"Q: Explain how social contexts influence television programmes. Refer to Cuffs from the 2010’s to support your answer. (H/L) "

Q: Explain how social contexts influence television programmes. Refer to Cuffs from the 2010’s to support your answer. (H/L)

1. The target audience for the show Cuffs would probably be niche as, there are gay and Muslims in the show this makes it a niche show as many people would not want to watch it for these reasons.
2. The show Cuffs is very appealing to its audience as it is a crime show full of: crime, mystery and fights, this makes the show appealing to the audience as this is a popular thing.
3. The show Cuffs can be streamed on BBC which is a popular broadcasting channel up there with Netflix, also there is BBC Iplayer which allows the viewer to watch the episodes they missed out on.
4. It assumes that audience members are not passive consumers of media. Rather, the audience has power over their media consumption and assumes an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives. Unlike other theoretical perspectives, UGT holds that audiences are responsible for choosing media to meet their desires and needs to achieve gratification. This theory would then imply that the media compete against other information sources for viewers' gratification.
5. Television audiences, though still relatively passive, aremore active than in the 1960s. Apart from the readiness to switch channels, the phenomenon of ‘second screening’ – commenting on social media while watching linear television – allows far greater audience feedback and interactivity. This is considered a major factor in the survival of scheduling on linear television channels in the age of video on demand. Second screening, together with the success of programming such as sport and talent shows relying on audience votes, encourages ‘live’ viewing.
6. Unfortunately Cuffs was going to finish as they did not have enough viewers to support the show so they started an online petiton to keep the show going, unfortunatley this did not work out and the show had to come to an end.

Avengers HW

During the 1960s there were very few homosexual men in public life due to the rights of gays , this affected The Avengers as there would be no gay actors, unlike Cuffs, in 2010 homosexuals have the same rights and are able influence the programme like Jake Vickers.

Women were often portrayed as sex objects in the programme The Avengers. The main character Steed often treats Peel in a way which is seen as sexual harassment, however it was also a time of sexual revelution, Peel was also represented as a confident educated women, also reflecting the change and the concerns of that time.

Social, Cultural, Historical Contexts Of The Avengers

Social, Cultural, Historical Contexts Of The Avengers

The avengers is a very distinctive that is British - its a spy thriller featuring three spy women as the main character. Television was responding to the cultural social changes in society.

Brief summary - 
Steed and Emma are on the trail of several murdered agents. They visit little bazley by the sea, a town that strangers rarely leave alive- and discover its secretly infiltrated by enemy agents.

• Coming out of the 1950s the UK is very bleak and still recovering from the war.
• Young people were given a choice.
• Parents grew up with the war with rationing and fighting, the parents want their own children to have a more fun and freedom.
• People had fought for what we take for granted nowadays.

When we write about the 1950s it is historical context 

Music-

They experimented with new sounds and developed innovative pieces of music. Their albums lyrics included rebellion against the authorities,  as seen in 'revelation'.

Drug culture-

Recreational drug use was at its height in the 60s. It was very difficult for anyone in the show business to avoid becoming involved drugs such as LSD and ecstasy. Young people who were looking for fun were encouraged by their idols to take hallucinating drugs.



Feminism-

• Rise of the feminist movement,
• Use of contraceptive safe birth control. This  change the relationships / attitudes of many onyx women sexuality,
• Lawsuits for equal pay (women were payed 60% less),
• Fighting for reproductive rights, 
• Abortions were illegal,
• The 1960s was a patriarchy society,

Emma Peel - 

• Seen Steeds professional equal,
• Inspired by James Bond, intertextuality Bond an M relationship,
• Sexual tension (Peel and steed)
• Clothes of Peel and fighting ability: demonstrated modern liberated femininity, she embodies the new fashion in some who like to dress and fight like men, slightly ahead of fashion at the time.
• Leather outfit very different from the typical 1950s woman,
• Spitted heroine of the 60s,
• Use of dialogue is always seductive,

Sexuality -

• Homosexuality was illegal,
• A survey taken four out that 93% of people thought being gay was an illness that you should be medicated,
• Public gay men were either sent to prison or a mental institution,
• Gay men had  chemical castration to 'remove their gayness',
• If men were sent to the institution they would get treatment that we would consider like torture,
• In 1967 the law was changed that gay sexual activities were allowed on 3 conditions, they had to be 21, give consent and in a private place,

Heterosexuality was considered to be the norm an example of this is that emma uses her sexuality as a weapon and is very sedative while speaking with men. Emma bum is touched by Steed although nothing happened due to in the 1960s women were seen as objects, In the avengers there is a complete absence of homosexuality as it was still illegal then.

