Media Diary Entry 3: Audience Classification – Coronation Street

The TV show ‘Coronation Street’ is a British soap that is set in a fictional town named Weatherfield in Manchester. The entire soap is based around the happening on the street (also famously known as ‘The Cobbles’) and the characters that live there. It is rare for the filming of the show to live the street as there is a lot of facilities there such as: the ‘Rovers Return’ pub, the ‘Underworld’ factory, the ‘Roy’s Rolls’ café and many other shops and services. As it is a TV soap, many new characters are introduced and some old characters leave the street, just like in real life. To make the street’s events seem more real, the storylines used are all based on real current issues that normal people have to face, raising awareness for these issues.

The income status model is a way of defining the audience by the level of income that they earn from their work. Personally, I do not think that there has to be a specific class that must watch this show due to the diversity of the characters. However, the characters in the show are generally working class people with ordinary lives and everyday struggles. Therefore, the audience for this show could be anyone of the income statuses C1 to E. These are lower middle class (C1), skilled working class (C2), working class (D) and people at the lowest level of income (E). I feel as though these particular classes will consume this type of media more than others because they may be able to relate to the characters and see a certain issue being portrayed that they may have had to deal with. Another reason why these people may consume this type of media more than others is because it is always aired on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday evening, when most people will have come home from work. They can relax and enjoy the show as it is reliable and rarely shown at different times.

For the audience profile of ‘Coronation Street’, classifying an audience would include many different personal defining characteristics that would make up an audience. The factors that must be taken into account are gender, age-group, family, class, nation, ethnicity, education, religion, politics and location. For ‘Coronation Street’, I feel that both genders will enjoy this show equally because there is an equal balance between the amounts of male and female characters in the show. But I do believe that a middle-aged person would enjoy this show more because they will know about the current issues in the world that are being portrayed on the show. Also these people will have come home from work to watch the TV and this is a regularly aired TV show that is reliable and never fails to air. I think that because the show portrays a lot of families of different sizes and this is a good way for people to relate even more to the show. People who are of a similar class level as the show’s characters will be able to relate this to their own lives, adding to the appeal of the show. This means that people who are either lower middle class, skilled working class, working class and people at the lowest level of income would enjoy this type of media. I think that the show appeals to people from all over England, but specifically the North West of England as this is where the show is set. However, as the main ethnicity of the characters in the show is British, there is not a lot of diversity and may primarily appeal only to the British people. As this is an adult orientated show, the main audience members are going to be adults in full or part-time work instead of show and education. Also they will most likely be people that have graduated from school, college or university to get to the level of income that they are currently at. There are not many religions portrayed in the show which again decreases the diversity of the show and makes it less appealing to anyone of a specific religion. Therefore, anyone of any religion could watch this show because there is nothing that is offensive to others and nothing that the audience can criticise. Again, there are rarely any specific political views that are shown in the show because everyone’s political views and choices are supposed to be confidential, so anyone from any political view can engage with this show. Finally, as previously stated, the show is set and completely based in Manchester in the North West of England. Therefore, the main viewers of the show tend to be people from around this area.

For the ‘Young and Rubicam’s 4Cs’ aspect of audience classifying, we choose one or two of the seven types of people in the world that can be related to the audience of this media text. I think that one of the seven types of people would be the ‘reformer’ because their core need in life is for enlightenment. They are aware of their own lives and statuses in society therefore a soap such as Coronation Street would greatly appeal to them as the characters in the show are also this way. Another group that consumers of Coronation Street would fit into is the ‘mainstream’. This is because the show is watched by millions of people and at times can be a great source of group conversation with peers. The ‘mainstream’ people will watch the show to be able to join in with the group discussion as their core need in life is for security.

For the ‘Lifestyle Categories’ aspect of audience classification, we choose some of the groups of people to associate with the type of media text that we are discussing. I believe that the lifestyle category of ‘groupies’ would be appropriate for Coronation Street because the people that consume this type of media are generally people that want to be part of a group discussion with their peers or family members. They want to feel accepted by their group and therefore will make themselves aware of what they are all talking about. Another lifestyle group that is appropriate for this type of media is the ‘traditionalists’ as they like everything to remain the same. The show is aired at the same times on the same days of the week and it is rare for that to change. Therefore these people can create a regular routine for watching the show and become a fan of it in this way.