The producers of Coronation Street would perhaps be interested in what the motivations and attitudes of the viewers were with regards to watching their programme. They may also be concerned with what age groups are watching and how often they do.
The attitudes and motives of the audience towards the programme could be found out by the actors. This would be made possible due tot the fact that every single actor and actresses will have a fan who would perhaps write letters to them. These could provide valuable information about what they think of the programme and why they watch it, which, if it is via a letter, could be praising them and saying they are the reason why the tune for every episode. Also, the actors may tend to be recognised and approached in the street. Some people may hurl abuse at them if they have been given a bad role to play, or may been given sympathy if a death in the family has occurred. It would show the producers that people see these actors as real people ad not fictional characters. An example of this is recently is the character Richard Hillman, who recently murdered the character Maxine Peacock. It is possible that people sent flowers into her husband, in the soap, Ashley, as if she had really been murdered. Later on the show, when Richard Hillman admitted to the murder, he ran away. A well known tabloid newspaper set up a website named . The website contains a condolence book which the public can sign and will then be sent onto the ‘remaining’ and cast and Richard Hillman’s family. Another craze happened a few years ago when Deidre Rashid was put in jail for a crime which she did not commit. Again he same tabloid set up a campaign to free her, even though she is only a character and the story isn’t true. They made posters which they included in their paper and well known shops even started selling badges with free Deidre on them.
For the producers, this kind of episode can show that the addictiveness of it can lead to people into believing that the characters are real and therefore become involved with what is happening, which in turn produces higher viewer ratings and perhaps helps the show gain more awards. It may show that the more gripping the show, i.e. a murder mystery like the Maxine Peacock murder, may cause people to set up websites and purchase merchandise, that in turn causes newspapers and shops profits to increase and the programmes viewings to amplify.
Another important aspect which the producers feel to be important is the age of the viewers. An obvious way to find this would be to produce a questionnaire that would include questions such as ‘Do you watch Coronation Street?’, ‘Do you watch it regularly’, ‘How old are you’, ‘Do you parents/ grandparents watch it?’ By knowing the age of the viewers, producers may be able to find a gap in the market, and in turn they can introduce characters that would appeal to them, which could boost ratings.
After answering the questionnaire some people might say that they only watch Coronation Street sometimes, and we could ask why this is. It could be because of an interesting story line, which will then help the producers to come up with more ideas that may well encourage these people who only watch it sometimes, to become regular viewers.
Setting up monitored forums on the internet which are especially for fans of the soap can also help the producers. It is an open way for people to express there opinions about the show, their likes and dislikes of the characters and plots. Another method that could be used to help is by means of participant observation. Many fans hold lunches where they arrange to meet up, which can be organised through websites, and discuss the programme. Here an observer can go, disguised as a fan, and see how the programmes outcomes are interpreted and understood.
Having a well known sponsor, Cadburies, can cause people to think that the programme must be of a quality standard, to be sponsored from someone as famous as Cadburies. Being at a prime-time slot, people will be relaxing after a hard days work will want something easy going and light hearted that they don’t need to concentrate on. The producers have got a perfect slot with no huge competition which can also help their ratings.
If the producers arranged a survey mainly focusing on an age group they would probably find a gap in the market that could help them find out what people would enjoy viewing. Through participant observations it would be possible for the creators to understand what the fans want; this would also be possible by internet forums, viewer and actors in-depth interviews and also by national questionnaires. A programme like Coronation Street is a nostalgic reflection of the British society. It has a strong sense of community and the happy camaraderie of the pub life. This is how people wish things were like today in their society, and this is perhaps why the show is so popular.
Bibliography
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Baldwin, et al. (1999) Introducing cultural studies , London: Prentice Hall
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Barker, C. (2002) Making sense of cultural studies, London: Sage
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Berger, A. (2000) Media and communication research methods, U.S.A: Sage
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Bryman, A. (2001) Social Research Methods, Bath: Oxford
- Lecture notes (2002-2003)
