D1: Discuss the client considerations for the creation of the product

from the pitch.

Introduction:

My report is on discussing and evaluating the different positives, negatives and other considerations
that I will need to think about when making a product. This includes evaluation of the analytics and
client considerations when planning and making my product to then lead my product to being as
successful as it can be.

Client considerations:
The company:

E4 is a free to air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television
Corporation. The E in E4 stands for entertainment and the channel is primarily aimed at the 16/18–
34 age group. The type of tv shows that E4 air is Drama, Factual, Comedy, Entertainment, News,
Current Affairs, Older Children, Education, Sport. This is why I feel my show will fit in with the E4
shows because it Is a drama crime show suited for an older audience. E4 shows also understand the
complexity of a digital journey, e4 partners with its clients to provide innovative solutions that suits
their unique needs. Aims of channel 4 Is to create change in the wider world through all our
activities: from TV, to streaming, social media and film at Channel 4. Channel 4 was created to be a
disruptive, innovative force in UK broadcasting. Their purpose is also to create change through
entertainment, and we have a unique public service remit to represent unheard voices, challenge
with purpose and reinvent entertainment. One of channel 4’s biggest aims is to channel unheard
voices so in my show I will make an aim to channel the voices of some characters that may be shy or
feel like they can’t speak out alongside my original storyline. E4 is a company that is commercially
funded but publicly owned meaning that they are able to offer independent and distinctive, universal
content reflecting the interests of different communities across the UK.
Financially, Channel 4 makes up to £2 billion for the economy each year. In 2021, Channel 4's
revenues hit £1 billion, a 19% growth from 2020. Some of E4’s most successful shows include ‘The
Inbetweeners’ , ‘Great British Bakeoff’ and ‘Rick and Morty’ this helps when planning my show
because I could include some of the same themes etc as these shows because they are proven to be
successful as seen from the graph above. This graph above shows the ranking for each
‘Inbetweeners’ episodes showing which have been more favoured and liked by the audience (higher
ranking) and which haven’t been as liked by the audience watching at home (lower ranking). This can
help me when making my show because I can see which topics in each episode are not liked by the
audience which can make my show more successful by trying to only do topics, I know are normally
successful with E4 viewers. I will also need to make sure my show fits in with other E4 shows so it
isn’t a shock for E4 audiences and has more of a chance of them watching.

The budget:

The budget for my show would be £80,000 - £100,000 this means that I will have to include casting,
sets, makeup, costume etc all within this budget. This is low because on certain tv shows such as
‘Stranger Things’ cost around $30 million each episode whereas my show due to special effects,
editing, costumed, makeup, stunt scenes etc. Each Stranger things main characters however makes
around $9 million each episode and then reports say - As of 2019, Stranger Things has made about
$378 million worldwide. The same year, Netflix reported an increase in profit to $665 million, $5.2
billion in revenue meaning that they are having guaranteed success when making there episodes as
they know they will make millions worth of dollars profit per episode proving Stranger things has
been a highly successful show. However, Netflix’s Stranger Things is broadcasted globally and which
makes it a lot easier for it to be successful and grow in popularity. This would be a weakness for my
show as E4 is only broadcasted on UK TV making it nearly impossible to be as successful and earn as
much money as Stranger things.
On the other hand, my budget will be around £10,000 each episode which means I won’t be able to
have certain things in my show because there won’t be enough money in my budget for it. for
example, I will have to try and avoid big violent scenes that will cost more money. On a whole, my
project will have to try and cut corners to save money wherever possible. To do this there is lots of
ways to keep costs down in my budget – for example, I could use the same person for hair and
makeup which means I will only have to pay one person for the two jobs on my set meaning I can
save money on paying certain staff as this can be used for lots of different types of roles on set if I
hire the right people to work with me. Another way I could save money in my budget would be that I
could also re use sets a lot by redesigning and changing rooms to be used in different scenes if
designed correctly I will be able to make the most out of my small budget. Also with sets, I could
have minimal sets to also keep the costs of my tv show down, this could be by using outside spaces a
lot as they would cost near nothing to use in my tv show, I could also have repeated sets a lot where
my characters and audience are familiar with, so it means my show is easier to follow on top of
saving money. To keep costs down I will have to find cheaper alternatives wherever possible and
strategically use the money to make the most out of the small budget I have been given.

