The Lectorial on Audiences made me think about TV and how difficult it has become for TV networks to hold onto an audience with the new distractions of media technologies like social media, the internet and gaming. I read an article recently from The Age Green Guide about how Chanel 10 has identified and maintained their perfect audience.
This article was written by Wendy Tuohy in 2005 looks at how Australian TV has found a specific market audience in people age 16 to 39 years old. Tuohy looks at Chanel 10 in particular and has clearly done her research within the network as to how they have achieved this and why this particular age group is so financially beneficial because of the loyalty of younger audiences to brands in the future.
This article uses colloquial language to talk to the mediums audience. She addresses those readers who might be “27 living at home”…The viewers of Chanel 10 themselves. What makes them so special?
She is trying to make the individual member of the audience aware of how they are part of a specifically targeted group of people because of their age. Chanel 10 believes them to be one of the most profitable audiences because viewers are still impressionable and likely to form loyalties to specific brands that will last the rest of their life.
This article also discusses Chanel 10’s move to reality television to keep this audience engaged. Reality TV gets its audience to “call-in”, making the viewer feel more in control of the outcome of their favourite shows. Chanel 10 has been successful by creating the strong impression (or illusion) that the viewers “matter more”.
It’s a great article that makes me think about how Networks are giving their young viewers a sense of autonomy in their participation of reality television in particular, but also how the shows they select for viewing are designed to be a part of the every day life and language of this specific audience.
- Tuohy, W 2005, ‘The Perfect TV Age’, The Age – Green Guide, 10 March, p.8.