AUDIENCE THEORY.

1. GENRE
TARGET
AUDIENCE:

2. Hartley's 7 subjective:
It is a stereotypical view that men are represented as a masculine man who shows little or no
emotion, it is because of this reason that I believe that the female gender has a greater
appreciation of the topics discussed in “soap opera” media texts. The emotional engagement of
the topics discussed in the text leads producers of the “soap opera” genre to then target the
female audience. A male audience is very hard to specifically target when using the concepts
included within the soap as males generally seek attention and more of a diversion (KATZ)
from everyday lives. Most soap operas are screened during the daytime hours, where again it is
a stereotypically view that the women would be at home and the men will be at work. This is
one of the reasons that by targeting a female audience you will get a higher rating of views. In
regard to the age of the female viewers targeted, it is expected that a soap opera will have a
older audience due to the key concepts and themes involved. I would average the ageing to be
16 plus. This is primarily due to the fact that soap operas addresses issues which may not be
suitable or relevant to younger viewers. Because of all these reasons the soaps are broadcasted
during daytime TV where the kids are at school or at a later evening time when the children are
not awake. However in contrast, some soaps are viewed by family's and contain content that is
suitable for younger viewers.

3. Social-economic needs
The target audience for a soap is primarily a working class, less financially
stable person, this is what we consider when we look at social-economic needs.
The soaps give the main target audience a sense of personal identity (KATZ) in
relation to the issues discussed in the media texts. The reason the soaps have
generally this specific target audience is due to the fact that generally people
who are not financially stable or lower to working class are exposed to the
issues discussed in the soaps on a day to day basis and often find themselves
consuming the text in attempt to deal with own problems. Due to all these
reasons, I would grade the target audience specifically as a D as this is a
representative of working class citizens, who have time to engage with the
content whilst also afford a means of viewing the soap.

4. Maslow's hierarchy of
needs
Looking at the scale of theory, I have come to the conclusion that after considering
media products for the soap opera genre audience may find themselves primarily
represented as ‘caregivers’ (Maslow). I have come to this conclusion due to the fact
that the soaps include a variety of topics, making the audience feel sympathy for the
characters dealing with the harsh topics involved which also links to the problems in
there day to day life. The audience can relate to the characters on there screen and the
situations they are going through, due to the realistic portrayal making the text more
engaging and relatable to the viewers life.
Also looking at the scale of the theory, I have come to the second conclusion that
some audience members might feel best represented as a survivor (Maslow) as soaps
are a long form of drama, which allows the audience to become invested within the
plot, which might turn into the audiences media consumption routine. In addition to
this, the soap genre cleverly does multi- stranded narrative plots leaving parts of the
texts on a cliffhanger, influencing the audience to stay within the story line of the
soap. In some ways, explorers (Maslow) are often influenced by social change and
will take issues in the texts raised as real life in which they then might apply to their
own lives and day to day routine.

5. Psychographics
The characters in the text may be seen to audience as people that can identify with (Katz).
These people are also known as social reformers, due to the fact that they are people who are
very aware of everyday issues and probably lead quite a average life. In the case of the text
being a soap, the audience would most likely be stay at home mums or people who have a lot
of time to get invested within the series. Soap operas are usually scheduled late in the evening
or during school hours, due to the influences on peoples life choices. The reasons for this is to
prevent younger viewers from being influenced from the context of the text however some
people may be influenced to change their character and appearance to prevent being
represented by the characters in the text.

6. Katz uses and gratification
theory
Even though the audience can relate to the characters by a great extent, when consuming a
soap opera it is highly unlikely that the audience would develop a social interactions (Katz)
with the characters over a long-form series as the audience begin to grow a custom to the
character being on the show and will become part of their routine (Survivors- Maslow). The
issues raised in the text is something that the audience can personally identify with as soap
opera productions are often attempted to create realistic interpretations of life and social
situations. On the other hand, some of the issues raised in these texts could inform and educate
the audience in what to do and how to handle situations in there own lives. Despite this, some
people only see soap operas as a form of entertainment and do not take the issues seriously.

7. The BBC Eastenders official website links towards a multi-
stranded narrative in which the plot features all the different
characters and their families. This would be useful information to
new soap watchers as a soap understandably can have a long,
complex story line since it has most been likely running for a long
time. It helps the audience keep up to date with their favourite
characters and become more engaged with the soap.

8. Hollyoaks on the other hand attempts to interact with its audience through
technological convergence, more specifically with the social media site
twitter. Using hashtags such as #Hollyoaks enables its specific target
audience to ignite discussion about the texts and the opportunity to join this
community of people who all share a common interest. This interaction is
beneficial for both the audiences and the producers of the show due to the
fact that audiences are able to share their thoughts and opinions on the text,
meaning the producers have free advertising. It is also interesting to mention
that most Soap opera audiences could be classed under the term “gossipy” or
very sociable people so this form of audience interaction is particularly
appropriate for the show.

9. Scheduling of Soap Operas
Modern soap Operas are generally scheduled
around the time of 7-11PM, which is more
commonly known as the watershed; this is a time
when adult programmes are allowed to be
exhibited. Due to the adult nature of a soap,
covering themes such as adultery, alcohol and drug
addition which is seen as mature content and hence
why is put on telly at a later time when young
children are supposedly in bed. Soap Operas do not
have the intention of influencing young children
and have a negative effect on them due to the
sensitive themes discussed.