The analysis of Soap magazine

I videoed the front cover of a magazine and spoke over the top of the video. I looked at what stood out on the cover and who it stood out too. Also I looked at the importance of images on a cover.
This is the clip of me analysing the magazine.

How we named our Soap

I made a post on how we came to the name Helen How, the post is on the group blog it includes research that I did about current names of soaps.

To see this post click here.

The reasons for the first two episodes

After writing the first to episodes I had to justify why I chose to do them the way I did. The first episode was simple just because I thought it would be the best way to introduce a soap however the second episode is more complex and I have justified it. To see the justifications click here.

Outline of first two episodes

After discussing with the group what storylines and characters we are going to use in the soap I put together two episodes. I kept them both quite simple so that it will be easy to use the episodes to then create a trailer. I checked with the group that they were happy with episodes I created and they were. To see the first episodes in brief click here.

Target audience profile

We had to produce a target audience profile to outline the kind of audience we are aiming our soap at. The soap needs to have a specific audience as certain storylines interest certain people and therefore we need to aim the storylines at an appropriate audience then base our soap around that type of audiences interests and views. We had decided as a group that we would aim our soap at the same kind of audience that Hollyoaks captures because we like the way Hollyoaks is edited and the storylines in it. I put a few ideas forward for the target audience however Lucy and Sophie did the majority of the target audience profile. To see the target audience profile click here.

The soap opera brief

After deciding on our characters and settings we constructed our soap opera brief, for this task we sat down as a group again and decided together what to put in the brief. We all had equal input. We had to produce a brief so that people can read the short piece of text and from the text understand the general aim of the soap. For example we mentioned the pregnant teen storyline therefore the person reading the brief can work out if they would be interested in that kind of storyline then decide whether to watch the soap or not.
To see the soap opera brief click here.

Initial ideas for our soap

One lesson we sat in a group and discussed possible storylines, characters, settings, inspirations and other key elements of our soap. We wrote all the ideas down in a mind map. We all had equal input. Some of my ideas were the types of characters for example the 'flirty female' and the 'terror children'. To see the initial ideas mind map click here.

Comparing our targert audeine questionnaire results

Questionnaire Results

Questionnaire Results

To make sure we had captured the same audience from our research we looked at our results to compare what we had found.

From looking at both sets of graphs we can see that one set of results reveals that females watch soaps more than males however, the other results show they both watch them equally. This is still reliable as the results that do show females watch soaps more is not completely unbalanced showing that males and females both watch soaps, therefore we will have to appeal to both.

On one set of results it is clear that females and males in the 30-50 age bracket are most likely to watch soaps and this is supported by the other results as the most common age bracket where soaps are watched is the 41-50 therefore showing that soaps appeal to this age group. We can therefore decide if we want to target a younger audience or continue with the current audience we found.

Other questions on our questionnaires are different where one questionnaire asks the audience about what storylines they like and the other is about why they watch soaps. Both sets of results are reliable and will help us create our target audience questionnaire but we cannot draw comparisons between them. However, we have found some supportive evidence on the results that defines the age demographic and whether males or females watch soaps.

I have also published this post on the group website.

Analysis of questionnaire results

I did a questionnaire to find out what audience soap operas attracted and who the trailers appeal to. From my questionnaire I have discovered that more females like soap operas than males however both males and females like soaps where there is story lines with explosions and murders therefore soaps that include these storyline are more likely to capture a larger audience. This could show that males are only willing to watch storylines with a more complex storyline than females making them less passive. However not that many people liked soaps to have mysterious and complex story lines so this could show that soaps have a hypodermic needle effect which is Adorno and and Horkheimer's theory that the audience is passive and the soap would just inject the viewer. Also I found that teenage females are more likely to watch soap operas than teenage males however soap operas attract middle aged females and males equally this could be the case as they watch them together as part of a family. Also the time that soaps are shown supports this as they are in the evening around 7pm onwards which is when couples from the demographic groups C1,C2, D and E would be at home and would relax and watch the television.


I have used some of my results that I found the most important and made them into pie charts on Excel. This makes the division between females and males who like soaps clearer and also the age groups that I found enjoyed soaps the most and therefore my justifications above have evidence.


Questionnaire Results

Soap Opera trailer showings and target audience.

Soap operas are genuinely on the TV in the evening for the obvious reason that that is when people watch soap operas and therefore would be intrigued by the trailer.
Recently there has been the trailer of Peggy slapping people to advertise her leave on Eastenders. This has been seen before Eastenders and before Waterloo Road on BBC 1. This means they are seen around the time of 7.30-8.00pm. This is a time most people would be at home therefore widening the demographic groups being aimed at for example, demographic groups B, C1, C2, D and E are likely to be home and not working at home as they would be relaxing if they have been at work or would watch anyway from being at home. The only demographic group that it would not interest in A, this is because these people would be most likely to still be working or working at home.
From the questionnaire I did I found that it was more common that females watch/like soap operas therefore the evening is more suitable for females as they will be watching other soap operas around that time also females are attracted to Waterloo road especially young females as the programme is based on a high school which attracts a young audience.


19:30–19:57
Saints and Scroungers Mow and Grow
7/15. How undercover surveillance put an end to one woman's 12-year-long identity fraud scam. (R)

demographic groups likely to watch this are-C1-E because it is on reasonably early for those who have jobs such as managers and executives that would finish work later than the 9am-5pm shift.
19:57–20:00
BBC News and Regional News 06/09/2010
The latest national and international news stories from the BBC, followed by Weather.
demographic groupings likely to watch this are- A-E because everyone no matter where they stand in society is likely to have an interest in the news and weather. However, people in group A and B may have already looked this information up on other technological devices.

20:00–20:30

EastEnders 06/09/2010
As Peggy resumes ownership of the Vic, Phil continues to sink into oblivion.
20:30–21:00

demographic groups B, C1, C2, D and E are likely to be home and not working at home as they would be relaxing if they have been at work or would watch anyway from being at home.
Panorama A Risk Worth Taking?
Shelley Jofre investigates the rise and fall of the drug Avandia.
21:00–22:00
Panorama fits in the genre of a documentary and therefore people in demographic groups D and E may not have an interest in something informative and be more interested in reality programmes.

My statistics on audience viewing figures gives evidence to soaps having a wider audience and more inviting to more demographic groups is clear because Eastenders has the highest viewing figures per week on BBC 1.

Soap trailers are seen mainly in the times between these programmes.