Rating Takes Priority over Quality in Television Programming Provision - Coursework Example

Rating takes priority over quality when it comes to television programming provision. Discuss In the current advent of innovation and globalization, with shrinking distances and integrated economies, the world of television programming is also undergoing a paradigm shift. Television has been one of the greatest inventions of the past century. Since its inception, television has been a topic of debate for a lot of individuals. On one hand, TV has pleased, amazed, and horrified millions of viewers through the years. On the contrary, some believe that TV is unreal, violent and something that should not be watched by kids. Over the past several years, due to the introduction of innovative modalities such Cable Television, Satellite and Broadband Television and due to the multitude of channels available, the television industry worldwide has become extremely competitive1. Broadcasters and channels, in order to maintain their position in the industry, often face a dilemma as to whether to adopt an audience-oriented approach, thereby maintaining quality of programmes produced, or a market-oriented approach, focusing on ratings and the business generated and compromise on aspects of the final product2. In order to attract more viewers there is often a trade-off between quality and ratings thus jeopardizing program quality. This paper discusses the various measures of assessment of television programs including their quality and ratings, and elucidates whether ratings are prioritized over quality in the current competitive era of television programming. Television viewing can be best described and explained as being pervasive in nature and television programmes have a significant impact on the lives of the viewers as they help the audiences in formulating their views, opinions and notions regarding various matters. According to Strivers (1994)3, mass media plays a significant role in shaping the public opinion and perceptions, in both a negative and a positive manner. This has important implications for the media, including the television industry as the media has to play a very responsible role in relaying constructive notions of the society only. In addition to that, one of the integral purposes of television programming is the provision of entertainment. Entertainment can be defined in several different ways. Gripsrud (2002) states that the purpose of provision of entertainment is to capture the audience’s attention and making them ‘so engaged in/by something, that we mentally leave our immediate surroundings to some extent (pg 276)’4. The aforementioned discussion serves to underscore the importance of television in the lives of the general public and the impact it can have on the society as a whole. In order to create a constructive impact on the lives of its audiences and the society as a whole, it is the responsibility of the television industry to produce the highest quality programmes which provide both entertainment and enlightenment and have a high public appeal. Quality of Television programmes and its different parameters: Television programmes can be assessed both qualitatively and quantitatively. One of the most important measures for the assessment of TV programmes is their “Quality.” The term quality has been defined in a multitude of different ways and its most appropriate definition in regard with television programming is oft debated. Quality could refer to the effort which a producer has put in producing a programme, the level of adherence to the previously maintained and expected standards, or the level of success in achieving what the broadcasters are trying to convey to the audience. It could also mean how successfully the producer has achieved the codes and conventions of a particular genre. From the audiences’ perspective, quality could mean the relevance of the programme in their lives and how much they can relate with the programme or its characters. The quality of a programme can be objectively judged by various parameters and there are different aspects of Quality, viz. diversity, genre, entertainment value5. One important parameter by which the mass audiences assess television programmes for their quality is the genre of the programme. For example, the introduction of factual programming and reality TV shows on British Television during the 1990’s created a stir in the audiences. Audiences today tend to appraise factual programming as being of higher quality as compared to series, dramas and other entertainment programs6. Another aspect of quality when it comes to television programming is the diversity of programming provided by a particular television channel.7 To summarize, quality programmes can be best described as being ‘distinctive, informative, for everybody, and socially relevant (pg 35).8’ In the past, several studies have been conducted in order to elucidate the different aspects of quality of television programmes and the best method to assess the quality of various programmes. One landmark study in this regard was conducted by Ishikawa (1999. 