Channel 4 wants fifth look at Peep Show

Ben Dowell
Wednesday March 21, 2007
MediaGuardian.co.uk

Peep Show: Channel 4 wanted to ensure it could secure Mitchell and Webb for a fifth series

Channel 4 has commissioned a fifth series of the cult comedy series Peep Show before the fourth series has even finished filming.

Such was the confidence of the channel in the comedy starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb that it asked the production company Objective Productions to give them another six-part outing.

However, Channel 4 is hoping that the show performs better in the ratings; the most recent series hovered around the 1.3 million mark at 10pm on Friday nights.

"It is such a good show and we didn't want to get into a situation where we couldn't get Robert and David when we wanted them," said a senior Channel 4 executive of the show, referring to the duo's other commitments, including their BBC2 sketch show That Mitchell and Webb Look, which usually attracts in excess of 2 million viewers.

Peep Show is unusual for its filming technique, with the camera viewing the world from the perspectives of the various characters.

"People who love it love it and rightly so, but for the next two series we will be hoping for it to do in ratings terms what it has always done in terms of its sheer quality."

Andrew Newman, the Channel 4 head of comedy and entertainment said of the Peep Show recommission: "In terms of writing, performance and all over style, Peep Show has always been a work of sheer quality - of course we'd love it if the ratings caught up with the show's and it's star's formidable reputation but part of Channel 4's public service remit is to commission and produce excellent programmes and Peep Show fulfils that 100%".

Last December, Peep Show beat Extras to the best comedy prize at the British Comedy Awards.

At the previous year's awards, Ricky Gervais lambasted the TV industry for failing to vote for Peep Show.

"It's the best show on television today," he exclaimed, adding that it was a "debacle" that the show did not win a gong.

His comments were used in the poster campaign for series three, which still failed to attract big ratings.

Channel 4 has also asked Objective to make four more episodes of Star Stories and is expected to continue with the format of mock biopics of assorted celebrities on an "ad hoc basis".

Stars who could be the butt of the next round of satirical shows include the rock stars Robbie Williams and Paul McCartney, but the channel has refused to confirm any of the names.

The first series poked fun at figures including George Michael, David Beckham and Madonna.

Virgin Media to back Big Brother

Virgin Media has been confirmed as the sponsor of Big Brother 8 with the company's mobile arm to be the main service promoted.

Virgin Media has signed on for the main summer series - as revealed by MediaGuardian.co.uk - but not next year's Celebrity Big Brother version.

Channel 4 has not yet announced if there will be a Celebrity Big Brother in 2008. However, it is understood that Virgin Media will be given first refusal on extending the sponsorship if the trouble-laden show runs without a hitch this summer.

"Of course we had worries [about this year's Celebrity Big Brother], we would have been foolhardy if we didn't," said James Kydd, the managing director of marketing at Virgin Media.

"We spent a lot of time talking to Channel 4 about how they were sorting out their internal processes to make sure there wouldn't be any sort of escalation again. But Big Brother is always controversial, it is the nature of the beast. We just wanted to be reassured that there wouldn't be a situation that got out of control again."

Carphone Warehouse pulled out of its £2.5m a year sponsorship of Big Brother following the Shilpa Shetty racism row in January.

The Big Brother sponsorship package includes branding and advertising opportunities across TV, video-on-demand, online, radio and mobile.

"The sponsorship will be split between our mobile and media services," added Mr Kydd. "What Big Brother does is give a fantastic opportunity to bring to life quadplay in action and the core 16-34 demographic BB reaches is a bullseye for mobile. Virgin Mobile will be the lead sponsor but we will absolutely push Virgin Media messaging."

News Views

Gatekeeping are responsible for decideing and choosing what goes in the newspapers.
They also select the layout and the plan of the pages.
They decide what order the story comes in.

The Times
Frequency
Meaningfulness
Unexpected
Personality
Negative

Mens Magazines

Men's market plummets 14.4%Stephen Brook, press correspondentThursday February 15, 2007MediaGuardian.co.uk

