Research and Analysis of a Genre of TV - Soap Operas

Research and Analysis of TV Soap Operas

Typical Examples

• EastEnders
• Coronation Street
• Emmerdale
• Hollyoaks
• The Archers
• Holby City
• HeartBeat
• Casualty
• Brookside
• Waterloo Road

Example 1 -

Example 2 -

Format

This Genre of TV tends to run on a continually broadcast basis, usually towards the night around peak times of 6pm - 9pm depending on its target audience. For example Eastenders, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks, Emmerdale is broadcasted in these peak times because of their target audience, however soap operas such as Heartbeat is broadcasted during the day due to its target audience generally being an older generation.

This Genre of TV also tends to run in a predictable format. As soap operas are usually a continuous broadcast they are always carrying on from where they left of the episode before, this is because of how the episodes end, each episode will usually end on a major cliffhanger to keep the audience engaged and want to watch the next episode to see how the story unfolds. Soap operas also tend to have multiple stories all playing out and intertwining with each other, this creates a sense of realism as the genre is supposed to represent the audiences lives, sometimes in certain situations.

Appeals

Target Audience

Depending on the soap opera this genre can have numerous target audiences, for example Hollyoaks is targeted towards a younger audience of teens and young adults while shows such as Heartbeat is targeted towards a much older audience. Soaps such as Eastenders and Coronation Street can be considered to be targeted to a much larger range of audiences and can be considered more mainstream.

Opening Sequence

Setting

The Typical setting of a soap opera is something familiar to the audience, for example a neighbourhood such as a small village or street/road. This is so the characters can interact with each other easily in a 'everyone knows everyone' setting. Soap operas will also typically have a social environment where the characters can interact with each other easily, such as a pub, restaurant or community centre. Sometimes even a church or mosque.

A example of this is the soap opera Emmerdale. In this soap opera it is set in a small village with a Inn/Pub where the characters can come interact with each other but also in other numerous places such as the local shop. 

Technical Codes

Characters & Representations

Narrative