9 This study, which was sponsored by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), reported the results of a comprehensive multi-national research program in quality assessment of television and proposed a number of ways in which quality can be assessed. It examined the television quality across various cultures, systems, methodologies and technologies. Similarly, Rosengren et al. (1996) came up with four broad dimensions of quality, viz.: 1. Descriptive Quality, which emphasizes on the relationship between the message being conveyed and the reality as the measure for checking quality standard; 2. Receiver Use Quality, which determines the impact of message on users; 3. Sender Use Quality, which denotes the societal functions that the program fulfills; and 4. Professional Quality, which denotes quality from the perspective of professionals.10 Television programme Ratings: Television programme ratings are another important parameter of assessing the popularity and viewership of programmes. Since channels are dependent on their audience size for their income, ratings are of prime importance for any channel11. Television programmes can be rated in a variety of ways, including and not limited to television ratings point (Rtg or TVR) and Appreciation Index (AI). AI is an important rating system for television programmes which is prevalent in the United Kingdom. This is a scale on which a programme is scored between 0 to 100 on the basis of the public appeal and approval of that programme by mass audiences12. Similarly, another important rating measure is the television ratings point (Rtg or TVR). Studies have revealed that a single TVR represents 1% of viewers in the surveyed area in a given minute13. Relationship between Quality and Ratings: There exists a complex interplay between ratings and quality of a television programme. As discussed above, ratings are determined by viewership and viewership can be increased via provision of high quality programmes. However, the relationship between ratings and quality is not simply linear. In a survey carried out by Wober (1990)14, it was elucidated that the general public and audiences believed that ratings and quality were independent measures for the assessment of television programmes and despite ranking low on the ratings scale, a programme can still be high quality. Quality vs. Ratings: The case of EastEnders: In the UK, over the past several decades, several TV programmes have been launched which have gained popularity amongst audiences belonging to various spheres of life and different age groups. These include Heartbeat, The Bill and Bugs, EastEnders. EastEnders is a popular TV show broadcasted on BBC which has captured the British audience since its launch in 1985. The case of EastEnders is the classic example of how broadcasters have to juggle between ratings and quality in order to maintain the popularity and viewership of their channels. Before the inception of this show, BBC fell behind in ratings from other channels such as ITV and ATV, which were broadcasting popular serial dramas such as Coronation Street and Crossroads, respectively15. While BBC chose to remain focused on the production of quality programs devoted to political and public service till the early 1980’s, the intense competition existing in that era due to the co-existence of four channels, viz. BBC1, BBC2, Channel Four and ITV, forced BBC to yield to the pressure and step into the world of serial drama inorder to improve its ratings and maintain its position in the industry16. EastEnders, which was a serial television drama, succeeded in achieving its purpose and the ratings of BBC grew after this programme was launched. Today, more than 20 years after its inception, EastEnders has become one of the highest-rated programmes in the United Kingdom. Statistics reveal that within eight months of its launch, EastEnders achieved the highest ratings on the UK’s television charts and has occupied that position almost consistently ever since17. The popularity of this drama series rose so much that this series is now broadcasted four times per week, instead of twice weekly as it initially used to. This drama is a classic example of how television channels have to strive for better ratings in the competitive environment prevailing in the television industry. Conclusions: Striking the right balance between quality and achieving high ratings is important, i.e. it is important to show the right kind of content with the right measure of quality and entertainment value. However a lot of times, the quality of the shows is over looked at the cost of its ratings. If a show is generating TRPs irrespective of its content, it is given a lot of leverage and this is the main problem which leads to the quality of the programme being compromised. This problem has to be overcome inorder to maintain high standards of quality. This is where the programming strategy of television pitches in. The structural television programming theory explains that programming strategy is the procedure of “selecting, scheduling, promoting and evaluating television programs”.18 The main objective of a programming strategy should be to maximize the viewership of the programs targeted by its advertisers and sponsors. Various researches have been conducted that concentrate more on lead-in factors that show that they are more related with program shares, the ratings and the amount of repeat viewing. There is a direct relationship between these three factors and sponsorship. Various other theorists from a similar school of thought are of the view that it is important to strategically schedule shows. This regulates the flow of viewers to a particular channel and helps retain viewership loyalty.19 Thus, it can be concluded that in the competitive atmosphere of today’s television industry, there is a constant strife between ratings and quality. Several television programmes have compromised their quality in the race to achieve the highest ratings and viewership and this can have deleterious effect on the television industry and the audiences in the long run. Read More