Loaded: recorded a 29.9% circulation drop, year on year.
The men's magazine market has crashed, with even the once-buoyant weekly lads' magazine's suffering, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations figures for July to December.
The sector sold 14.4% fewer magazines year on year, selling a combined average of 1,978,166 copies each issue. To the six months to the end of December 2005 it was selling 2,310,423.
Emap's upmarket men's magazine Arena had the equal worst fall - 29.9% year on year - selling 34,556 copies. Its editor Will Drew lost his job yesterday and was given a special projects assignment by the company.
The market-leading FHM, also owned by Emap, was down a hefty 25.9% year on year to sell an average 371,263 copies each month. The poor circulation coincided with the removal of editor Ross Brown earlier this month, after he had spent 10 years at the magazine.
Anthony Noguera, currently the editor-in-chief of Arena and Zoo, is now also editor-in-chief of FHM.
Emap's Zoo, the weekly lads' magazine, was the fourth biggest selling men's magazine, down 21.5% year on year to 204,564.
"Emap continues to dominate the men's lifestyle magazine market with the biggest and best portfolio on offer. FHM, Zoo and Arena are all successful multiplatform international brands, and primed for further growth given their unique understanding of their respective consumers and advertisers," said Rob Munro-Hall, managing director of FHM, Zoo and Arena.
The news was also very bad for Dennis Publishing's men's magazine Maxim. It sold 131,497 copies, down 29.3% year on year and down 10% on the first six months of 2006.
Zoo's great rival, Nuts, the men's weekly from IPC, managed to minimise its losses, down 3.8% year on year to sell 295,002 copies each week. It now outsells Zoo by more than 90,000 copies each week.
But the news was terrible for Nuts's IPC stablemate Loaded, which led the way for the sector when it launched in the early 1990s. It was down 29.9% year on year to 162,554 copies, a fall of 12.3% on the first half of 2006.
The country's biggest selling fitness magazine, Men's Health, published as a joint venture between National Magazines and US publisher Rodale, was one of the strongest performers. Circulation rose 2.2% on the year, up to 238,568. It was the magazine's 10th consecutive ABC rise.
The biggest rise in the sector was Haymarket's gadget magazine, Stuff. It sold an average of 100,265 copies over the period, a rise of 10.5% on the year and 8.2% on the first six months of 2006.
Stuff editor-in-chief Tom Dunmore said: "Breaking through the 100,000 circulation mark for the first time is a huge landmark for Stuff, particularly at a time when the men's magazine market is in decline. Our formula is simple: gadgets, classy girls and a wry smile - and our success is further proof that 21st-century men want inspirational magazines with a specialist twist, rather than monolithic lads' mags."
The circulation of Conde Nast's GQ magazine was steady - it rose by 1% year on year, to 127,505.
Today also marked the debut ABCe for Dennis Publishing's Monkey, the first weekly digital men's magazine.
The average number of Monkey's weekly editions opened in January was 209,612, a result that pleased its publisher but is not comparable to printed magazines. Monkey is emailed to subscribers for free each Wednesday, mixing sports, video virals, girls, motors and technology. It includes video adverts and footage embedded in its pages.
"This is a very exciting time for Monkey magazine. The title's phenomenal ABCe success demonstrates just how compelling and innovative Monkey has been in attracting new readers," said Kerin O'Connor, Monkey's executive director.

overall i think that how mens magazines have gone more down in the market as most of the things that are being posted into magazines are becoming more reptititive. or people may be moving more into the internet and reading up storiees on the net rather than going out buying magazines.

self assement

the media course is going alright for me at the moment as i can keep up with the work being set however the independant study is very difficult.


Attainment 2
Effort 2
Punctuality 2
Submission and quality of homework 3
Ability to work independently 3
Quality of writing 2
Organisation of Media folder 2
Oral contributions in class 3

MAX POWER

M- the magazine is of max power. this magazine consists of cars and semi naked women. the title is not right at the top of the cover as there are various other images. underneath is a slogan for the cover ' the worlds hottest car and girls' this already shows who it is targeted at as mainly men are intrested in this. the MAX is being emphsised as it shows that it is going all out. the central image is of a seductive women leaning against an expensive car. there are various other writing on the left hand side to show what the magazine consists of.

I-

G- the magazine focuses on cars and women

R- the people that are being represented are men that enjoy lookin at cars and women.

A- the audience of this magazine are men that enjoy kitting there cars up.

I/V- ...

ASIANA

M- the magazine is of a Asiana. the title of the magazine is being coverd by the central character this shows that the magazine is well known and is able to be coverd as people will still purchase it. the main image is of a asian lady. she is posing and lookin down at us giving a more dominant role. there are different headings around the image to show the stories involed in the magazine which would make other people purchase the magazine. the outfit that she is wearing is not of a typical indian outfit as it looks more western. the magazine comes out each season as it is an autumn issue the colour is brown giving a autumn vibe the colours go with the season.

I-

G- this is a magazine which would have alot of gossip and pages for the reader.

R- the people that are being represented are asian women as this magazine is aimed at them. this shows that asian people are being more involved in the media rather than white and black people. and as the magazine gives a more western look is to show that the magazine is for the modern asian.

A- Asian women

I/V- the values and idiologies this gives is that asians are cumming away from there traditional values and becoming more western and wearing western clothes even if they are wearin asian outfits they are becoming more western.

THE SUN

M- the sun is a red top news paper, the reason that it is called a red top newspaper as the backgrond is red this allows consumers to be attracted to the newspaper as it is eye catching also this creats and identity of the paper as most red tops are tabloid. the main focus on the newspaper is of harry being a nazi with very litle text on the paper. there is also and advertisment of the for holidays starting from £9.50 this is also a good way to attract consumers as the colour of the advertisment gives a good look to the paper.

I- Rupert Murdoch who is the owner of the newspaper.

