Audience Needs & Lifestyles.

Audience and Lifestyles on Prezi

Since the internet has become more widely accessible around the world a lot has changed in the world of broadcasting. An example of this can be the following – a few years ago if you missed a show that was on aired on television you would not be able to watch it again as it was not saved anywhere and was not accessible by the public. Now (Catch-up TV) has been introduced which allows viewers to catch up on episodes they may have missed online or with digital TV boxes. Many broadcasters have made this option available such as ITV, BBC and Channel4. These sites listed work by streaming (showing parts of a clip before the whole clip has fully loaded) the video (episode) onto your computer. This often means that you cannot download the episodes.


On the 25th December 2007, BBC Iplayer became accessible to the public. This whole new concept took a while for people to catch up with the new streaming option but soon took off later becoming an audience desire. A problem BBC did face was that some shows could not be watched on the internet due to copyright laws but by 2010 these problems had been resolved. The BBC Iplayers used slogans such as ‘Catch up on the last 7 days of BBC TV & Radio’ which later changed to ‘Making the unmissable, unmissable’.

Toward the end of 2008 BBC introduced software for computers which allowed viewers to downloaded episodes in just a matter of clicks. It became such a big hit BBC eventually created mobile phones for the likes of Apple & HTC.

Wanting in on the new craze Virgin Media teamed up with Iplayer to make an ‘on demand’ television guide. This was released on the 1st June 2008 and by the 21st July they had attracted 10.5million new customers.


Many other broadcasters had seen what BBC had created and swiftly followed suit such as ITV. The ITV player started out as just a website that streamed their shows episodes just like the BBC however in 2009 they later reconstructed their website making it much more visually appealing for their audience. Just like BBC iplayer programmes were available for 30 days after they had aired live on television. ITV decided to branch out and make their Catchup TV available on mobile phones, gaming devices and computers. Most of the Catchup website now include subtitles which help them hit another audience.

The catchup services has also had a massive impact on advertising, before the internet became widley used only posters, billboards, and adverts were used to advertise products. As technology has advanced video advertising has become more popular especially whereas many more people are using catchup services.

I have inserted a video from youtube of a typical advertisement you may see on the television or on catchup services.

The reason I have used this advert was because I particularly liked it shows just how fast technology is moving. It is also a typical advert you would see when watching television or using cathcup services. I think an advert like this would be attracted threw internet as word soon spreads now thanks to internet.

Moving on from advertising in the media there are many more advantages of having catchup services. Such as the famous BBC Soap ‘Eastenders’ have created a background show called ‘E20’ which shows the younger characters with their own storylines and takes a bigger interest in their lives. This programme hits a bigger audience and attracts viewers. I have linked the advert for this new take on the classic Soap.

In my opinion the use of more teenage characters is effective as it pulls in a wider audience and it makes the soaps more family orientated. Many soaps which are shown have a niche audience. This means that they target their programme at a particular age/sex/type of audience.