To what extent do television producers attempt to target national and global audiences box
through subject matter and distribution?
Refer to both of your television Close Study Products to support your answer:
Capital and Deutschland 83
OR
Witnesses and The Missing
OR
No Offence and The Killing

no offence and the killing

No Offence (UK):
• the importance of targeting an audience beyond the national evident
in Channel 4’s investment in online company TRX (The Rights
Exchange) which aims to facilitate the sale of programmes abroad
• No Offence is produced by AbbotVision, the independent producer of
Shameless – which was successfully remade in the US – suggesting
that the appeal to an international audience is a deliberate strategy
• No Offence represents British national culture to a British audience –
but this identity is also used as a selling point internationally through
the appeal of difference
• the series has a social realist aesthetic which is a recognizable
national style but is also popular in Europe (evidenced in the
popularity of social realist films in Europe)
• No Offence was broadcast on France2 the public service broadcaster,
to very high viewing figures; the perceived weakness of French
broadcast TV provides opportunities for export.
• the series’ focus on the detective narrative and crime drama is familiar
and understood globally, the representation of the independent,
female detective has proven popularity.
The Killing (Forbydelsen, Denmark/Germany):
• co-production of Danish and German PSB companies (DK and ZDF)
creates a more powerful transnational base, able to negotiate
international deals
• The Killing was designed to exploit the economic possibilities offered
by an international/ global market (e.g. success of Wallander). The
appeal of the series was extended through the production of American
and Turkish versions
• themes and setting are constructed to appeal to an international
audience by integrating conventions of a successful US long form
drama and the crime drama but providing difference through the
Nordic Noir brand
• the values of Scandinavian society, which focus on equality, are
appealing to a national audience but also cosmopolitan, transnational
audience
• although unknown to the international audience, the series uses the
promotion of the star (Sophie Grabol) to market the series
• the character of Sarah Lund is a familiar detective stereotype and
conforms to the concept of the celebrity detective
• marketing of the series to the audience beyond the national was
evident but had limited official social network presence (a Facebook
page but no twitter account), but many fan blogs and forums engaged
with the series. The Killing was promoted by the Danish tourist board
and a great many unofficial tie-ins with fashion and lifestyle products

semiotics

Narrative

Stock characters: Propp

Key themes that set up a binary narrative: Levi-Strauss

Key narrative moments (i.e. structure) – Todorov, Freytag, Chatman

16-34 year olds