1. Questionnaire Results By Hollie Walsh

2. Introduction For my A2 Media Coursework I am going to create the opening sequence to a Children’s TV Drama, therefore, I am creating a questionnaire which will enable me to find out exactly what my target audience want, however, I have a young target audience of 8-10 year olds, therefore I am going to aim my questionnaire to both their parents and themselves giving them the power to choose what they wan their children to watch. I am also going to ask 5 outsiders to get their opinion on what they think. To do this I am going to ask a variety of quantitative and qualitative questions in order to collect the correct data which I need.

3. Methods and Techniques My methods and techniques that for creating and distributing my Questionnaire included having both qualitative and quantitative questions which I felt would allow me to get direct information that I wanted to know and also allow me to collect some more detailed information that I wanted to know also. My target audience is children between the ages of 8-10 years old, therefore, I directed my questionnaire to both parents and their children which meant I had two questionnaires in one, some questions that were aimed at the parents and some that were aimed at the child, who are my actual target audience. I asked basic information such as gender, age and how many children between a certain age they had. Then I began asking questions about how peoples children watch TV shows for example, via the internet, television or DVD. How much television do their children watch and what is the most popular time of day that they watch TV. What topics would they want covered and would they want their children to have access to TV shows via the internet. I then asked the children who are my actual target audience questions about their favourite show, character, colour, channel etc. I also included images in some of my questions these were questions which relate to my two smaller tasks, a DVD cover and a magazine cover, therefore I provided the children the children with a variety of different images, and asked them to chose their favourite and why. This allowed me to gather ideas about what I should include on when I make my two smaller tasks. Overall I approached 15 people to answer my questionnaire, 10 were parents and their children and 5 were ‘outsiders’ who do not have children. This allowed me to collect a vast amount of information about my product from the target audience and who isn’t the target audience which will provide me with a different view.

4. Audience Profile The first question that I asked (to the parents), before I even gave them the questionnaire was wether they has children between the ages of 8- 10 years old, which is the age of my target audience. If they did, I then began the questionnaire. I asked them how many children between that specific age boundary they had, 90% of parents has 1-2 children between that boundary and 10% had 3-4. This is usually because the most common age gap between siblings is 2 years, therefore, if a family has one 10 year old and one 8 year old, then my new children’s TV drama will be suitable for both of them. I then asked the gender of the children and 55% percent were female whereas 45% were male. It would have been ideal to have asked an equal amount of males and females however, this was out of my control. How many children between the age of 8-10? What is your child(s) gender?

5. TV Show Topics I then asked the parents which issues would they prefer to be covered in a Children’s TV drama, I gave them a variety of options, allowed them to choose more than one, and also gave them the opportunity to choose their own.43% said they would like to see Bullying as a main topic, which I think is very effective amongst children of that age, second to that was Stranger Awareness (stranger danger) with 21%, which is very important that children are aware of the dangers, and seeing it on a TV show which they enjoy, they are likely to listen. 14% of parents said internet safety, which we hear a lot about in the media, therefore it would be another valid topic. Finally, friendship, racism, and healthy eating all got 7% of the parents vote, and were seen as the least important. Therefore I am going to include bullying, stranger danger and internet safety in my TV show. Popular TV show topics?

6. Television Habits I also asked parents about their children’s television habits, I asked them how much television their child watches, 70% of children watch 2-3 hours of TV per day, 20% watch 0-1 hour and 10% watch 4- 5 hours. I then combined this with what is the most popular time of day for their child to watch TV. 50% of parents said 3-5pm was the most popular, 30% said 6-8.30am was the most popular and 20% said that 5-7pm was the most popular. According to these results it would be most effective to have 2 hour long episodes of my TV show between 3-5pm as this is the most popular time for children to be watching TV. Finally, I asked how their child watches TV. 70% of parents said that their child watches TV shows via the Television itself, and 30% of parents said DVD. None of the parents that I approached said that their child watches TV shows via the internet. However, I found that my TV show and DVD of the show will hopefully be effective. How much television does your child watch per day? Most popular time of day to watch TV? How does your child watch TV shows?

7. TV shows via the internet? I was keen to hear parents views on there children being able to view TV shows via the Internet. I thought it would be beneficial to gather information on this topic as it has become very popular (BBC iPlayer, ITV Player). I was shocked at the answers that I got from parents as 90% of them said that they would be happy for their child to be able to view TV shows via the internet, and only 10% said that they wouldn’t. I asked parents who did not want their child to be able to view TV shows via the internet to give a reason, the reason was: ‘I wouldn’t be happy my child using the internet alone’. However, due to the data that I collected the majority are for TV shows online therefore I will consider it for my TV show. TV shows via the internet?

