Cross-gender appeal– male audiences may identify with either Tyler or Hunt (role models) - aspiration. Female audiences may identify with Annie and/or find Tyler/Hunt attractive.
Experiencers may enjoy the vicarious thrill of crime/sci-fi.
Audience for nostalgic crime’ e.g. ‘Grantchester’, is traditionally ABC1 but this crosses over into C2DE because of its violence and intertextual links with 70s crime shows e.g. ‘The Sweeney’.
Secondary audience - fans of science –fiction – hybrid generic elements in the text - more alternative/niche audience – young males. Alternative audience because of non-linear, surreal narrative structure and lack of closure.
Tertiary audience – Fans of period – 70s (>80s with ‘Ashes to Ashes’). Over 30s. Pleasure through nostalgia – music of period (Bowie etc. – intertextuality). Bowie more alternative than mainstream – “hipper”. Nostalgia through visual codes and iconography – Crombie, kipper ties, velvet jackets, Ford Cortina, flicked hair etc.
Inherited fan bases – from e.g. ‘The Sweeney’,’ The Professionals’. Fans of stars - John Simm (younger TA – intertextuality with ‘Doctor Who’/’24 Hour Party People’; older TA –’The Lakes’/’Clocking Off’). Fans of Gene Hunt – fictional character captured public affection – spin-off merchandise – T-shirts – “It’s 1973. Nearly dinner time. I’m having hoops.” Books – ‘A Guide to Modern Policing’ etc.
Media Studies - TV
Target Audience
Media Audiences - Page 2
Answer the following questions and justify your response.
Then compare to the suggested answers.
Who is the audience for Life on Mars? Justify your response
How does the text itself target audiences? Consider genre, narrative, star and character, representations, intertextuality