CrimeDetective Programmes And TV 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

example.? This is probably due to the

fact that people like to watch their television in maximum comfort. ??????????? Despite

all this, the average figure for families watching together is around once a

week.? This shows that families still

have some common interests, proved by the questionnaire to be crime and

detective programmes.? There is a

certain fascination associated with crime which draws people to watch it, for

different reasons possibly, but nevertheless to watch it together. ??????????? If

in the small number of cases where families do watch the television together,

it is interesting to note which member of the family decides what to

watch.? Only 10% of the families said

that the children chose what to watch.?

This means, therefore, that the parents choose what to watch in the vast

majority of cases.? If we refer back to

the findings on who makes time to watch the crime and detective programmes, we

can see that the parents are the ones who make time to watch the programmes,

and they decide to watch it as a family.?

Also, the children don?t specifically want to watch it, but they enjoy

it; they are forced into liking it.??????????? With

regard to time spent watching television in general, the results are not at all

surprising.? Children, on average, watch

four times as much television as their parents.? This reinforces the earlier point that children have more free

time to watch them.? Also, as they watch

far more, the genre of programmes will be far wider; they do not allocate time

specifically to crime and detective programmes, instead ?channel-hopping?.? Adults watch less television, directing

their concentration at crime and detective programmes as the questionnaire

shows.??????????? There

is a difference between the attention paid to a plot and the overall role of

the television in the family.? It can

either be primary, i.e. 100% concentration, secondary, doing something else as

well, or tertiary, where it is just on in the background.? For children, the television is mainly

primary; they have more time to watch it and concentrate harder on it.? They also do not have to run a family.? The adults do however, and this is evident

as the television is mainly a secondary activity, as they have to cook, iron or

they talk.? This was also proved earlier

when children concentrated far more than adults on the plot of crime and

detective programmes.??????????? To

conclude, I have found that children like watching them more than adults, and

prefer the shorter programmes with plenty of action.? They watch them for distraction.?

Adults, on the other hand, still enjoy watching them, but tend to go for

the longer, ?more realistic? programmes.?

Children pay lots of attention to the plot but do not make sure of

seeing them as much as adults do, who although they want to watch them, end up

getting distracted. ??????????? With

viewing patterns, families do not often watch programmes together, and when

they do, children do not have much of a say in what they watch.? Children spend far more time in front of the

television than adults do, due to their free time.? They are also not as particular about what they watch.? Lastly, children concentrate on the

television in general far more than adults do, as they have less work to do. ??????????? Some

of these results are surprising, but all of them show us some very interesting

things as well.