Target audience:

Another consideration would be the time of day that my show is being aired on E4. This is because
my show would be on a Thursday evening which means that if my show was aimed at children then it
would not be a suitable time because most children have school on a Friday so would not be able to
watch my show. This is why my target audience is older teenagers and young adults as because my
show will be aired at 9pm on a Thursday and some people who will be watching my show will be off
work or education on a Friday. The time of my show makes sure that no younger audiences that my
show wouldn’t be suited for won’t see my show as they will be asleep or in bed. The graph below
shows that on Thursdays people are less likely to watch the tv over earlier days in the week which
would be a weakness for my show – this means that I would need to try and get the audience
numbers on a Thursday higher by making my show entertaining for people to make them want to
watch, because my show is on at a time where family’s wont be busy as children will be in bed this
means that it will help have a bigger audience to watch my show.
This means that my audience is an important part of my show and is older as they will understand
the topics in my show and maybe able to relate to certain characters as they could be similar ages to
them. My audience are an important focus when thinking about my show because they are who my
show is for. This means that if my show isn’t suited or appealing for my audience then my show will
not be successful and not make any profit which is what I was hoping for. Based on the graph below
from 2014 it shows that the average amount of time from the ages 18-34 is between 20 and 30 hours
a week. This age bracket is the demographic of E4.

As my show is targeted to 16-24 year olds and they watch a high number of hours a week I need to
make sure that my show is worth my audiences time so they choose to watch my show over other
shows that might take their interest. I would need to make sure that my show targets the right
audience. To do this I could look into other popular tv show for that age category and follow and take
inspiration from some of the topics and themes they use to incorporate into my show but also make
my show different from the others which will make the audience choose my show over others.

Client considerations:
Swot analysis:
DIVERSE CAST – My show has a diverse cast because I felt it was important to include different races
religions etc, in my show to make a wide range of people feel included.

A strength of having a diverse cast would be that my show will be relatable for a lot of my audience
therefore could mean that everybody feels included and most of my audience would be able to find a
character they particularly like or can relate to which would allow my show to draw in a bigger
audience and be more successful. It also shows that my show comes from a positive platform and
thinks about the audience and story line carefully to ensure no viewers are offended or think the
production stages haven’t been thought through carefully. This is also a strength because it can
appeal to wide range of audiences rather then just one small particular because if there is more
diversity in a show it is more likely for there to be a more diverse audience which would mean it
would be bigger and make my show more popular.

A weakness of having a diverse cast would be that some viewers could take the diverse cast as ‘woke’
meaning ‘aware, especially of social problems such as racism and inequality’ so therefore would be
having a diverse cast for the sake of being able to call my cast diverse without any research behind
the thought process and not because it fits my storyline or aim for my show. A diverse cast could also
be seen as a weakness because if my diverse cast is not carefully selected it could be seen as
offensive form some viewers of that community. For example, if I casted a character to play a catholic
person who feels very strongly about their religion and they are seen in the show doing things
against this religion unintentionally then that could cause some catholic members of the audiences
to be offended as the religion has not been respected or considered thoroughly.

An opportunity of having a diverse cast would be that I could hire different cast members from
different backgrounds. This allows my production/ casting team to give opportunities to people who
want a breakthrough in there acting careers and have never had the opportunity to because have
been overlooked or seen as not suited for the role. My diverse cast allows my company to have
flexibility when picking my actors as I am willing to cast different people based on there talent and
who I think fit the role the best. This will also make it easier for my company when choosing actors as
I won’t be strict on certain feature or what they must look like.

A threat of having a diverse cast would be that as a company I could feel pressured into picking
characters just in aim of having a diverse cast – which could lead to my company trying to fit
characters into roles that they are not fit for or would not take on the character well. This could also
lead to cast members being picked on other things rather than talent as my focus would be taken
from looking for good actors to finding the most diverse cast possible. Another way this could be a
threat is it could mean that characters would be being pushed into a role that wouldn’t be their best
performance or a character that they wouldn’t fit into to help with my aim of a diverse cast.

To overcome this threat/ issue I can base my characters on their talent and how much they fit the
specific role or character they wish to play in my show, if I base it on talent, I will not feel pressured
into picking people just because of their race, however I would have to be mindful when picking
family’s and making sure that even though I am trying to be inclusive I have to be mindful of
audiences and how some people can be offended by certain topics or how I would present certain
characters. This means I will have to make sure I am careful about picking my actors for each role.

COST OF EPISODE – My shows would have budgets for each episode to ensure that my show stays In
my whole budget so I don’t run out of money but will also help me plan my budgeting better.

A strength of having a budget for each episode would be that I can efficiently plan each episode
effectively, allowing me to plan and allow my series to make the most out of the small budget it has
been given. A small budget for each episode also allows me to spend a certain amount of money and
time on each episode, so each episode is interesting in its own way and has been well planned by my
company. It also helps me to limit my spending on the whole budget as I will have smaller budgets
within the whole budget to ensure I don’t go over my big budget. A smaller budget on each episode
could also mean that in the long run when my series has been released that I can make more profit
as I wouldn’t of spent a lot of money in the first place in the planning and filming stages which I will
have to pay back once my show has premiered, meaning I have more money made and a bigger
profit to then work with on future seasons or series.

