SMST21606B Television

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SMST216-06B Television

• Week 31 (August 2)
• Ways of Studying Television Genre, Schedule
  revisited, Political Economy, Ideology

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Explaining the terms

• Concepts such as codes and conventions,
  narrative, genre and schedule are, most often
  applied to the content (texts) of television, to
  explain how they construct meaning.
• Concepts such as political economy, ideology and
  postmodernity are more usually applied to the
  context (wider social and political meanings and
  purposes) of television.
• Nevertheless, there is considerable application
  of these concepts in both circumstances.
• OHT the construction of meaning

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To date

• The concepts we have encountered so far can be
  regarded as the stepping stones or building
  blocks towards the construction and analysis of
  content and meaning ie
• signs --- codes and conventions ---
• narrative

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The next two steps

• or building blocks are
• genre
• and
• schedule

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Genre (1)

• Television genres are groupings of categories
  whereby programmes are defined, produced and
  placed in the schedule (the timetable of
  television). Examples of TV genres include soap
  opera/serial sitcoms news current affairs
  sport lifestyle childrens youth adverts etc.
• Some genres are now very broad, as a consequence
  of programme diversity and genre hybridisation
  (examples of cross-genre or mixed genre) eg
  reality TV, dramedy

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Genre (2)

• The television industry uses the term to
  categorise and identify the various parts of its
  programming mix. Audiences use it to identify and
  choose their viewing preferences It is a
  particularly tidy way of describing the mess and
  muddle which characterises television
  programming, across the multitude of channels and
  hours upon hours of programming. Lealand
  Martin, 59

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• all television programs can be classified
  according to type every program is a distinct
  work, but it is also a kind of program. The most
  common genres are commercials, news programs,
  situation comedies, soap operas. documentaries,
  sports shows, talk shows In principle, there
  may be a finite number of genres and each
  television show should fit into only one of them
  if the classification system works perfectly. In
  practice, however, there are mixed genres,
  combinations of kinds of programs, that
  complicate matters enormously nevertheless
  genres are systems of meaning and significance.
  Arthur Asa Berger Genre chives/etv/G/htmlG/genre/genre.htm

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Schedule (1)

• the television industry utilises genre
  classification as a shorthand means of scheduling
  television is also primarily organised around
  time-slotsthe television schedule is the
  running order in which programmes are placed
  during a day also weekly and seasonally
• Casey et al (2002), 203-204

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Schedule (2)

• Predictability is important, as one of the core
  aims of scheduling is to assist broadcasters in
  capturing the biggest audience possible, thus
  maximising advertising revenues. The careful
  scheduling of programmes in particular slots may
  also allow a broadcaster to win viewers away from
  other television channels. As a result,
  scheduling has become increasingly important as
  an aspect of competitive ratings wars. (Casey
  et al, 203-204)
• Thus, until recently, we had three competing
  personality-led current affairs programmes on NZ
  television in the 7pm time-slot (Holmes, Closeup
  _at_ 7, Campbell Live)

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Schedule (3)

• Television schedules are governed by a number of
  factors
• Symbiotic relationships between audiences and
  schedules ie people watch television in greatest
  numbers at certain times (eg primetime, Sunday
  Monday nights) the most popular programmes are
  placed in these time-slots
• The schedule is divided into pre-determined time
  zones eg day time (or off-peak), childrens,
  prime-time, late night
• The watershed (8.30pm in NZ) determines what
  genres (eg crime drama) and content cannot be
  shown before this time
• Television viewing is seasonal, echoing both the
  structure of the year (winter, summer holidays),
  as well as the seasonal patterns of television
  viewing (ie production blocks of 13 or 26 weeks
  of imported programmes). NZ experiences seasonal
  quirks (eg Christmas themes screening in July)

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Schedule (4)

• Scheduling is often based around models of family
  behaviour, as well as assumptions about gendered
  viewing (eg the belief that women watch TV around
  early evening demands men tend to watch later in
  the evening)
• Television in NZ displays some unique scheduling
  traits eg stripped timeslot for early evening
  serial drama (Shortland Street) womens sport
  (netball) in primetime pay TV drama on FTA (The
  Sopranos Six Feet Under)
• Audience fragmentation and new technology (VCR,
  TiVO) provides serious challenges to traditional
  scheduling practices (eg time-shifting)

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Political Economy (1)

• see Lealand Martin, 80-91
• An approach to the study of television which
  focuses on its economic and institutional
  characteristics, investigates patterns of
  ownership, revenue sources (especially the role
  of advertising and commercialism), and
  technological change.

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Political Economy (2)

• The majority of political economy approaches to
  television adopt critical (political)
  perspectives, examining the medium within
  frameworks of Marxist/cultural theory, and the
  role of television in economic and political life
  of nations, and globally eg how ownership of
  television channels can influence editorial
  content how commercial imperatives (the need to
  maximise profits) can encourage the exclusion of
  controversy, or diversity of opinions, or
  domination of distribution
• See Who Owns What, Columbia Journalism Review
  www.cjr.org/tools/owners/index.asp
• Example News Corporation

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Political Economy (3)

• Political economy perspectives concentrate on
• The accelerating trend towards deregulation and
  commercialisation of television--the expanding
  commercial sector vs the shrinking public service
  television sector
• The globalisation of television production and
  distribution (the role of giant media
  corporations)
• The expansion of new media forms and channels
  (eg attempts by commercial interests to control
  the internet)

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Ideology (1)

• see Lealand Martin, 49-53
• The study of the ideological content and
  consequences (effects) of television is closely
  aligned to political economy approaches, in the
  emphasis on the connections between economic
  factors and ideological outcomes.

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Ideology (2)

• Television is perfect ideology slips through its
  channels surreptitiously Television appears
  as a perfectly natural representation of
  reality a window on the world televisions
  images and sounds seem so natural because its
  messages are coded in a very familiar framework
• (Ellis Cashmore (1994) and there was television)

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Ideology (3)

• Commercial culture aka television does not
  manufacture ideology it relays and reproduces
  and processes and packages and focuses ideology
  that is constantly arising both from social
  elites and from active social groups and
  movements as well as within media organisations
  and practices .
• (Todd Gitlin, Primetime ideology,1994)

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Ideology (4)

• The presence and impact of ideological messages
  on television are a site of contestation or
  dispute eg
• John Fiske refers to the (Level 3) ideological
  codes (familiar, socially acceptable codes) of
  individualism, race and class, power
  relationships.

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Ideology (5)

• Certainly, we can see many such codes and
  messages reproduced and replicated on television
• individualism Because youre worth it
• Power relationships The Apprentice, Survivor
  (survival of the fittest models of capitalism)
  assumptions of law and order
• Gender eg Desperate Housewives (identity through
  attachments to males)

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Ideology (6)

• But, given televisions need to reach very large
  and very large audiences--as well as its role in
  reflecting and.shaping social change--it also
  provides many spaces for conflicting ideological
  messages
• eg sexual orientation (the normalisation of gay
  relationships on Shortland Street) critiques of
  business failures interrogation of government
  policy.. or social norms (Eating Media Lunch)

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Ideology (7)

• Because of this fluidity, the ideological
  nature of television (overt and/or covert)
  attracts critics from all quarters eg
• Right-wing critics criticise it for being too
  liberal or left-wing
• Left-wing critics criticise it for being in the
  pocket of business, or vested interests
• Social conservatives criticise it for loosening
  moral or for its challenge to family values (eg
  Destiny Church)
• Social progressives criticise it for being too
  timid or conservative