Class: Industry and Audience

There are some important contexts we need to learn for the Industry and Audience key concepts for Class.

You can find the notes from the lessons below and then simply scroll down to find the blog tasks you need to complete.

Industries

Class failed to make an impact for the BBC, with some mixed reviews and poor viewing figures. Class failed to make the BBC iPlayer Top 20 in its first seven weeks, and failed to secure over 1m viewers at any point when repeated on BBC One. This was for a number of reasons:

• iPlayer release only initially.
• BBC One late showing (after 10.30 slots).  Poor scheduling.
• The show was axed after one series.  Why was this?
• No-one – not even the BBC – seemed entirely sure who the show was for. A teen-oriented drama with adult themes, spun off from a series intended (primarily) for children, the tone of Class was confused.
• Creator Patrick Ness was baffled by the decision to air the series in double-bills, late at night, more than two months after its BBC Three debut.
• It sorely lacked a big selling point. Clearly, spinning itself off from Doctor Who was not enough to guarantee success.

Class distribution

Media distribution is a term for the way the product reaches audiences. In the case of Class it was originally distributed (shown) online only on BBC Three. It was then shown weeks later in a late night slot “the graveyard slot” on BBC One.

It was also shown on BBC America where it was slightly more popular. In America, the episodes were paired with Doctor Who episodes to create a ‘Whoinverse’ double bill.

Overall, the confused distribution model was almost certainly part of its downfall.

Class marketing and promotion

As Class was aimed at an older audience, there was a clear shift in the way it was marketed from traditional Doctor Who episodes (on a Saturday early evening slot).

Online marketing: Strong web presence.  Highly interactive.  Lots of video clips, interviews, fan art and fiction.  Trying to build brand loyalty BUT criticised for not making more of its link to Doctor Who.

Teaser trailer:

 

Longer trailer:

 


BBC3 focus

What is BBC Three and how does it fit into the profile of the BBC remit?

BBC Three launched as a TV channel in 2003 and its remit was to provide "innovative" programming to a target audience of viewers between 16 and 34 years old:

“The remit of BBC Three is to bring younger audiences to high quality public service broadcasting through a mixed-genre schedule of innovative UK content featuring new UK talent. The channel should use the full range of digital platforms to deliver its content and to build an interactive relationship with its audience. The channel's target audience is 16–34-year-olds.”

Until February 2016, BBC Three aired as a freeview TV channel. However,  as a result of planned £100 million budget cut across the BBC, it was proposed that BBC Three be discontinued as a television service, and be converted to online only. The BBC recognised that younger people may watch TV at different times, on different devices using different services (iPlayer, YouTube, Netflix, etc) due to the rise of streaming and on-demand services.

BBC3’s content budget was slashed from £85m to £30m, with around £10m now spent on comedy, £10m on serious factual, £3m for drama and the rest on new types of content, such as short-form YouTube videos.

Why the change? There were changes to its audience’s viewing habits. Less than 50% of the video consumed by 16-24 year olds is now via ‘live’ TV (back in 2003 it was 100%), while over 90% of them now own a smartphone and have at least one social media account.

BBC: Industry notes reminder

The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is a public service organisation and the oldest national broadcaster and the biggest in terms of employees [over 20,000]. It is different from other TV broadcasters in that funding comes from us all as BBC licence fee payers whereas other channels rely on advertising and sponsorship.  The BBC has 3 key purposes: To Inform, Educate & Entertain. This means:

• To provide information (that is supposed to be balanced)
• To support learning for people of all ages
• To produce creative output
• To have diverse content (such as with its representations)
• To reflect the United Kingdom, its culture and values to the world

Where does Class fit into these objectives and the BBC mission statement?


BBC regulation reminder

The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) has a board of governing members and is independent of government intervention.  This means that it can produce content free impartially.

Since 2017, The BBC is now regulated by OfCOM (the Office of Communications).  OfCOM oversees all media channels and produces a code of conduct that all media channels must follow or have their licence to make content removed and/or be fined heavily.  

