Crime/Detective Programmes And T.V. Viewing Patterns Essay, Research Paper
??????????? With
crime and detective programmes, there are distinctive patterns which
occur.? In our survey, all of the
younger people did watch these programmes.?
This shows us that they appeal to the younger generation.? This could be for a number of reasons, but
mainly because of the content; they are often exciting and deal with modern day
issues, such as drugs.? These appeal
because they have action and issues close to the heart of many young
people.? This can be further shown when
we look at the responses to whether the programmes are realistic or not: 84%
thought that they were, meaning that they have the added appeal of seeing what
life dealing with crime is really about.?
Younger people all watched them as a diversion from everyday life. ??????????? These
results can be almost replicated where adults are concerned; only 11% of adults
did not watch these kinds of programmes.?
However, the questionnaire shows that adults tend to watch the
programmes for very different reasons to the younger people.? As expected, some do watch them for the
diversion from everyday life.? However,
they also watch them for personal relationships or discussion, i.e. talking to
people.? The reason given is that they
like to find out who has committed the crime.?
This can be explained because adults tend to use their brain more than
children, and so they figure things out where as children only ?veg out?.? 11% of the adults also watched them to seek
information, a similar reason to the previous one.??????????? The
types of crime and detective programmes that adults and children watch also
tell us a lot about them.? Children tend
to watch ones like ?The Bill?, ?X-Files? and ?Police, Camera, Action?? These are all quite short, not longer that
an hour, and have lots of action in them.?
This means that children have a low boredom threshold and like lots of
action.? These programmes are also the
ones found to be less realistic by adults, which shows us that children
certainly watch for diversion and not so much for surveillance. ??????????? The
adults, on the other hand, as well as watching these, also are inclined to
watch programmes such as ?McCallum?, ?Morse? and ?Hetty Wainthropp?.? These are the ones deemed more realistic.? This means that the adults watch the
programmes which are more like real life, for surveillance.? They are also the longer, one hour
programmes, showing that adults can watch for longer without having constant
action.??????????? The
attention that is paid to a plot of such programmes is very important because
it tells us how interesting people find them.?
Taking time to watch them is also an important factor.? With children, 84% follow the plot very
closely, which shows us that they have more spare time, on the whole, compared
to adults, as the majority only follow the plot reasonably well.? However, it is interesting to note that a
very low percentage of both children and adults do not follow the plot closely
most of the time.? This clearly means
that crime and detective programmes are gripping, and people obviously want to
pay attention to them.? Indeed, time is
usually allocated to watch them.? There
is a different pattern emerging here, though.?
Adults are the group who make time to watch them, 66% in fact.? This means that they are the ones who want
to watch them, but they end up getting distracted, possibly by children, and
don?t pay as much attention as children to the plot.? Children also want to watch them, but only 56% make time to watch
them.? This means that because they
follow the plot carefully, they are less fussy about what they watch, and pay
careful attention to any programme. ??????????? This
can be shown further in the data regarding the time spent watching them per
week.? Children do not, as seen earlier
make time specifically to watch the crime and detective programmes.? They, on average, watch them three times a
week.? This is less than adults who
watch them four times a week.? This is
in line with the details that show adults make time to watch crime and
detective programmes. ??????????? ??????????? One
of the most striking things that can be drawn from this questionnaire is that
families do not often watch programmes all together.? This is due mainly to the fact that there is usually more than
one television in the household.? This
can be used to say that families of old and young people have different tastes
in general programmes, and are even divide in the sort of crime and detective
programmes that they watch.? However, we
have shown that 75% of families fight over what to watch despite these
luxuries.? This is due mainly to the
fact that people prefer to watch in the living room than the kitchen, for
example.? This is probably due to the
fact that people like to watch their television in maximum comfort. ??????????? Despite
all this, the average figure for families watching together is around once a
week.? This shows that families still
have some common interests, proved by the questionnaire to be crime and
detective programmes.? There is a
certain fascination associated with crime which draws people to watch it, for
different reasons possibly, but nevertheless to watch it together. ??????????? If
in the small number of cases where families do watch the television together,
it is interesting to note which member of the family decides what to
watch.? Only 10% of the families said
that the children chose what to watch.?
This means, therefore, that the parents choose what to watch in the vast
majority of cases.? If we refer back to
the findings on who makes time to watch the crime and detective programmes, we
can see that the parents are the ones who make time to watch the programmes,
and they decide to watch it as a family.?
Also, the children don?t specifically want to watch it, but they enjoy
it; they are forced into liking it.??????????? With
regard to time spent watching television in general, the results are not at all
surprising.? Children, on average, watch
four times as much television as their parents.? This reinforces the earlier point that children have more free
time to watch them.? Also, as they watch
far more, the genre of programmes will be far wider; they do not allocate time
specifically to crime and detective programmes, instead ?channel-hopping?.? Adults watch less television, directing
their concentration at crime and detective programmes as the questionnaire
shows.??????????? There
is a difference between the attention paid to a plot and the overall role of
the television in the family.? It can
either be primary, i.e. 100% concentration, secondary, doing something else as
well, or tertiary, where it is just on in the background.? For children, the television is mainly
primary; they have more time to watch it and concentrate harder on it.? They also do not have to run a family.? The adults do however, and this is evident
as the television is mainly a secondary activity, as they have to cook, iron or
they talk.? This was also proved earlier
when children concentrated far more than adults on the plot of crime and
detective programmes.??????????? To
conclude, I have found that children like watching them more than adults, and
prefer the shorter programmes with plenty of action.? They watch them for distraction.?
Adults, on the other hand, still enjoy watching them, but tend to go for
the longer, ?more realistic? programmes.?
Children pay lots of attention to the plot but do not make sure of
seeing them as much as adults do, who although they want to watch them, end up
getting distracted. ??????????? With
viewing patterns, families do not often watch programmes together, and when
they do, children do not have much of a say in what they watch.? Children spend far more time in front of the
television than adults do, due to their free time.? They are also not as particular about what they watch.? Lastly, children concentrate on the
television in general far more than adults do, as they have less work to do. ??????????? Some
of these results are surprising, but all of them show us some very interesting
things as well.