Audience Task

Who is the intended Audience?

The intended target audience for The Inbetweeners is young people aged 15-25. This can be seen from its use of young characters and its implementation of the characters within a modern social and school environment. It appeals to its target audience through its' mise en scene' in a variety of ways. This includes the clothes that the characters are wearing which could be considered as trendy or fashionable by they audience. It is things like this that allow the audience to relate to the programme as they may wear similar clothes themselves. Also they may have been in similar situations to the characters which can add comedic affect for the audience. The suburban setting gives the show a sense of realism and once again something that the target audience is used to and can therefore relate to.

What Use or Gratifications does the programme meet?

The Inbetweeners meets a number of different uses and gratifications. Firstly, people will watch the show to be entertained as it is a comedy programme and people will be able to sit and relax and find the  show funny. A lot of the audience will be able to relate to some of the things that happen in the show and they will find this entertaining. Another use or gratification the show meets is social integration. A lot of the viewers will be watching in order to join in with friends conversations and not feel left out if they don't watch the show. People watching The Inbetweeners may also gain advice or guidance on decision choices in the future as they will know the wrong way to do things if they are put in a similar situation to the boys in the show. Members of the audience who are not yet of a similar age may be able to use this in the future when they begin to have similar ideas and attitudes as the characters.

How is the programme constructed/mediated?

The show is constructed so that a lot of embarrassing or over the top events take place in the boys' lives for comedic effect. Everything that is in the show is in their for a reason because the show is not based on real life and is set up, everything the characters say are constructed for comedic effect. The costumes that the characters wear are specifically used so that the audience can relate to them and see them as trendy or maybe fashionable. The mediation in the Inbetweeners would leave people with the assumption that this is what the average teenage life is like in a suburban environment. They may also be left to make assumptions on certain characters in the show because of the clothes that have been selected and the lines that the character has to say. An example of this would be Will who has been constructed and mediated to leave us with the conclusion that he is a bit of a geek and that he is often left out from the cooler and popular social groups.



Who is the intended Audience?

The intended audience for Come Dine With Me is men and women aged between 30 - 50 who could be interested in food or cooking or maybe to just see the often strange characters. The show is on at around 5pm so the majority of people will have finished working. This opens up the size of the audience much more than if it was showed at midday as less people would be at home and the audience would end up being a totally different group of people. This show appeals to a number of different classes because of the time of day it is aired meaning that the target audience is very wide. The people who watch the show may do so to get tips and recipes for there families to try and these people would be mothers or fathers who are part of the 30 - 50 age range.

What Use or Gratifications does the programme meet?

Come Dine With Me meets a lot of different uses or gratifications. Firstly, people will watch the show for entertainment. A lot of the people on the show are often strange or interesting in some way which makes it entertaining to see how they get on with the people around them throughout the week. Secondly, people will watch the show for personal identity. If someone is interested in cooking themselves they will be able to relate to some of the things that happen in the show and some of the views or recipes that the people in the show have. People may watch the show for information. When each meal in the show is cooked, a link is shown to the Channel 4 website where the viewer can go to and see the recipe for themselves and maybe make it for themselves. Because of the time of day that the show is aired, people may be watching the show just to fill time. As I mentioned earlier this is a time period when most people have finished work for the day. If they are bored, Come Dine With Me is a popular show that they can watch to pass time.

How is the programme constructed/mediated?

The show is constructed so that the most interesting or entertaining characters are selected to feature on the episodes. The media presenter does this to add entertainment to the show and make people laugh at the strange things that the people do. People would be purposely selected by the media producer so that conflict can be caused at the dinner table. There is also use of construction or selection when the people are giving their verdict on the night as sometimes only certain clips will be used so that a negative or positive representation of a person or their food is created to the audience. Mediation is used so that the audience is forced to make an assumption or conclusion on a certain character because of the things that  the media producer has selected from the footage of the whole night. The audience could also make an assumption about the location that the episode is set in as if the characters on the show are all arguing between each other, people may think that everyone in the area is similar.