The document discusses various media formats and genres, particularly focusing on media franchises, miniseries, telenovelas, micro-series, and mockumentaries. It explains the nature of media franchises as collections of related works expanding across different media to enhance profitability and consumer identity. Additionally, it outlines the characteristics of miniseries, anthology series, and the evolution of mockumentaries, highlighting their distinct storytelling methods and cultural significance.

1. Notes By : Ashish Richhariya
Course : FTNMP / BMM
Designation : Faculty at Thakur College Of Science & Commerce
Query : arichhariya30@gmail.com
Understanding T.V. Formats & Genres Part C

2. Media franchise
 A media franchise, also known as multimedia franchise, is a
collection of related media in which several derivative works
have been produced from an original creative work of fiction,
such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or
a video game.
 A media franchise often consists of cross-marketing across
more than one medium. For the owners, the goal of increasing
profit through diversity can extend the commercial profitability of
the franchise and create strong feelings of identity and
ownership in its consumers .
 American Idol was a transmedia franchise from its beginnings,
with the first season winner Kelly Clarkson signing with RCA
Records and having the release of A Moment Like
This becoming a #1 hit on Billboard Hot 100.
 The success resulted in a nationwide concert tour, an American
Idol book that made the bestseller list and the film From Justin
Thakur College Of Science & Commerce,Mumbai

3.  A transmedia franchise however is often
referred to by the simpler term "media
franchise."
 The term media franchise is often used to
describe the popular adaptation of a work
into films, like the popular Twilight book
series that was adapted into the five films
of The Twilight Saga.
 Other neologisms exist to describe various
franchise types including metaseries, which
can be used to describe works such
as Isaac Asimov's Foundation series
Thakur College Of Science & Commerce,Mumbai

4.  Multimedia franchises usually develop through a character
or fictional world becoming popular in one medium, and
then expanding to others through licensing agreements,
with respect to intellectual property in the franchise's
characters and settings.
 As one author explains, "or the studios, a home-run is a film
from which a multimedia 'franchise' can be generated; the
colossally expensive creation of cross-media conglomerates
predicated on synergistic rewards provides an obvious
imperative to develop such products.“
Thakur College Of Science & Commerce,Mumbai

5. Development to other forms in Media Franchise
 Fiction:
 A media franchise does not have to include the same characters or theme, as the brand identity can
be the franchise, like Square Enix's Final Fantasy or the National Lampoon series, and can suffer
from critical failures even if the media fictional material is unrelated.
 . The longest-running modern film franchises include James Bond, Godzilla and King Kong, Friday
the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Star Trek. In such cases, even lead actors are often
replaced as they age, lose interest, or their characters are killed.
 Non Fiction:
 Non-fiction literary franchises include the ...For Dummies and The Complete Idiot's Guide
to... reference books. An enduring and comprehensive example of a media franchise is Playboy
Enterprises, which began expanding well beyond its successful magazine, Playboy, within a few
years after its first publication, into such enterprises as a modeling agency, several television shows
(Playboy's Penthouse, in 1959), and even its own television channel.
 Twenty-five years later, Playboy released private clubs and restaurants, movie theaters, a radio
show, direct to video films, music and book publishing (including original works in addition to its
anthologies of cartoons, photographs, recipes, advice, articles or fiction that had originally appeared
in the magazine)
Thakur College Of Science & Commerce,Mumbai

6. MINI-SERIES
 A miniseries (or mini-series) is a television program that
tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes.
 The term "serial" is used in the United Kingdom and
inother Commonwealth nations, though its meaning does not
necessarily equate to "miniseries" in its usage.
Thakur College Of Science & Commerce,Mumbai

7. History of Mini Series
 A miniseries is distinguished from an ongoing television
series; the latter does not usually have a predetermined
number of episodes and may continue for several years.
 Before the term was coined in the US in the early 1970s,
the ongoing episodic form was always called a "serial", just
as a novel appearing in episodes in successive editions of
magazines or newspapers is called a serial. In Britain,
miniseries are often still referred to as serials.
 Several commentators have offered more precise
definitions of the term. In Halliwell's Television
Companion, Leslie Halliwell and Philip Purser argue that
miniseries tend to "appear in four to six episodes of various
lengths",[1]
Thakur College Of Science & Commerce,Mumbai

8.  "a limited run program of more than two
and less than the 13-part season or half
season block associated with serial or
series programming."
 Still, with the proliferation of the format in
the 1980s and 90s, television films
broadcast over even two or three nights
were commonly referred to as miniseries.
Thakur College Of Science & Commerce,Mumbai

9. In Television: A History, Francis Wheen states:
 In a miniseries on the other hand, there is a clearly defined beginning, middle, and end
(as in a conventional play or novel), enabling characters to change, mature, or die as
the serial proceeds.
 Anthology series :-
An anthology series is a radio, television, or film series that presents a different story
and a different set of characters in each episode, season, segment or short.These
usually have a different cast each episode, but several series in the past, such as Four
Star Playhouse, employed a permanent troupe of character actors who would appear in
a different drama each week.Some anthology series, such as Studio One, began on
radio and then expanded to television.
 Television series :-
A television show (often simply TV show) is any content produced for broadcast
via over-the-air, satellite, cable, or internet and typically viewed on a television set,
excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed between
shows. Television shows are most often scheduled well ahead of time and appear
on electronic guides or other TV listings.
 Metaseries :-
 The term media franchise is often used to describe the popular adaptation of a work
into films, like the popular Twilight book series that was adapted into the five films
of The Twilight Saga.[4] Other neologisms exist to describe various franchise types
including metaseries, which can be used to describe works such as Isaac
Asimov's Foundation series.
Thakur College Of Science & Commerce,Mumbai