A weakness of having a budget each episode means that I might not be able to have sets or events
that will cost my budget a lot of money because I cannot afford it. This will restrict my show from
being able to have scenes that might cost a lot of money but would be good for viewers to see. For
example, I may not be able to have a scene showing violence or gore because the costume, blood,
special effects and noise of that scene will cost a lot of time and money which my company does not
have. Instead of this I would have to have characters talk abut the events or imply that the events
have happened when filming, so the audience are aware that this event has happened, instead of
directly showing to the audience the scene that would’ve taken a chunk of my budget.

An opportunity of having a budget means that I can use I to my advantage. This means that I could
use my budget for each episode wisely by saving money on episodes that I could re-use sets meaning
I don’t spend a lot of money on that episode and can later spend that on episodes that will be more
significant and use more of the budget. If I plan effectively thus could work In my favour and make
my series have the best outcome. For example, on episodes that aren’t as important and are mostly
dialogue focused I will not have to spend a lot of money on that episode and can rather use it to a
more violent or cost worthy episode.

A threat for having a budget would be If I am not careful when planning my show and the certain
episodes then there would be a chance that I could go over my budget for the episode or my budget
for the whole series. If I was to go over with my budget, then it could mean that I would run out for
the rest of the series which could lead to it my show not being able to continue or being cancelled.
However, if I was to go over on my budget and the show continues it would mean that my company
would have a bad reputation for working and would affect me getting scouted for future work. Going
over my budget would also decrease the chances of my show getting a second season as I have not
met the requirements I should’ve when filming.

To overcome this threat/issue I will have to follow a strict plan when making my show and always
think about cheaper alternatives when filming this will allow me to help myself and my team keep
within the budget and work professionally whilst also keeping within the budget and not going over. I
will need to work carefully and thoroughly plan my show so I do not go over the budget.

An example of a show that has a large budget for each episode would be Stranger Things. The
average cost per episode for Stranger Things is around 30 million USD which is a lot more than the
small budget I have been given per episode. The reason stranger things have grown to have such a
big budget is due to its success over the years meaning that it can invest more money in their cast,
special effects etc. This means that when I am looking at casts and special effects, I when planning
my show i will have to take my small budget into consideration and plan carefully.

TARGET AUDIENCE – My show needs to fit my target audience throughout the series to make sure
that my show continues to appeal to the audience so they don’t loose interest in my show and still
support throughout.

A strength of keeping my show to my target audience would be that it can keep my audience
intrigued with the show and want them to carry on watching and not become boring or
inappropriate for them as they want to watch a show that has the same topics as the beginning
episode which is what makes them want to continue watching. It could also make my audience grow
if people watch with friends who are of similar age to them because it would also be appropriate for
them to watch if they are in that target audience age gap. It also shows that my show is well
organised because it means my show is continuously thought out and planned according to my
target audience.

A weakness of my show not keeping to the target audience would be that it would mean that my
show could become inappropriate or boring for the audience who are watching. If my show was to
become too immature it would mean that the audience would become bored of my show and not
want to continue watching it meaning it would drop in viewers. However, on the other hand if my
show became too inappropriate with scenes such as violence and gore then my show would have to
move up an age category for my target audience as the younger side of my target audience would
not be able to see some of these scenes. Both these reasons would lead to my show dropping in
views.

An opportunity for my show if a keep my target audience the same throughout my series would be
that it could potentially get another season from the channel 4 company. If I was to keep my show at
my original target audience by carefully planning each episode to fit their interests and keep the
same storyline with similar topics this means it would continue to grow in popularity whilst also
keeping my original target audience interested in my show. With this popularity and success of the
first season it means I could then make a second season from the profit and if the audience wants a
second season. This could lead to growth in opportunities for my company in the future and growth
and profit for the show.

A threat for my show if I don’t keep my show aimed at the same target audience would be that if I
went off topic and my show did not have the same themes throughout this could lead to the show
becoming unpopular and a risk of the show flopping and not being as successful as I originally
planned. If my show is unsuccessful this would mean that I would have low views, low profit and a
smaller chance of having a second season. If my show became too inappropriate there could be the
risk of my show even being cancelled and no more episodes to be released. This would mean a waste
of time and money for both myself and E4. To stop this I would need to think about my target
audience throughout my whole planning process for each individual episode.

To overcome this threat/issue I will have to do a lot of research about timings, patterns and other
shows that my target age category have been shown interest in and make my show follow the similar
themes and keep it strictly for that age category only not older or younger.

An example of a show that met their target audience would be the Inbetweeners, this is because
their target audience is aimed at a younger audience like teenagers and young adults so therefore to
keep there target audience interested and for the show to appeal they kept relevant themes. These
themes would appeal to the audience because they can relate to the situations going on in the show.
To meet my target audience I will have to keep relevant themes and keep my audience interested by
using topics they can relate to.