things you were not aware of before.

What is the BBC's remit?

The values of a media company which they are responsible for upholding, such as enriching peoples lives with programmes and services that inform, educate and entertain.

What do those 3 words mean?

Inform - teach you facts of the world but only knowledge
Educate - teaches you certain skills or knowledge
Entertain - gives joy to the audience

How can you see the BBC’s remit of Inform, Educate and Entertain  in Cuffs? 

Inform - you see the crime that happens in your every day world
Educate - you can learn moral lessons (e.g. gay people are normal)
Entertain - the use of tension and drama is enjoyable

What arguments are there for and against PSB continuing?

It is outdated, nowadays young people watch TV on - for example - Netflix and not enough people watch PSB but are still obliged to pay for it. Also, it is seen as irrelevant and is restricting competition which could bring increased choice and quality. 

However, come argue that a programme should be judged by quality rather than ratings and it continues the idea of a shared experience. 

Television in 2010

TV in 2010

A multitude of television channels broadcast 24 hours a day and more is available via online streaming.

The plentiful nature of television means that channel loyalty is extremely low, except for highly niche channels that address a specialised audience. Channel surfing is routine for broadcast television and content is streamed vas individual programmes or 'box sets' of series. This means that branding of programmes is crucial - audiences must recognise each programme as a brand in the same way as they do for films. This requires television channels to rely on tested television brands or to heavily promote their new programmes, which need to be 'sealable' - to have some element (stars, production values, narrative) that provides a 'reason why' for the audience to tune in. 

Continuity announcements desperately try to keep viewers interested as programme end credits roll promoting the following programmes and cross-promoting similar programmes elsewhere in their stable of channels. Audience 'hooks' at the opening of each programme are vital to entice viewers not to change the channel. Channels increasingly rely on popular flagship programmes to support their branding as a channel. The development of long form television drama reflects this need for high quality flagship programming - the serial narratives of these dramas is designed to encourage loyalty to the programme as audiences must follow every episode.

The highly competitive nature of television has consequences for regulation. Regulators in the digital world have much less power over commercial channels and none over online streaming if the company is based overseas - such as Netflix.

Sheet

Social, Historical and Cultural Context

Context

Social context - how media products reflect the society in which they are produced and that of their target audience. For example, in Cuffs a man is mugged and stabbed because he is Muslim like a reflection in society because people assume all Muslims are terrorists.

Cultural context - how media products reflect the arts and culture, including popular culture, of their time. For example, Michael Jackson - dead - has his music playing in the background of a scene. Cultural context also looks at the society the characters live in and at how their culture can affect their behaviour and their opportunities. 

Historical context - how media products reflect events from the past and social changes For example, Grenfell tower, after the tragic event the state of flat homes were frequently spoken about on TV.

Contexts will overlap one another. For example - the ways in which language is used in media products to reflect the period in which it was written, relates to all three contexts.

Below is a short timeline of few events throughout my life. I have listed whether it is social, historical or cultural. 


What is a social, historical, cultural context and how might it influence a media text?

Media contexts influence many certain points of a media text such as the characters, the costumes, the setting, the time etc. A social context is how a media text is reflected in society. A historical context is a prehistoric event that happened and a cultural context looks at how their culture can affect their behaviour and actions.

For example, the way that gay people are represented in media texts are influenced by modern society. This includes the typical stereotype of gay people being very feminine, rude and weak. Social context would affect this by what is in the news or historically how it used to be illegal to be gay. A certain media text may look at the historical context in the way that all sexuality is accepted now and there is even a ＃MeToo movement which is open to all sorts of LGBTQ+ people which also means many more people feel more inclined to make their sexuality public. 

In addition to this, in terms of a historical context, gay people are seen as more than what their stereotype connotes them to be. People see them in a more sympathetic way and this influences media texts to represent them differently to how they previously used to be. 

For example, in "Cuffs" one of the main character is a gay police officer and he is successful and fights for the law. This is a countertype and this would have never happened some years ago. The media text has been influenced by the contexts.

Representation in cuffs

Wire homework

Homework

In the opening clip of season 5 episode 1 The wire, there is a black police investigator who conforms to the conventions of the genre as he is a black man who swears frequently however it also does not conform as black people are usually represented in the media as not having much power or authority - but you can clearly see that he is in charge and makes a man seem vulnerable. 

The investigator then goes on to interrogate and manipulate this alleged criminal which makes him very clever. This does not conform to the genres conventions as black people are stereotyped to not be very successful or clever. This man is a countertype. 

It is revealed that the form of manipulation they carry, they have used many times before leading us to believe that it has been a successful deception. This shows that the Americans are good at their jobs and quite clever - not conforming. However one of the investigators say "Americans are stupid people by large. We pretty much believe whatever we're told". This stereotypes and generalises Americans which conforms to the genre. This shows a red herring because it is false information that misleads the audience.

Towards the end of the clip, after successfully getting a confession out of the criminal he walks off like a hero and puts a cigar in his mouth symbolising masculinity. This shows the audience that (for example in Propp's theory) the police is the hero and the criminal is the villain. This also shows teamwork between the investigators which is conforming to conventions.