2. Bad Education - Institution
• BBC 3
• Public service broadcaster
• Oldest national broadcasting organisation in the
world
• Founded under Royal Charter
• Funded by licence fee charged to all British
households, companies, organisations that use /
receive / record live TV
• Fee is set by the government and used to fund
everything the BBC does (radio, TV, online, etc.)
3. Bad Education - Institution
• Remit to:
– Bring in younger audiences
– High quality broadcasting
– Innovative content
– New talent
– Use a range of digital platforms
• Target audience is 16-34 year olds
4. Bad Education - Institution
• 90% of output produced is from UK
• 70% of what’s broadcast is original output
• Originally broadcasting 7pm-4am every day
• Now online only
• Creators of shows like:
– Gavin and Stacey
– Little Britain
– Mighty Boosh
• Known for BAFTA-winning documentaries
5. Bad Education - Institution
• Tiger Aspect Productions / Endemol UK
• 3 series
• Broke BBC Three’s record for highest-rated first
episode of a comedy
– Previously held by Horne & Corden
• Second series premiered on iPlayer a week before
TV debut (innovation)
• First episode of 2nd series received 1.5m requests
BEFORE it aired on TV
• Commissioned by ABC for US but dropped
• Film version made and released in August 2015
6. Bad Education - Institution
• 14th August 2012 – Parents Evening
• 990,000 viewers
• 2nd most popular comedy in that time slot
across terrestrial channels
• Didn’t beat any other comedies – beaten by:
– BBC 2 – Rob Brydon Show – 1.44m
• Other competition was:
– C4 – Thelma’s Gypsy Girls – 1.51m
– BBC 1 – News 4.02m
7. Bad Education - Institution
• Post-watershed – 9pm
• Prime Time – when networks
battle over the 18-49 ABC1 audience
• Why do you think BE wants to target ABC1?
8. Bad Education - Institution
• Typically comedy is shown on BBC3 at a range
of different times during the day
• BE series 1 on Tuesdays on BBC3 at 10pm
• Hammocking – putting a ‘new’ show between
two ‘strong’ shows in the hope viewers will be
too lazy to switch over and watch the show
anyway
• Popular technique with new shows that
haven’t built an audience yet
9. Bad Education - Institution
• BE has always been aired on a Tuesday
• BE has always been scheduled for release in
Aug/Sep
• Why is it a good idea to schedule BE for these
days and these months?
• Stripping – broadcasting a programme at the
same time/day – encourages familiarity
• Defensive scheduling – where a channel knows
that a programme on a different channel will get
more views so schedule a programme of minority
appeal at this time
10. Bad Education - Institution
• Targeting specific audiences
– School goers about to begin school for the first time
– School goers who have been at school and need to
‘ease in’ to the new term
– Rebels – interested in transgressive behaviours of
school students/staff (tips!)
– Tuesday is a ‘school night’ so likely target audience
will be in to view
– Tuesday is day before ‘hump day’ so need some light
relief and to relax mid-week
– Post watershed so older audience (language and adult
themes)
11. Bad Education - Institution
• BE can be viewed on BBC iPlayer BUT only for
limited periods of time
• Why hasn’t the BBC made all of BE available, or
available for a longer time?
– BBC relies on public to fund the service (DVD sales,
merch, etc.) – one of limited ways it can make money
– Limiting availability means encouraging excitement
around new series
– Limiting availability means viewers likely to believe it’s
a higher quality product
– Encourages people to research and explore the series
in more detail through other technologies
12. Bad Education - Institution
QUESTION:
How does BE fit in with the ‘brand identity’ of BBC3 and its
scheduling? (15 marks)
Remember to include:
• Details about BBC3 and WHY you think people watch the channel
• HOW BE matches BBC3s aims and responsibilities
• Discussion of BBC3 target audience and how it matches BE’s target
audience
• BE scheduling details (times, days) and WHY it was scheduled then
• Use specific examples to support points (e.g. post watershed for
adult language and themes – demonstrate which ones from the
episode)
• 15 minutes
