Television Casting Schedules - Essay Example

TELEVISION CASTING SCHEDULES Introduction In disseminating information, the media uses two ways; narrowcasting and broadcasting. Wherein both work to send out some information to some audience, they differ in some ways; mostly in their target audiences as their names suggest, and also the means of disseminating the said information. Broadcasting refers to the distribution of audiovisual content to a vast dispersed audience without any filtering factors concerning the target audience. Concisely, it is the dissemination of information to the masses. Broadcasting came before narrowcasting, and was boosted by the invention of television in the mid 1900s. Although it still remains in use in the contemporary world, advertisers, marketers, and television channels are now opting to use narrowcasting in executing their objectives. Narrowcasting on its part, it is a form of disseminating information through television, radio, or the internet to a selected (narrow) audience, contrary to the unspecified audience as provided by broadcasting. The selection or narrowing factors may include subscriptions, preferences, values, and demography to mention but a few. In expounding on the parities between broadcasting and narrowcasting, the following study text will analyse the schedules of a UK narrowcaster and broadcaster under UKTV to reveal their temporal rhythms and how they relate to their target audiences. The parity found under UKTV between narrowcasting and broadcasting is the application of some subscription fee for some of their channels. A subscription channel means that some channels are only available to those who pay a particular set fee unlike free-to-air channels which are free for the general public. In this particular context, under the wider UKTV, this study text will focus on two channels; DAVE, which is a free-to-air channel and is free online, and GOLD which is a subscription channel. This translates to that Dave is a broadcasting channel, whereas GOLD is a narrowcasting channel. Both of the channels are available on the internet only differing in that the DAVE channel is free and just streams upon one clicking on play, and that GOLD requires of one to sign in with authorized credentials or register by paying to receive credentials. There are some significant differences between the schedules of the two channels. The dominant difference is evident in the temporal pattern, which is the way that programs are fitted into the available time frames. The first difference is that GOLD starts its day at 0600 hours, whereas DAVE starts its day an hour later (0700 hours). They have a slight similarity in that there is a break before actual dissemination commences, but again differ in their durations. The DAVE channel has a delay period of ten minutes, whereas GOLD has a delay period of fifteen minutes. In the GOLD channel, they introduce the day with a single program lasting approximately an hour upon which shorter programs lasting about forty minutes take over (“Gold” 2014, n.p.). In the DAVE channel, the first two hours after they commence dissemination are allocated to two programs where each lasts approximately an hour. After these two one-hour programs, shorter programs lasting about thirty minutes each follow. The other evident similarity is that they tend to posses some peak times when they fit in more programs or shows into a short span of time. This is seen in their schedules between 1700 hours to 1800 hours. The GOLD channel (in most cases) squeezes in three shows in the window between 1700 hours and 1840 hours. In the case of the DAVE channel, there is the rhythm of including mostly four shows between 1700 hours and 1800 hours (“Dave” 2014, n.p.). The same squeezing appears in the windows 0000 hours and 0200 hours. Their fixation of their shows has some additional similarities in that they tend to prefer having fixed shows at specific times all through their pre-done schedules. However, there is some difference in that the GOLD channel’s schedules tend to be more fixed than that of the DAVE channel. This is evident in that by comparing similar days, say Monday’s, the featured programs are not similarly laid out in DAVE but in GOLD they rarely alternate. Finally, the two differ in their allocation of time to the short (less than an hour) shows or programs; DAVE allocates them thirty minutes of airplay while GOLD allocates forty minutes for the same. The analysis of the above schedules are reflective of a created rhythm which the media (UKTV) uses in targeting and reaching out to its audience, but which differ between the two constituent channels. These differences, which are mostly temporal are constructed by the discriminating factor that one channel is free-to-air while the other requires a subscription. This difference means that the audience cannot be receiving the same content, and that there is a reason why some go for the free-to-air channels, and why some opt to pay for the subscription channels. The schedules and preferences are far-fetched from the fact that the initial idea of television, whether broadcasting or narrowcasting, is meant for business. The enterprise part of the media is marketing, which is done mostly through advertisements. Apart from advertisements, the featured shows or programs can be sponsored by the public, by corporate bodies or governments; and these are all channels of television to earn. The above revelation will explain the earlier evaluated schedules based on the marketing idea. In the first case, that is broadcasting, and which is represented by the channel DAVE, the dissemination of information is free to everyone who has a television set meaning that the public does not pay for the content they receive. This does not however keep the free airing to continue because the broadcasters have their way of making the sustenance money and even profits. They do this by relying on sponsored shows to choose them but largely, advertisements are their main business. This can explain the reason why DAVE has shorter time allocated to shows, has a more flexible scheduling of programs, and it delays its time of commencing dissemination. The shorter shows can be explained in that they need to find more time for the commercials and this they do by shortening the shows. When it comes to the flexibility, it is because they have no liability to the free viewers, and in any case they have to alter their schedules, it is upon their will. In the case of narrowcasting,whose quality is that it targets specific audiences, and which GOLD channel supports, there is more concern for what the audience receives. One, the programs are longer than those in DAVE and this means less commercial breaks and more viewing. Again, the dissemination commences at 0600 hours, and longer lasting programs make up the schedule. The sensible supporting explanation for this is that since the viewers actually pay to view (subscribe) to the narrowcaster; their demands have to be put first. Their schedules also demand to be more fixed to avoid the emergence of inconveniences which may prompt the audiences to unsubscribe to the channels, weakening the business. Finally, the inclusion of minimal and very brief commercials means the commissioners of the adverts pay more to the narrowcasters. In addition, they save the subscribers the annoyance that uncontrolled advertisements may bring when they keep interrupting shows. Conclusion In summing up, it can be condensed from the essay that the media’s mode of disseminating information to the masses is two-way; broadcasting and narrowcasting. The first being overall, and the other being more specific and controlled. It is further revealed that these two differ in their offering of content, with broadcasting being more of the media’s concern (business wise) and narrowcasting putting more concern in the viewer’s satisfaction. It can be concluded that whether knowingly or unknowingly, the enterprise aspect of television largely contributes to the construction of schedules which reflect the perceived temporal rhythms of the target audience. Bibliography “Dave” 2014, UKTV, Available from: http://dave.uktv.co.uk/tv-guide/ , [24 April, 2014]. “Gold” 2014, UKTV, Available from: http://gold.uktv.co.uk/tv-guide/ , [24 April, 2014]. Read More