Intro to Media Studies Spring 2019

Television Programming- tbtv

Program name: tbtv

psp16 – Programming

crabqueen – Social Media

natiliebennet – Advertising

Monday- Survivor and American Idol

Tuesday- Pretty Little Liars and Orange is the New Black

Wednesday- Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill

Thursday-Wizards of Waverly Place and Suite Life of Zack and Cody

Hannah Montana and Drake and Josh

Friday- Full House x2 and Boy Meets World x2

American Idol Season 7 Finale

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HNA6OyRBd0

Post 1 (Thursday): The #countdown is over! @Disney and @NickelodeonTV night is finally here. Tune in at 8/7 c tonight for a #tbt! #getoutthepopcorn #girlsnite?

Post 2 (Monday): Do you love reality tv?! Tune in at 8/7 c tonight for a night of #competition and #drama. #bloodsweatandtears #winnerwinnerchickendinner

The target audience of these Twitter posts (and our network as a whole) is older teenage girls and young women in their 20s. These posts closely mirror those of real television networks aimed at this demographic, as they tend to have a lot of hashtags and often @ the shows that are being aired. The posts that I made are also like the posts of real networks for this demographic because they are a little cringey and try a bit too hard to attract people. But, they get the job done. The platform also helps to grab the demographic, as it is quite common for young adult women to use Twitter often to connect with friends and businesses.

Companies for advertisements

Apple
Domino’s Pizza (or other food businesses)
Sephora (specifically for Tuesday and Wednesday)
XBox/PlayStation

The demographic of the audience that will watch programs scheduled for Monday, Thursday and Friday are people in their late teens and early twenties. This audience has grown up with developing technology and is always looking for the newest product. By advertising Apple products on these networks during these scheduled program will almost guarantee to grab this specific audience’s attention. They will be entertained by the nostalgic programming as well as being reminded they can be entertained by the technology in the modern day that they live in.

As for the programs scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday night, they are directed towards the same age group. However the shows are filled with certain drama and scandal that is most likely to grab the attention and views from an audience primarily of women. For this reason, targeting an audience of women in their late teens and early twenties, Sephora would be a company that would appeal to this audience. Some are nostalgic programs filled with adult content, and make-up can be considered to go along with this sophisticated theme.

NBC’s Saturday Night

Lorne Michaels vision for Saturday Night Live, an American late variety show, came to life on the night of October 11, 1975 premiering on, well you could’ve guessed, NBC. Saturday night live was a hit in family homes all across America. Reaching an audience range many shows couldn’t. The goal of SNL wasn’t just to get that quality audience, however get the audience the other shows couldn’t get. This late night comedy stared weekly celebrity host and musical guest with that formula your guaranteed to get people watching. If it wasn’t for the show it was for whoever was going to be on it that week. This is just a pure example of television and the family. NBC’s Saturday Night gives families the opportunity to sit down and enjoy a show together.

With cast members like John Belushi and Chevy Chase each week something new was going to happen. Thats what keeps this show running from day one is each episode is never going to be the same as the previous. Each celebrity host puts there own twist on it and the cast is there to back up there image and put on a show. The range of cast members this show has gone through is hard to look at and think that they’re still on the air. As of Season 44, SNL has featured close to 150 cast members. Thats what keeps so many people watching and shows how when reviews go down and they do have a rough season, they have something new coming that can bring them right back up. So for the families that eat dinner in the living room, or the families that eat dinner, and then go to the living room to watch that late night Saturday time slot. I bet it was SNL.

Because SNL was such a good example of Television and the family it brought in all sorts of commercials and sellers trying to put they’re product in the late night time slot rather than the prime time. In 1975 and 1976, they were the most desirable demographic for television advertisers. In this era of Broadcast Television, adds where everything. The way SNL brought something new to the table shows how much of an impact it was and still is for telivision and families.

– Drake Nickolaison

Tele-visuality in Narcos Intro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtJ6yAGjsIs

Narcos is an American crime drama web television series. Set and filmed in Colombia, seasons 1 and 2 are based on the story of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, who became a billionaire through the production and distribution of cocaine. The series also focuses on Escobar’s interactions with drug lords, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents, and various opposition entities. The use of televisuality is a big reason for the success of this show especially in the intro. The intro clip alone has well over 7 million views on youtube.

When I first started watching Narcos, even after the first few episodes I never skipped the intro because the columbian music in the background is very entertaining but, it drew me in the most because I feel like it fits the personality of the main antagonist Pablo Escobar very well. He’s relaxed and always enjoying himself and the intro music emulates that. But, at the same time it contrast his evil side and the problems he caused in Columbia. Also, another big reason this intro is so interesting to me is because it shows real life footage of Pablo Escobar and his reign. Throughout the intro you see everything from, women, drugs, money, DEA agents, Escobar himself riding motorcycles and smiling, explosions, gridlock maps tracing Escobars moves, suspects and witnesses being X’d out, along with Pablo’s Mansion, and exotic zoo animals. After watching a few episodes and getting an understanding for the show you would think maybe Colombia’s drug war wasn’t so bad. Then you’ll realize that is exactly what the producers wanted you to think.

