The document analyzes the target audiences of two British soap operas, EastEnders and Coronation Street, based on the characters and situations shown in trailers for each show. It discusses how the audiences for both soaps are typically working class, ranging from students to people with day jobs. They enjoy watching shows that realistically portray characters and situations they can relate to. Both audiences also use the soaps as a routine part of their evenings for social interaction and escape from their daily lives. The target audiences are generally described as mainstream and working class across a wide age range, but predominantly female and middle-aged.

1. Soap Opera Genre –
Target Audience
Name: Jack J Connell
Candidate Number: 1103
Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic School
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OCR Media Studies – A2 Level
Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio

2. Stereotypical Target Audience For Trailer 1 -
EastEnders
Socio-Economic Needs – The typical
‘EastEnders’ viewer tends to fall into the C1-E
category which would include students and
people who have working class jobs during the
day. The reasons behind this are most likely
because similar types of people are presented in
the trailer, so working class people are attracted
to watch drama that features other working
class people as they can relate to it more easily.
They want a sense of realism that they can
connect with. An example of this is the army job
and the verbal code at the start ‘slippery geezer’
which is a working class term.
Hartley’s 7 Subjectivities – Stereotypically speaking,
soap operas like ‘EastEnders’ appeals to the female
gender of an older generation as they tend to relate
and sympathize to the dilemmas and issues showcased
in the show. A theory that represents this idea is “the
home, domestic tribulations and strong women, and as
such, it has been long since said to appeal to the
female audience” (Rebeca Feasey – 2007) as there is a
clear example of domestic tribulations. The example
here would be the eye level shot of the relationship
being had between the white female and black male
characters. Generally, people of the middle/lower class
gravitate towards soap operas as the characters in the
shows are predominantly from this class. Black and
white males and females are present in the trailer
which suggests that the audience could be made up of
people from different ethnicities.

3. Stereotypical Target Audience For Trailer 1 -
EastEnders
Katz’ Uses & Gratifications theory – ‘EastEnders’
forms part of a routine for the millions of people
that watch the show as well as offering a ‘social
launchpad’ for social interaction (Richard Kilborn –
1992). This ‘routine‘ is proved by the structured
running times. The audience of this trailer and the
‘EastEnders‘ series form ‘personal relationships‘
with the characters which adds to the drama of
the show. The audience could also be seen as
‘thrill seekers‘ as there is a lot of physical and
emotional drama within the sequence that has
the potential to be hard hitting on the audience.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs – According to the
hierarchy of needs the audience of this ‘EastEnders’
trailer can be denoted as both ‘Caregivers’ and
‘Survivors’. The audience sympathises with characters
that are in predicaments and want characters that they
perceive as being ‘good’ to not have bad things happen
to them. They seek resolutions amongst characters and
want everything to be ok which makes them ‘survivors’.
The example here would be the eye level close up
shots of the situation between Jane and Phil, with the
verbal code “who are you hiding?” people are looking
for a resolution.
Psychographics – The denotation of the target
audience is that they are ‘mainstreamers’ who
lead a regular lifestyle and would consume this
program. These people can be in work or
education and use the show to get away from
their daily lives as a form of escape into other
peoples lives. These kinds of people are featured
within the trailer and the audience could be
enticed into leading their life and making
decisions based on how people in the show act
which shows that the show has some influence on
its audience. This can be proved as at the end of
particularly dramatical ‘EastEnders’ episodes
there is a contact number given for people who
may have been effected.

4. Stereotypical Target Audience For Trailer 2 –
Coronation Street
Hartley’s 7 Subjectivities – From deconstructing
the ‘Coronation Street’ trailer it is immediately
clear that this soap opera could appeal to
people of all ages due the wide age range of
people showcased in the trailer. In terms of
class, this soap would appeal more towards a
middle/ lower class audience as the people in
the trailer are of a working class, there are
examples of these people in the pictures such as
the eye level shot of the café worker with the
verbal code “cheap tart”. This is significant as
working class people are more likely to connect
with working class characters in shows as they
share a common ground and are easily relatable.
Unlike ‘EastEnders’ this trailer only features
people of a white ethnicity which could suggest
that the audience would also be predominantly
white. Stereotypically soap’s appeal to females
of an older generation and I think this may also
apply for ‘Coronation Street’ however, there are
more younger people in this trailer so the age
range could be broader.
Socio-Economic Needs – Much like ‘EastEnders’ I
think that the audience majority would fall into the
C1 to E category as the characters featured within
the trailer are of a lower working class such as the
café worker. Again, the verbal code “cheap tart” is a
working class phrase that helps to back this up.
This is because of similar reasons to ‘EastEnders’ in
that people tend to watch shows, particularly soap
operas, that that they can relate to. These people
would typically be students and people who have
working class day jobs.

5. Stereotypical Target Audience For Trailer 2 –
Coronation Street
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs – Due to the
dramatic nature of this trailer I think that the
audience can be denoted as ‘thrill seekers’ and
‘explorers’ as there is a lot of conflict between the
characters which is presented in the fast-paced
trailer. The audience seek resolutions amongst the
characters much like the audience of ‘EastEnders’.
This could be proved by the cliff hanger ending when
there is an eye level medium close up shot of the two
guilty characters in the doorway with the verbal code
“I wanna know where he is”. The audience will want
to know if the issues get resolved which makes them
‘survivors’.
Katz’ Uses & Gratifications theory – As mentioned
before, the audience are able to build up a ‘personal
relationship’ with the characters in the opera due to
the personal conflicts and how the characters are of
the same class as the audience majority. Examples
such as the emotional scenes with the guilty female
protagonist where there is a close up shot of her
crying with the verbal code “I can’t do this” helps to
prove this point. Much like ‘EastEnders’ there are set
running times which provides the audience with a
secure event in their day which gives them a sense of
routine.
Psychographics – The casual dress code and
lack of product placement in the ‘Coronation
Street’ trailer could be an indicator that the
audience are ‘mainstreamers’. An example
would be the pink tracksuit jumper and hoop
earing that the girl at the end is wearing as
these are typical casual clothing items. These
people lead fairly normal lives and use the
show as a form of ‘escape’ to delve into
someone else's life. This is why the audience
are able to build up a ‘personal relationship’
with the characters. This could mean however,
that the audience may feel the need to act and
make decisions based on how people in the
show do.

6. Scheduling- The soap operas are scheduled to air between 7pm
– 11pm in the evening. This could help define the target
audience as this falls perfectly in line with when people come
home from work which could suggest that the soaps are aimed
at people who have jobs, rather than people who are still in
education. Both of these soaps are on before the watershed at
9pm which means that the target audience are not necessarily
people who like strong language and violence. This is also a
prime time slot which suggests that the soaps will be a big part
of peoples evenings who watch the shows.
General Overview - Overall I think that the stereotypical target
audience for these soap operas would be made up of mostly women
of a middle to working class from a predominantly white ethnicity.
These people are likely to have day jobs and they enjoy realism that
they can relate to. They are stereotypically ‘mainstreamers’ who live
a regular lifestyle and use soaps as a form of escapism. The age
range of the target audience is wide which is reflected in the wide
age range of characters featured in the soap opera trailers but would
be mainly middle aged people.