Is the 'golden age' of television still to come?
- Does more choice make for better TV? Where do programme makers get their ideas from?
- How do they know what we want to watch?
- Why are there so many makeover / gardening / property / reality shows on TV – and why do they all copy each others' ideas?
- Why are there so many repeats on TV?
- How did Channel 4 know Big Brother would work?
- Was TV really better in the good old days?
- Where will TV go in the future?
Why is there so much rubbish on telly? was produced by Liberty Bell Productions for Channel 4. It was narrated by Julie Dawn Cole. Its Executive Producer was Stuart Prebble, and it was produced and directed by Eamon T O'Connor. These programme notes were written by Jenny Grahame, Advisory Teacher for Media Education at The English and Media Centre, London.
Learning outcomesLearners will:
- gain an 'insider's' perspective on the ways programme ideas are brainstormed, pitched, developed and researched
- understand that television is a business, in which the delivery of audiences to advertisers is paramount
- become familiar with the organisation and structure of the terrestrial broadcasting channels, their key roles and responsibilities
- explore the various strategies by which audiences are targeted, researched, measured and accessed through demographics, BARB, and scheduling
- understand their own importance as members of the crucial 16–34 year old age group
- consider what makeover, game show and reality formats offer viewers, and the ways these formats are adapted and recycled to attract different audiences
- evaluate and challenge the conventional wisdom that telly has deteriorated from a supposed 'golden age'
- speculate future developments in the ways TV will be funded, accessed and consumed.
England and Wales
National Curriculum for Citizenship KS4
Knowledge and understanding about being informed citizens
g) the importance of a free press, and the media's role in society, including the internet, in providing information and affecting opinion
Developing skills of enquiry and information
b) express, justify and defend orally and in writing a personal opinion about such issues, problems or events
c) contribute to group and exploratory class discussions, and take part in formal debates
National Curriculum for English KS3 and 4
Short extracts from the programme would be useful in generating Speaking and Listening skills, and in covering some of the following statutory areas at Key Stages 3 and 4:
En 2 Reading: Knowledge, skills and understanding:
Reading for meaning
e) to consider how meanings are changed when texts are adapted to different media
k) to compare texts, looking at style, theme and language, and identifying connections and contrasts.
Texts from different cultures and traditions
a) to understand the values and assumptions in the texts
b) the significance of the subject matter and the language
Printed and ICT-based information texts
a) select, compare and synthesise information from different texts
b) evaluate how information is presented
c) sift the relevant from the irrelevant, and distinguish between fact and opinion, bias and objectivity
Media and moving image texts
a) how meaning is conveyed in texts that include print, images and sometimes sounds
b) how choice of form, layout and presentation contribute to effect {for example, font, caption, illustration in printed text, sequencing, framing, soundtrack in moving image text)
c) how the nature and purpose of media products influence content and meaning (for example, selection of stories for a front page or news broadcast)
d)how audiences and readers choose and respond to media
English GCSE
The AQA and Edexcel English Language GCSE specifications both allow for Media topics to be submitted as part of the coursework portfolio. Choice of topics is open, and if a television genre were covered the programme would be extremely useful.
National Curriculum History
Historical enquiry
a) identify, select and use a range of appropriate sources of information including oral accounts, documents, printed sources, the media, artefacts, pictures, photographs, music, museums, buildings and sites, and ICT-based sources as a basis for independent historical enquiries
b) evaluate the sources used, select and record information relevant to the enquiry and reach conclusions.
General Studies A level
At AS level, Module 1 covers the Popular and performing Arts; Module 3 includes global media
Media Studies GCSE
All three GCSE specifications cover TV advertising; the coursework portfolio can include the study of television genres, institutions or technologies, for which the programme would be extremely helpful.
Media Studies AS/A2 Level
OCR AS: Module 2731: Gender and TV Sitcom. Module 2372: Media Ownership; New Technologies
OCR A2: Module 2732: Critical research topics: Children and Television; Sport and the Media; Concept to Consumption. Module 2733: Broadcasting since the 90s; British TV soap opera; Radio and Television News
AQA AS: Med 2: Film and Broadcast fiction; documentary; Advertising and Marketing
AQA A2: Med 4: Representation; Genre; Media audiences
WJEC AS: ME1: Modern Media Forms
WJEC A2: ME4: Investigating Media Texts; ME5: Changing Media Industries
Vocational Media courses
The programme will be useful for a wide range of optional modules including:
OCR Nationals: National First Award, National Award and National Certificate in Applied Art, Design and Media.
Eg Level 1:
Unit 15: Introducing New Media
Unit 17: Introducing television and video
Edexcel GCE Advanced Award: Level 3: Industries, texts and audiences; research and development for media production; professional practices in the media industries.
BTEC Higher Nationals Level 4: a wide range of optional modules
Sociology
The programme may be useful for study of the media offered as an option at GCSE level, and at AS level.
Scotland
National Qualifications: Media Studies: Standard Grade, Intermediate 1 & 2, Higher, Advanced Higher
The programme may also be useful as a stimulus for discursive writing National Qualifications: English: Standard Grade Intermediate 1 & 2, Higher and Advanced Higher
