CrimeDetective Programmes And TV Viewing Patterns Essay

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