The Narcos intro exploits everything that was going wrong in colombia in the 80’s while at the same time glamorizing it with flashes of money, beaches, and attractive women. Depending on where your from, the type of TV you usually watch, and other factors, the intro will make you almost want to be Pablo, but the forensic theme and various clips of drug bust and chaos will make you second guess that and want to be the DEA agent responsible for catching him. There is so much chaos in the intro you’ll wonder how do they catch this guy and is selling cocaine really that bad? I believe this is why the show was able to keep viewers and be brought back for multiple seasons, it always straddle the line between paradise and chaos and people want to see that. The show has been rated 8.8/10 stars on IMDb and has been nominated for many awards, including 2 golden globes.

Kea’Shaun Phillips

The Jetsons: Who Needs Color in the Future Anyways?”

The Jetsons is an animated cartoon series about the nuclear Jetsons family living in a futuristic world. The show aired on ABC for its first season in 1962. After years of reruns, The Jetsons returned with new seasons on ABC, CBS, and NBC, from 1986 to 1987. It was the first show in color on ABC, and one of the first shows to be on all of the Big Three at the time.

Broadcast and cable have always been in competition. Viewers tuned into cable more often because there were more networks available than broadcast. It was clever of the producers of The Jetsons to broadcast on ABC, CBS, and NBC, during the post-network era because it gave the show the leg up with more air time, and more outlets to watch it from. As opposed to cable, yes having many networks, but shows were instead aired on single networks. Viewers were able to watch their respective shows on one of the Big Three broadcast networks, then watch The Jetsons without the interruption of having to change the channel.

Although The Jetsons technically had 3 seasons, it is accredited for only having one since further seasons came out 20+ years later. The Jetsons was going to be ahead of its time with its color televisuality. The bright neon colors were supposed to transport the audience, painting a futuristic world of robot maids, floating cars, and jetpacks. Instead, it fell through to its then audience, due to the noncolor/color dynamic. The show was produced and broadcasted in color, but less than 3% of households could view it in color, because a color tv was needed. The show was made to be bold and captivate its viewers with various shades of blues and purples as the floating carships zipped through the sky. But instead, there was dull shades of gray.

I chose two clips, one to show it in black and white, and another to show color. The black and white clip is a 1963 promotional commercial for The Jetsons. Without color the scenes are dull and only the use of advanced technology is alerting the viewers that they are in the future. Color advances the televisuality by creating depth in the scenes, and by making everything in general more appealing.

-Nina-Simone Avery

Televisuality in Hell’s Kitchen Intro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vMOTPTzbfI

Hell’s Kitchen is an American reality show which pits two teams of chefs against each other in order to become head chef at a restaurant. The show is broadcasted on Fox and is in its 18th season since its start in 2005. The show is hosted by chef Gordon Ramsay, who is infamous for his unforgiving criticism of the chefs as they perform tasks to avoid elimination from the competition, giving the show it’s remarkable name.

Hell’s Kitchen sits at #13 on imdb’s list of top reality TV shows for 2019. While ratings have slowly begun to decline, the show has had a successful run in the 18 seasons it’s been on the air. It could be argued that the reason for this is partly due to the show’s distinct theme on a popular show format, and the televisuality that follows such theme. The intro to the show is the strongest example of the show’s distinct visuality which plays on the theme of the harshness and cruelty of Ramsay’s criticism. The 30 second clip is filled with striking graphics of a hellish kitchen and restaurant with shattering reflections, the set and contestants’ photos in flames, and even fire appearing in Ramsay’s eyes.

Taking a look at the visuals used in Hell’s Kitchen’s intro reveals that some television series today are continuing to use the tactic of flaunting and displaying a unique and flashy style in order to maintain viewership. In Caldwell’s article on televisuality, he wrote that programs will strive for “identifiable style-markers and distinct looks in order to gain audience share within the competitive broadcast flow”. The hellish twist on a common cooking show theme provided viewers with a program that brought unique aesthetic and conceptual components not seen together before on television. The intro provides an eye-catching and brief, yet exciting, look at the characteristics of the show to come, leaving the viewer intrigued and waiting for more.

Lauren Brown

Head Of The Class

Head Of The Class was a TV show that ran from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The show took place in a high school setting “Monroe High School” and was a show about academically gifted high school students who are all very diverse. They range it out with characters having different personalities, ethnicities, and academic specialties. The kids in the show are about jocks and nerds “kind of the 80s setting” and is supposed to be goofy for this period of time. There are clearly separate groups in this show and is sure shot that this show is purely from the Post-Broadcasting era. the show is targeted towards teenage boys and possibly older men as well.

Head Of The Class is a very well scripted show to describe what the Post-Network Era television is. Even though the show was through the active era of PNE, the themes of the show help display the meaning of it all. During this time in television history, cable was on a climb and hundreds of channels were starting a new effect on television that changed the game of television. In this era, producers began to narrowcast and targeting specific groups.

The clip I am showing is a clip shows one good example of targeting a specific group. In this clip, a skinny nerdy guy is brought up upon these “big” jocks as they try to bully him. The jocks tell the nerd to be at a certain spot or else bad things will happen. Before the boy has to meet them, there is a funny scene that comes up which is supposed to be funny. From watching the clip, this is aiming towards mainly teenage boys and possibly other people as well. Though the show comes off to be Male dominate with females playing a very little role, It is a show for everyone. Yet it possibly would not be watched in a family setting.

-JG Gillard