Posts in the category: Television

4seven

Last week Channel 4 announced it is set to launch its first new channel since ‘More4’ in 2005. This brand new channel, ‘4seven’, will give viewers another opportunity to watch the most ‘talked about’ shows, drawn in from those broadcast on C4, E4 and More4 in the previous seven days.

The leading benefit of this innovative channel to Channel 4 is the opportunity to extend audience coverage for their new content released each week. As people have busier lifestyles and an ever-growing selection of channels and programming to choose from, a large percentage of viewers protest that they miss out on their favourite shows. Channel 4 are employing the new digital world to their advantage, by broadcasting the content that is creating the most noise amongst social media, bloggers, commentators, and fusing this into the look and feel of the channel.

This will assuredly deliver higher audience engagement, but do the ‘noisiest bits’ of TV automatically render to the best bits? We have often seen how social media can lead to the formation of lobby groups, and result in deviation from the expected. For instance X Factor winners were once ‘guaranteed’ the Christmas number one slot, but Joe McElderry was denied this triumph when a social media spectacle pushed ‘Rage Against the Machine’ to the top in his place (not that I was opposed to this). Indeed there is inevitable risk that viewers will respond to 4seven in a similar ‘anti-trend’ manner; collaborating in masses to boycott the system so that the programs broadcast are not actually those deserved of the airtime.

In addition, as a heavy-duty fan of catch-up TV, I question whether there is really a consumer need for this channel, with so many ways to watch repeats already in existence. Not only do we have 4OD and a ‘+1’ network, but with growing popularity of PVR (personal video recorder) services such as Sky+, Freeview+ and Virgin Media TiVo, we have pretty much unlimited scope to record our favourite programming to watch at a later date. But then I don’t think the advantage of this channel lies in the content. In a time when digitisation is rising, by tying in social media, 4seven offers TV a fresh face. TV becomes democratic - empowering the viewer to shape their own supply of entertainment. Even if 4seven doesn’t produce much added value to the C4 network, it is likely to create a much deeper and respected relationship with its audience; or at the very least a talking point.

One final thought – advertising opportunities on 4seven have not yet been defined, but if it chooses to only host ads that are ‘trending’ now, will this open up a whole new TV trading model?

(4seven is expected to release in summer 2012, with the channel set to appear on Sky, Virgin and Freeview)
 

M&S and X Factor

Aside from being a desperate jump onto the (fading) X Factor bandwagon, what on earth were Marks and Spencer doing when they signed off the truly awful ‘Wish Upon A Star’ Xmas TV campaign. Rarely can there have been a more lazy and gratuitous attempt to associate a brand with popular culture. All their efforts to be high quality and aspirational lost in 60 seconds of faux celebrity drivel.

Geordie Shore or Geordie Bore?

Last night, I saw the premiere of MTV’s Geordie Shore – the UK equivalent to Jersey Shore.  I tuned in, with baited breath to find out whether this was going to be another gem of scripted reality (similar to The Only Way is Essex) or a return to car crash TV in the vein of Big Brother.

The programme was (as anyone who watches the US version will know) an hour of car crash TV featuring half naked women, lots of alcohol and men who fake bake so much that they could easily glow in the dark.  This was definitely a return to reality TV at its worst, but this is precisely why the audience will tune in.  The fake and artificial situations of programmes such as The Hills and Made in Chelsea has meant that TV shows have been forced to employ soap opera writers to direct real people in scripted, sensationalised storylines to get ratings.  Geordie Shore bucks this trend by bringing the brutal reality of what young twentysomethings in Newcastle get up to in their spare time without the need of a script.

There is no denying that the characters in the show could be putting on a front to get the media attention that they crave and the show is edited to highlight the most dramatic storylines, but ultimately this show depicts real people in real situations.

The recent success of the The Only Way Is Essex at the BAFTA’s has proved that there is an appetite in the TV schedules for programmes featuring scripted reality, but will this return to TV in the style of Big Brother, depicting fame hungry individuals getting up to all sorts of alcohol induced madness mean that traditional reality TV is back?