The Great British Bake Off

The Great British Bake Off:

The Great British Bake Off also known as ‘GBBO’ is airs on BBC One for 12 weeks between August and October. It first aired on the 17^th August 2010. Twelve bakers are selected by the two judges Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry. They are assigned three challenge during each episode where they are then judged by both Paul and Mary. The show is presented by Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc.

AUDIENCE

In terms of scheduling time, season 7 previewed every Wednesday at 7pm. The programme was supported through advertisements in between popular shows such as EastEnders and Casualty so that their viewers can be drawn in and interested. Trailers were also created before the seventh series aired to alert its viewers and audience of the programme’s return.

Additionally, during the season, progress of the contestants were monitored through online magazine articles and newspapers. This was done mainly through ‘The Sun’ and ‘The Mirror’. Alongside this, rating were also given on websites such as IMDB. The effect of ratings on the programme boosts the promotion of it and its success, it also allows the audience to develop their own thoughts and feelings into what they think about the show, especially potentially new viewers.

The programme also uses social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram to interact with their audience and post updates to inform their viewers. Similarly to ratings, it allows viewers to feel involved in the programme by having their own thoughts and opinions on the contestants and on the show itself and enables them to share them on their platforms through tweets, pictures and hashtags.

INDUSTRY

Alongside having the main show, The Great British Bake Off also has a spin-off show known as ‘The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice’. This is hosted by Jo Brand. The purpose of this show is that it gives fans of the programme to be on the show and discuss what has happened on the previous episode. This is appealing to the audience as viewers who watch at home can interact on the shows’ social media profiles whilst watching, before or after.

GBBO also has a website which is connected to the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b013pqnm

This effect of having an active website boosts the programmes marketing and gives the audience to opportunity to educate themselves on background information about the contestants, judges and presenters. On the website there is also a link to GBBO’s spin-off show.

TEXT

The Great British Bake Off has a strong representation of ethnicity as the contestants are of different backgrounds. The effect of this shows that the United Kingdom is a diverse country.

Alongside representation of ethnicity, there is also representation of age as there is not just one age group such as young adults featured in the programme. In the programme, there is a mix of contestants who are of different ages. This invites viewers of all ages to gain interest in the show and allows them to interact with the programme by having their favourite contestants and can relate to them.