Gogglebox

Gogglebox

‘Gogglebox’ is British Reality television show that is broadcasted on Channel 4. Directed by Tania Alexandra and narrated by Craig Cash, the television show was first aired on the 7^th March 2013. Since then, there has been eight series. It features a number of families commentating on different popular programmes such as ‘The Apprentice’, ‘The X Factor’ and ‘EastEnders’. Alongside a British version, there is also an American version and an Australian version.

AUDIENCE

As the programme is scheduled to come on at 9pm on Channel 4, this suggests that this is due to censorship (watershed), families in the programme who express their opinions may use explicit language which may be offensive to viewers at home, because of this, this could be a suggested reason as to why the programme is scheduled to start at a later time of the day. Another reason is because the programme fits under the reality television genre meaning it is entertainment for the audience. Additionally, it also conveys that a suggested audience is adults aged 18 and above as stereotypically, adults would be portrayed as busy people who come home from work and may want to watch something entertaining such as Gogglebox. The programme also puts the audience watching at home in an active position as they can express their feelings and opinions about the show amongst themselves. Similarly to The Great British Bake Off, Gogglebox is also given ratings, which help to draw in new viewers and attract different newspapers and magazines to write positive reviews. However, a difference is that the programme uses a narrator, whilst The Great British Bake Off uses two female presenters.

INDUSTRY

The use of trailers and advertisements are effective as they promote the programme, these can also be done on online services. Additionally, they also invite potentially new viewers to watch the programme. In terms of scheduling, there isn’t any competition, which means the type of scheduling used here is stripping as the programme comes on at the same time every week.

TEXT

In the programme, there is a representation of regional identity. This is clear as each family live in different regions such as the Midlands and South East England. This is a positive representation as it shows the programme’s audience that they do not just stick to London as it is the capital, they expand to different parts of the country so it is more suitable for the audience and, relatable. Furthermore, there is also representation of ethnicity and race as the families featured on the show are of different backgrounds and ethnicities. Similarly, to The Great British Bake Off, this highlights how diverse the United Kingdom is. Therefore because of this, more members of the audience will be able to relate to the families and individuals within the families.