This includes suitable programmes before the 9pm watershed and various other quality standards.

Audience

Unlike Doctor Who and more in line with Torchwood before it (which also debuted on BBC3), Class is aimed specifically at a young adult audience and contains sexual content, violence and language above the level allowed in Doctor Who.

It was broadcast initially on BBC Three (online only) to poor audience figures and later broadcast on BBC One between 10.45pm and 11.15pm slots.

When the programme was on BBC One it was aired at 11.30pm had an audience of 0.28 million, a share of 5.1% of total TV audience. Around 250,000 have accessed the episode on iPlayer 

Target audience

• Some mainstream appeal as it is linked to the ‘Whoniverse’ (Doctor Who universe) but too niche perhaps for a mass audience?
• The show tried to appeal to young adult audience by including sexual scenes, more violence and more daring representations. Why was this not effective?
• 15 certificate: ‘strong bloody violence, gory images, injury detail’
• References to popular culture (pop culture) has meant an appeal to a wider age range. 
• Demographics: A-E class as some complex plot points but also action and SFX that are easy to understand
• More diverse representation regarding gender, race and sexuality.

Fans - the 'Whoniverse' reaction

Watch this fan reaction video on Co-owner of a Lonely Heart from the Doctor Who YouTube channel:

 

Class: Industry and Audience blog tasks

Create a new blogpost called 'Class: Industry and Audience blog tasks' and answer the following questions:

Industries

1) What was the objective of BBC3 when it was launched? You can find the answer in the notes above.

2) Why did BBC3 go online-only in February 2016? 

3) How does Class meet the BBC's mission statement to 'inform, educate and entertain'?

4) How did the distribution of Class contribute to the failure of the show with audiences?

5) What advertising and marketing was used to try and promote Class to an audience? Why do you think this wasn't very successful?

Audience

1) What were the viewing figures for Class and why do you think it did so badly? Look at the notes above to find out the answers.

2) What audience psychographic groups might particularly enjoy Class? You can revise Pyschographics here.

3) What audience pleasures are offered by Class - Co-owner of a Lonely Heart? Apply Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory to the episode. Make sure you provide specific examples from the episode to support your ideas.

Personal Identity:

Personal Relationships:

Diversion (Escapism):

Surveillance (Information / Facts):

4) Thinking of the 3 Vs audience pleasures (Visceral, Vicarious and Voyeuristic pleasures), which of these can be applied to Class - Co-owner of a Lonely Heart?

5) How did fans in the 'Whoniverse' (also known as 'Whovians') react to Class? Watch the fan reaction video (and read the YouTube comments) embedded above or check the comments in the extension articles below to help with this.


Comparison: An Unearthly Child and Co-owner of a Lonely Heart

1) How are the technical conventions different between 1963 Doctor Who and 2016 Class (e.g. camerawork, editing, sound and mise-en-scene)?

2) What similarities and differences are there between An Unearthly Child and Co-owner of a Lonely Heart in terms of the science-fiction genre?

3) What similarities and differences are there between An Unearthly Child and Co-owner of a Lonely Heart in terms of how they meet the BBC's remit to inform, educate and entertain?

4) How are representations of people, places and groups similar or different in the two shows?

5) What similarities and differences can you find in terms of the audience pleasures for An Unearthly Child and Co-owner of a Lonely Heart?


Grade 8/9 extension tasks and reading

Read this Digital Spy feature on why Class was cancelled after only one series. Do you agree with its criticisms regarding scheduling, audience and character development?

This Guardian review of Class is much more positive - but the comments 'below the line' (BTL) are largely critical. Do you agree with the original review or the comments - and why?

Read this Den of Geek fan review of Co-owner of a Lonely Heart. Do you agree with the praise and criticism in it and why?

Finally, read this Indiewire feature on Class. It contains plenty of references to other films and TV shows (intertextuality) - what popular culture references can you find in this article?

Due date on Google Classroom.