Cold war - 

The cold war (45-91) was an ongoing stand off  between Russia and America to show who was the strongest country, they were also very close to having another world war (3). People in UK were in fear from the Russians spies watching them in their daily lives.

Ethnicity-

There are very limited numbers of ethnic minorities and this does not represent the time it was set as there were many asian and Caribbean communities and all the characters in The Avengers were white as at that time British media was seen as a show that was whitewashed.

There was a sitcon called love thy neighbour that had a black character in it however, he was the victim of a racist joke.

Gender-

• Steed was the archetype of a gentleman hero like james bond. Peel combined femininity and modernity. The show is set in a post sexual revolution times which meant women were allowed to be free and were allowed to have sex unconditionally due to the pill.
• By the ed of the sixties more than 80% of women used the contraceptive pill as the government allowed it to happen. 
• Rise in women driving (Mini was designed for women).
• 850 women went out on strike for equal pay.
• 
  

Regulation

Regulation-

• Television in the UK is regulated by OFCOM,
• OFCOM have a set of rules called broadcasting code

10 main sections- 

• Crime
• Religion
• Harm and Offence

Ofcom also define the watershed. It is before 9PM and before 5:30AM, this is when programs that children shouldnt be watching are allowed on. This includes sexual content, violence, graphic or disturbing imagery and swearing. This means that programs such as Cuffs have to be careful about their content which means that it reduces the realism of the programme.

Cuffs have to be careful with what they show on screen. For example, when a character gets stabbed they do not show the actual stabbing case they cut it out and may show blood on the floors its pre washed show. They  ask cannot swear and show sexual content.

PSB Characteristics- 

• High quality 
• Original 
• Innovative 
• Challenging 
• Widely available
• Distinctive 

Cuffs shows the characteristics by informing the audience about the rise in hate and racist crimes. It informs about the rise in theft and shoplifting, the acceptance of homosexuality and how multicultural societies work. This simulates learning and knowledge about issues in society such as how muslims are treated.


Schedules 

1. Tv scheduling is deciding what times Tv shows should be on and will be suit the audience, the show itself and not the same time as other shows, for example the great British bake off is on a 8Pm on Wednesdays.
2. Scheduling is critical to the success of many shows because if another show is on at the same time and day a lot less people will view the show as they'll be watching another.
3. Wednesday at 8Pm.
4. They wasted cuffs to replace an old show called 'Waterloo road' which was a school soap drama.
5. Cuffs got an average of 2.4 - 4.1 million views per episode.
6. Appointment viewing is when someone watches a show because of the specific time its set. Comfort viewing is when your watching a show because you really enjoy it.
7. Cuffs was cancelled due to the fact it wasn't getting enough views for how expensive the show was to shoot, also cuffs was not a comfort appointment viewing when it was trying to be both.

PEE paragraph

The release of gay rights allowed 'Cuffs' to have a main character who is also gay, during the show he has shown that he is treated equally and is open about being gay as of many years before this was an illegal act. This show allows the main character to show he is strong although in the social media they he would be perused as very weak and feminine.

tv funding

1. Television funding is advertisement in the TV shows.
2. The BBC get 75% of its funding from the TV licence, which anyone  with a tv pays for no matter what.
3. Many people believe they shouldn't pay for the license as you can get higher quality from elsewhere.
4. Many people believe if they shouldn't pay for the BBC funding as its not fair if they do not use the BBC.
5. This is called a commercial. This is when companies spend money on advertising their product on other popular TV shows.
6. There are more commercial channels competing for advertisersThe Internet has increased competition. Television advertising is now seen as less effective than other forms of advertising. Streaming and catch up services are much more popular.

social historical and cultural contexts

social historical and cultural contexts

social context - how media products reflects the society in which they are produced and that of their target audience. 

cultural context - how media products reflects the arts and cultrual including popular cultures of their time.

historical context - how media products reflects events from the past and social changes. 

context - will overlap each other. For example the way in eject yhr language is used in media products to reflect the period in which it was written, relates to all 3 contexts.







Contexts might appear subtly. For example playing the music of a famous musician who recently died in TV scenes.

What is social, historical and cultural contexts and how might it have influenced a media texts?




Social context reflects the society that the media products is set in. For example since 2014, the representation of homosexuality has changed massively compared to how it was back in the day. in 2014 gay marriage was legalised in the UK and this has influenced how often gay characters are introduced in TV shows and in films.
In a historical contexts an example could be that pre WW1 in 1870 black people were given rights to vote and everyday stuff this changed media as there are a lot more black main characters in films and tv shows although many black people are seen in the media to be part of gangs and fights and this impacts the media as they are now seen as gang members.

In Black Panther the main character(Chadwick Boseman) is a black actor and in the past this would have never happened and would probably be a white male instead.