8. Merchandise As part of my coursework I always have to design and make the front cover of a DVD and a Magazine that is associated with the TV show. Therefore, I wanted to gather research to find out from parents whether they do or do not buy this type of merchandise, and if they do not, why not? When I asked parents if they buy TV show DVDs 70% said yes, whilst 30% said no. I asked those who do not by DVDs why they didn’t and they answered: Childrens TV shows are often repeated, now my child is a little bit older they aren't really bothered, more films than shows and we use the sky box to record favourite shows. I then asked the same question about magazines. According to my results, parents would prefer to buy magazines for their children rather than DVDs. 80% of parents said they would buy the magazine whilst 20% said no. Parents who would not buy magazines gave the following reasons: that they are a waste of money, and one parent said that her child had special needs therefore would not appreciate a magazine as much as he would a DVD. Overall I have found that both magazines and DVDs would be appreciated. Do you buy TV show DVDs? Do you buy TV show magazines?

9. The following questions are to be answered by children

10. TV Drama Favourites I then asked the children of the parents a set of questions as they are my actual target audience. Firstly, I wanted to find out their favourite TV Drama and who is their favourite character. I felt that this would be beneficial as I can gain an idea of what type of drama the children prefer and if the characters that they prefer are a character they can relate too or are they just a favourite. Firstly I asked them their favourite TV drama, I gave the following options: Hannah Montana, The Story of Tracey Beaker, M.I High, The Sarah Jane Adventures Drake and Josh and Other. The most popular was Hannah Montana with 45% of the vote, and the least popular were M.I High and Drake and Josh with 0% of the vote! ‘Other’ got 11% of the vote and when I asked which TV show this would be and they answered Doctor Who. I then asked the children who was there favourite character. The answers that I got back included Jackson (Hannah Montana), Tracey (Tracey Beaker), Lilly (Hannah Montana),The Dr (Dr Who), Sarah Jane (Sarah Jane Adventures), Miley (Hannah Montana), Duke (Tracey Beaker), and Clyde (Sarah Jane Adventures). The most popular characters were Jackson (Hannah Montana) and The Doctor (Doctor Who). My results have shown me that firstly, children seem to prefer a comedy programmes that do also have some aspects of seriousness. However, the feedback which I got about favourite characters was mixed. Jackson is somebody children can relate to whereas the Dr is the complete opposite. Favourite TV drama? Favourite character?

11. Favourite Colour? I also wanted to get an idea of the children’s favourite colours as I usually believe that young children like bright colours, I wanted to ask the children themselves and see what was the most popular colour. I also felt that this would be beneficial when creating my DVD and Magazine cover as I could make this the primary colour in my House Style. There was 4 most popular colours that all got 20% these were: purple, green, yellow and blue. Which does agree with the fact that most children prefer bright colours! Giving me a great indication to what sort of colours to use on my DVD and Magazine cover. What is your favourite colour?

12. Merchandise I then carried out the same routine when it came to the magazine covers. I asked which was their favourite and why. The most popular magazine front cover was Doctor Who, which got 40% of the vote. The reasons that the children gave for this were: Spooky and mysterious and interesting, Dark and scary, Bright colours in the background and Big picture of Amy Pond and Doctor Who Writing. The second favourite was Hannah Montana. The least favourite was Nickelodeon. Favourite magazine front cover?

14. Merchandise In my coursework I also have to do two smaller tasks which involves creating a magazine front cover and a DVD front cover, therefore, I researched some DVD front covers of a similar genre to what I needed. I picked 5 DVD covers and showed them to the children, I asked which was their favourite and why. The most popular DVD cover was Tracey Beaker which got 50% of the vote, the second most popular was The Sarah Jane Adventures. I asked the children what they liked about their favourite cover and they replied: It has cool colours and they stand out (Tracey Beaker), Bright colours and shapes (Tracey Beaker), Tracey Beaker is my favourite (Tracey Beaker), It is colourful and bright (Tracey Beaker) and Its pretty, I like the stars (Tracey Beaker). The least popular covers were, Hannah Montana and Drake and Josh. Favourite DVD Cover?

16. Favourite TV channel? I then wanted to find out what is the children’s favourite TV channel in order to help me make a decision to what channel I want my TV show to be aired on. I gave the options CBBC, Nickelodeon, CITV, Disney Channel, Other. The 3 favourite TV channels all got a joint vote from the children Disney Channel, CBBC, and Nickelodeon all got 30% of the vote. Whereas CITV only got 10%. This makes my decision about what TV channel to choose much more simple, however, I will still research in to the most popular on a larger scale. Favourite TV channel?

