Media Diary Week 2: Lizard Lick Towing

Name of the Text: Lizard Lick Towing
Date/Time: 24th September 2014/5pm - 6pm
Where I found it: Discovered the show whilst scrolling through the TV guide.
Genre: Reality
Institution: Zodiak/truTV (Distributed by Dave/UKTV in the UK)

Purpose

The purpose of Lizard Lick Towing is to provide an insight into the lives of a few Southern Americans and their jobs working for and owning a vehicle repossession agency. It also provides an insight into how repossessions are done, and the typical reactions from those who are having their vehicles repossessed. The purpose is also to entertain the audience.

Target Audience

Lizard Lick Towing is targeted towards a typically male audience. This is because it is shown on Dave which is a TV channel targeted at men. Lizard Lick does sometimes contain violence, fighting and on this particular episode blood which would discourage females from watching it. The type of audience that would most likely watch this would be The Explorer. This is because the genre is reality, but it is an unconventional format, with the events being real and not staged. It is also unconventional in the way that it is targeted to men rather than a typically female audience. This unconventional format would appeal to The Explorer.

My Reaction to the Text

Originally, I thought it would be quite an uninteresting and typically staged reality shows that is the norm of the genre. However I was pleasantly surprised with the show. The show is appealing to me as it provides a first-person representation of car repossessions which appear to be high action and dangerous in contrast to the civilised methods of repossessions in the UK. This provides some very entertaining portions of the program, as the audience is often left in suspense about if they will get the car they want or if the leaseholder will start fighting with the Lizard Lick team. The show is also quite amusing due to the stereotypical Southern American accents.

Why people would consume the text

I think that people who were looking for entertainment at tea time would consume this text. It doesn't require much concentration on the program to experience and enjoy the humour and suspense during the repossession scenes. People who were interested in South American culture would also enjoy the program as they could find out about the dialect of the people, the way they interact with others and the way they conduct business.

Could some people react differently towards the text?

Definitely, the program is a bit like Marmite, you either love it or hate it. Some people may not want to watch the program as it is categorised as a reality which does carry a certain stigma depending on the audience. As it is real life, I might not provide the escapism that some people demand from their television watching. Others may be deterred with some of the violent scenes in the program, or the brutal way that people's property is often just removed from under their feet. Others may also find it distasteful the way that the owners of the business treat or speak to people who are getting their property repossessed.