Unit 7 - Understanding The Television And Film Industries

Task 1 (P1, M1, D1)

Technology in the TV industry has change a lot over the years, such as the being able to record programs and eventually having to switch over to digital television. But despite the digital switchover, four channels are still available to people on analogue and everybody who even buys a TV set. These channels are: BBC1, BBC2, ITV and Channel Four.

Even though these four channels are available to anyone and everyone at any time, most TV sets come with Freeview. Freeview is a service that shows free-to-air TV channels, like BBC1 and BBC2, amongst many others. It is owned and run by it's shareholders, which are: ITV, BBC, Arqiva and Channel 4, and around 77% of the population can currently receive Freeview. In 2007, digital viewing began to replace analogue, and will continue to do so until the whole of the UK is on digital. This is predicted to happen some time in 2011.

Also, with the newer techology in TV, viewers are able to record programs before they air, so that they don't have to miss it, and the can watch it whenever they want. One company that offers this service is Sky, who have become massively popular due to this service. Also, Virgin have an 'On demand' function, so that you may watch any programs that you have missed, or that you want to watch again.

There are also many ways in which the audience can interract with television and the programs themselves. For example, there is the 'red button' function. This acts as a sort of on demand function. The BBC put it to good use during sporting events such as the Snooker World Championship, where by pressign the red button will allow you to watch a snooker game other than the one that is on at the present time, or you can even watch more than one game at a time has they have a multi-screen function. Also, on shows such as X-Factor, the audience can phone in to vote who they want to see win the competition. Another example would be teleshopping, where purchasable items are advertised on the television, and the audience can view these items, and if they decide to buy, they can phone up and order what they have seen. It is also possible to enter competitions to win things on television, for example, the Gadget Show hold massive prize competitions where you have to either phone in or text your answer to a certain number to be in with a chance of winning.

Another way of viewing television on the internet. BBC have a website called iPlayer, where you can watch any program you want that has been aired within the past week. Channel 4 also has 4od, which works in the same vein as BBC's iPlayer. These services are free. However, it is possible to purchase TV on the internet. Apple offer a range of TV programs available to buy.

Due to all of these technologies being introduced, the audiences are a lot more spread out now. This is because there are a lot of channels and programs aimed at the individual and what they like to see, rather than just the general audience. There are sports channels, teleshopping, film channels, documentary's amongst many other things. Naturally, people of different interests are going to be more attracted to different things, which is why the audience has fragmented. A special christmas episode of Only Fools and Horses had an estimated 20 million viewers several decades ago. Nowadays, the two highest viewed programs are the X-factor final, which has around 8 million viewers, and Top Gear, which has approximately 6 million viewers at the start of a new series or when they do a special episode such as the Vietnam one.

I think the uses and gratification is a lot more relevant in todays day and age. The diversion aspect of the theory has definitely become more relevant, as people are very willing to escape their everyday problems. These problems may be anything from family issues to the current financial climate taking it's toll on nearly everybody. However, this doesn't mean that the other aspects don't apply. People still use the media for personal relationships, as people like to talk about what they have seen on TV. A lot of people also use the TV to find out things such as weather reports and news on the financial climate, which is surveillance. Although these days, people don't tend to find a personal identity from TV. Instead of finding themselves reflected by someone on a programme, they try to be what the see on TV, which goes to show how much power the media has over it's audience.

We can access films through Digital TV with the use of the On Deman function that Sky and Virgin offer. Virgin has over 500 films that you choose to purchase and watch over a period of a week. We can also access film through the internet. Lovefilm.co.uk offers a film rental service, where they send you the film through the post for a fee and you send it back once you have watched it.

Task 2 (P1, M1, D1)

Sky has pioneered the way in which we watch television with it's innovative new technologies. Sky introduced the idea of recording TV to the UK, which was Sky Plus. Sky Plus offered everything that the original Sky offer did, such as whatever channels you pay for, excep that it had the ability to record programs.

If you're going to miss a program that you want to watch, then you can simply find the program that you want to watch on the TV guide, and press record on the remote control. Plus, you can record more than one program at once, and even record an entire series, so that you can whatever you want whenever you want. A great deal have people have switched from the current TV provider to Sky mainly for this function. Whilst other companies had the On Demand function, Sky offered an even easier way to watch television than ever before.

Also, with the advent of the Digital switchover, they have been able to offer Sky Digital, and even a radio service.

Task 3 (P1, M1, D1)

Television is funded in many different ways. One of these is PSB, which stands for Public Service Broadcasting. The PSB is funded by the TV license payers. The BBC provide the PSB for the UK, and are the only company funded by just the TV license. A license for a full colour TV is just under £140. The money from the TV license pays for producing and airing the programs. There are also some other stations that are funded by part of the BBC's PSB. Some of these are Five, ITV and Channel 4.

Another type of funding is by sucbscription. Companies such ask Virgin and Sky offer their serives for a monthly fee. These services can come in packages which include the TV, Broadband and phone line deals. These packages are relatively cheap for what they offer, but with companies such as Sky having 8 million subscribers, and the packages being £18 a month at the cheapest, a lot of money goes towards the company so that it can be funded into offering these services more and more.

Pay-per-view is another form of television funding. Pay-per-view is where the consumer pays a one time fee to watch one program. A lot of sports progams do this in America, such as boxing and professional wrestling companies. PPV is at it's most popular in the US.

Sponsorship is also a big part of funding these days. Sponsorship is where a brand or company pay to have a small advert played between the program and each commercial break to advertise their product. One example of this would be when Friends on E4 was sponsored by Appletiser. I think that certain brands associate themselves with certain programs for a reason. For example, Extreme Makeover is sponsored by Black and Decker. Extreme Makeover is a program where they build a house from scratch, and Black and Decker is a company that makes tools for doing so. It is more memorable when the program and it's sponsor have a direct link to each other.

Another form of funding is product placement. Whilst illegal in Britain, it is commonplace in the US. Product placement is similar to sponsorship, but the product is placed somewhere within the program itself so that it may be advertised. A common example of this is when somebody is shown to be working on a laptop computer. There is always a clear shot of the logo on the back of the laptop's screen, and it is usually either Apple or Sony Vaio that place their products in programs.

Task 4 (P1, M1, D1)

Task 5 (P1, M1, D1)