G- this is a newspaper which focuses on news and gossip. as it is owned by rupert murdoch it would have bias views.

R- the people that are being represented in this newspaper are white people as the central image is of Harry who is high class and people aspire to be like him, by showin him wearin a Nazi sign shows bad views. also the people that are being represented are middle class people as the advertisment in the newspaper appeals to them.

A- people that are intrrsted in gossip new thats going on however that have bias views.

I/V- the central image is of prince harry which is being focused on this and shws a patriarchal society.

UsEs aNd GrAtIFIcAtIOnS

This theory is were by audineces were made up of individuals who actively consumed tects for different reasons and in different ways.

Blumer and Kats expanded this theory in 1974.

DIVERSION...Escape from everyday problems and routines...
i think that this theory doesnt actuly apply to me because i hardly every watch TV such as soaps, whenever i do watch TV is usually things like Top Gear, Malcom in the middle and reali these sort of programmes i just watch it for entertainment.

PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS... Using the media for emotional and other interaction...
this doesnt apply to me either becuase i dont watch programmes and relate to what is going on. majority of things that are happning on TV are things that wouldnt apply to me. however mayb in a way as i see what does happen on TV and i know friends that may be going through the same things but thats about it.

PERSONAL IDENTITY...Constucting thier own identity from characters in media texts, and learning behaviour and values...
sometimes i can apply to this theory as when i see particular characters i can put myself in their shoes and see where they are comming from. for example i usualy identify with characters in Green street as when i watched this movie i felt like going out and starting a fight LOL

SURVEILLANCE...Information gathering, eg educational programmes weather reports, financial news, holiday bargins...
this is one of the theories that i do use alot, i usualy watch the news to see what is going on in the world as i like to be informed about it. thats realy what i watch to gather information.

Deins McQuail suggests a more detailed breakdown of audience motivation

Information
to gather information i usualy watch the news to gather information about relevant events and conditions. i dunt actuly watch programmes to seek advice but when i do watch programmes i usualy get more information about other tops like when i watch documentaries.

Learning
when i watch documentaires i usualy gather more information about things. and also when i watch the news to be informed and learn about new things.

Personal Identity
when i watch TV i dont reinforce personal values as when i watch TV i just see what is going on i dont go in depth and think about what values they give, however when i do watch films that have alot of friends loyalties and family loyaties i do consider it but however i already hav these values. i dont have any models of behaviour as the programmes i watch dont have good model behaviours. i dunt identifiy with celebrities as i aint realy botherd about them.

Intergration and social interaction
finding a basis for social interation and converation is something that i would do depending on what i would watch the night before. such is prison break. i dunt think it relates to me in the term of social roles as i alredy have relationships to fufil this. i do get an insight into circumstances of others if the text is issue baised.

Entertainment
no dont find it a form of escapsim because i dont turn to media text to get me away from my problems, i turn to ma gal like ;)... i watch tv to get relaxed and to chill as if i had a busy day i would come home and jus sit infront of the TV. it dont fill my tym cause i actuli dont have the time to watch TV as im usualy out.

Effects Theory

The Frankfurt School...

The Frankfurt school was concerned with the impact of the rise of the media industires on society, they argued that the rise of the culture industry had increased stnadardistion within society. It done this through controling mass media. so realy The Frankfurt school creates their own values and ideologies through mass media.

The Hypodermic needle model...

The Hypodermic needle model demonstrates the effects of the media on their audiences. This model owes much to the supposed power of the mass media in particular film to inject the passive audiences with ideologies. Films such as Triumph of the will were most commonly seen in nazi propaganda films. So this is if anything is shown on television everyone should beleive it and not question it as it is shown on TV.

Violence in the media..

Violence in the media, in society the effects theory shows that dangers shown in the media such as violent scences, sex scenes and drug scenes influence people that watch it. People that watch it who are not media literate would usualy be influenced with what they see particulary children, so they want violence in the media to be cencored.

Cultivation theory...

Cultivation theory shows that is a single text does not have much effect, repeated exposure will make the audience less sensitive. This is now been called as being 'desensitised'.

Two step Flow...

Two step flow is the final development of the effects theory, this flow assumes a more active audinces, who will discuss media texts with each other.

Lynx - Commercial

this advert is SIK hahaha... ye dis advert shows women to be only there to be looked at this is typical as only men are the spectators in the advert and women are the womens doing things to please them.

Lynx Commercial

this advert is targeted at men however it has women in the advert. women are being represented negativly as they are running around takin their clo0thes of they are also rubing mud on themselves. the women shown in the advert are typical as they are good looking and have features that are fetishized.

Aishwarya Rai - Loreal Commercial

this advert is aimed at women. the main character of the advert is a while known actor Aishwarya Rai she is known for her looks lol. the advert she stars in is a hair commercial for loreal. loreal is known to have beautiful women using their products. the dialoge that is used contrast to what is shown on screen as when the word beautiful is said their is a close up of Aishwarya Rai