10. Telenovela
 A telenovela is a type of a limited-run television serial
drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America.
 The word combines tele (Spanish for
"television")and novela (Spanish for "novel").
 This planned run results in a faster-paced, more concise
style of melodrama compared to a typical soap opera.
 Episodes of telenovelas usually last between 30 and 45
minutes, and rarely more than an hour, except for final
episodes.
 The telenovela combines drama with the 19th-
century feuilleton, and naturally evolved from the Latin
American radionovela, according to Blanca de Lizaur.
Thakur College Of Science & Commerce,Mumbai

11.  The medium has been used frequently by authorities in various countries
to transmit sociocultural messages by incorporating them into storylines.
 By the 1970s and 1980s, Mexico became a world pioneer in using
telenovelas to shape behavior, particularly successful in introducing the
idea of family planning.
 Mexico and Brazil later, in the 1990s, played a key role in the
international export of telenovelas, thus the so-called 'Telenovela Craze'
that spread in many regions in the world until today.
 Limited-run series -In television programming, limited-run series (or
simply limited series) is a program with an end date and limit to the
number of episodes each stated by release of the first episode.
 Limited-run series are represented in the form of telenovelas in Latin
America, and serials in the United Kingdom.
 The shortest forms of limited-run series have two- or three-part, usually
described as "made for television film" or miniseries; longer forms are
often reality television or scripted dramas

Thakur College Of Science & Commerce,Mumbai

12. MICRO SERIES
 A micro-series (also microseries) is a very short episodic television
programming narrative sponsored by an advertiser. This is a non-
traditional way of reaching primary markets.
 A micro-series is intended to promote a product while engaging viewers
with entertaining content. These episodes are generally two to three
minutes long and often run during commercial breaks of popular
television programs.
 Popular micro-series
 a micro-series creates buzz, especially if it is interactive, as in the case of
CBS's 2006 micro-series The Courier.
 Sometimes a spin-off micro-series is created from a popular TV show, for
example, NBC's prime-time hit, Heroes.
 On November 2008, Sprint Nextel sponsored a four-episode micro-series
called Heroes: Destiny on mobile, online and television. Each five- to seven-
minute episode debuted on Monday nights.
Thakur College Of Science & Commerce,Mumbai

13.  The micro-series content fits the environment or
theme of the program in which it airs.
 A good example of this is TBS's micro-
series Commuter Confidential.
 In 2008, TBS debuted a two-minute episode
of Commuter
Confidential featuring Revlon products
and Match.com, during Sex and the City.
 The micro-series plotline mirrors the comedy of
the HBO produced Sex and the City.
 Confidential features four female characters and
their diverse ways of dealing with the world around
them
Thakur College Of Science & Commerce,Mumbai

14.  A micro-series may turn into a half-hour
television sitcom, as in the case of In the
Motherhood.
 A series of online shorts about moms coping
with their chaotic lives – with help from Spring
Nextel services and Suave hair care products.
 This micro-series just got picked up for the
midseason lineup on ABC.
 It will anchor a new comedy block on
Thursdays, one of the most competitive nights
of TV
Thakur College Of Science & Commerce,Mumbai

15. Mockumentary
 A mockumentary (a mixture of mock and documentary)
or docucomedy is a type of movie or television show depicting fictional
events but presented as a documentary.
 The term "mockumentary", which originated in the 1960s, was
popularized in the mid-1980s when This Is Spinal Tap director Rob
Reiner used it in interviews to describe that film.
 These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current
events and issues by using a fictional setting, or to parody the
documentary form itself.
 While mockumentaries are usually comedic, pseudo-documentaries are
their dramatic equivalents.
 However, pseudo-documentary should not be confused with docudrama,
a fictional genre in which dramatic techniques are combined with
documentary elements to depict real events. Also, docudrama is different
from docufiction; a genre in which documentaries are contaminated with
fictional elements.
Thakur College Of Science & Commerce,Mumbai

16.  Mockumentaries are often presented as historical
documentaries, with B roll and talking heads discussing past
events, or as cinéma vérité pieces following people as they go
through various events.
 Examples emerged during the 1950s when archival film footage
became available.
 A very early example was a short piece on the "Swiss Spaghetti
Harvest" that appeared as an April Fools' prank on the British
television program Panorama in 1957.
 Mockumentaries are often partly or wholly improvised, as an
unscripted style of acting helps to maintain the pretense of
reality. Comedic mockumentaries rarely have laugh tracks, also
to sustain the atmosphere, although exceptions exist.
 Music "is often employed to expose the ambiguities and
fallacies of conventional storytelling; for instance by pointing at
the paradoxes of the distinction between diegetic and
extradiegetic music"
Thakur College Of Science & Commerce,Mumbai

17.  Mocumentaries In films and television.
 Since the beginning of the 1980s, the mockumentary format has
gained considerable attention.
 The 1980 South African film The Gods Must be Crazy (along
with its 1989 sequel) is presented in the manner of a nature
documentary, with documentary narrator Paddy
O'Byrne describing the events of the film in the manner of a
biologist or anthropologist presenting scientific knowledge to
viewers.
 In 1982, The Atomic Cafe is a Cold-War era American
"mockumentary" film that made use of archival government
footage from the 1950s
 Woody Allen's 1983 film Zelig stars Allen as a curiously
nondescript enigma who is discovered for his remarkable ability
to transform himself to resemble anyone he is near, and Allen is
edited into historical archive footage.
Thakur College Of Science & Commerce,Mumbai

18. Mocumentary on Radio
 The BBC series People Like Us was first
produced for radio in 1995 before a television
version was made in 1999.
 Kay Stonham's Audio Diaries was a similarly
short-lived radio mockumentary that premiered
the year after People Like Us's run on Radio 4
ended.
Thakur College Of Science & Commerce,Mumbai