17. To be answered by ‘outsiders’

18. Outsiders I also asked a group of 5 outsiders the same questions I asked both parents and children’s so I can gather information from an outsiders point of view. This will enable me to gather opinions of people who may not be my target audience but may have contrasting or similar opinions for me to consider when creating my product. I didn’t ask my group of ‘outsiders’ the first two questions as I did not feel they were appropriate. I also didn’t ask questions 2 and 3 that were in to be answered by child, again, because I didn't feel they were appropriate.

19. TV Show Topics Like before I asked the outsiders what topics they thought would be appropriate and more beneficial to be shown to children via TV dramas. I gave the same choices as before healthy eating, bullying, racism, friendship, internet safety, stranger awareness and other. The two most popular topics both with 29% were stranger awareness and bullying. The least popular was healthy eating and friendship. These results were similar as before as a result of bullying being one of the most popular, however stranger danger wasn’t as popular.

20. Television Habits I then asked what they think about children’s television habits. I asked how much television they think a child watches on a typical day, what they think is the most popular time of day for a child to watch TV and finally what they think is the most popular way for a child to watch TV shows. The ‘outsiders’ voted 2-3 hours as the amount of time they think children spend watching TV per day, which matches the result I gathered from parents. They also said that they thought the most popular time of day to watch TV was 3-5pm which again matches my previous result. Finally, I asked what they think was the most popular way to watch TV shows and again my results matched. How much TV do you think a child watches per day? Most popular time of day? Most popular way to watch TV shows?

21. TV shows via the ‘net? I then asked what they thought about children watching TV shows via the internet and if they thought it was a good idea. I also asked, if they didn’t agree, why didn’t they? I was shocked at my results that I gathered because more parents agreed with watching TV shows via the internet than outsiders. I would have expected that this to be the other way round. 60% of outsiders were for TV shows on the internet, whereas 40% were against. I asked those who were against to give reasons and they replied: Some children are too young and may not be able to get the hang of it and Some parents don't let their children use the internet. TV shows via the ‘net?

22. Merchandise I then went on to ask them their opinion on merchandise (DVDs and Magazines) and to see whether they would buy merchandise for their children. 100% of people said they would buy their child the DVD version of a TV show which contrasted the results that I gathered from actual parents. I then asked if they would buy their child a TV show magazine, 40% said that they would, but 60% said that they wouldn’t. I asked those who wouldn’t to give reasons, they said: They are usually a waste of money, Most children just want the toy and They are too young to appreciate it. This contrasted the results I gathered from parents as 80% said they do. Would you be your child the DVD version of a TV show? Would you buy your child a TV show magazine?

23. Favourite TV drama? I then asked my group of ‘outsiders’ the same set of questions which I asked the children. Firstly I asked them what they think would be a child’s favourite TV show. They had the same options as the children did before. 40% said Hannah Montana, and 40% said Tracey Beaker. Hannah Montana again came up as a favourite which matched my previous result. The least favourites were Sarah Jane Adventures and M.I High which got 0% of the vote.

24. Merchandise I then asked the ‘outsiders’ their opinions about the merchandise. Firstly, I asked them what DVD cover they liked best. Sarah Jane Adventures was the most popular with 40% of the vote. The least popular was M.I High with 0%. Like before, I asked for reasons which were: Grabs your attention, interesting images and looks interesting and catches your eye. Tracey Beaker was the favourite when I asked the children, and Sarah Jane Adventures came second. What is your favourite DVD front cover?

25. Merchandise I then asked which magazine front cover they thought was best. The most popular magazine cover was Hannah Montana which got 40% of the vote which again was a contrast to my previous results which showed me that Doctor Who was the most popular magazine front cover. Finally, they gave me the following reasons: Because it's colourful and there isn't too much going on and Uses bright colours and there isn't too much to take in, will be good for children. What is your favourite magazine cover?

26. Favourite TV channel? Finally, I asked they thought is the most popular children’s TV channel. They think that Disney Channel is the most popular as it got 40%. Which is very different to the mixed results which I got when I asked the children. Favourite TV channel?

27. Summary Overall I have learnt a lot about what parents want their children to see and more importantly what they think their children want to see. I have learnt that the most popular TV channel is Disney Channel that American children’s TV shows Hannah Montana, which is itself shown on Disney channel joint favourite with English TV show The Story of Tracey Beaker. I have also learnt that the majority of children what television for around 2-3 hours a day, from 3 until 5pm and that the main source of watching TV shows for children is via TV or DVD. However, parents are open to the option of their children being able to access their favourite shows online. Bullying is a main topic that parents want their children to be aware about and I think that putting children’s favourite characters into these situations they will be more inspired to take notice of the message. I also asked about views on merchandise (synergy) such as DVDs and Magazines which are in conjunction with the Television series itself. This research was beneficial for me as it allowed me to gather information for my ancillary tasks; firstly to find out how successful they will be, in terms of parents buying them and also what catches the eye of a child. The most popular DVD cover was Tracey Beaker for reasons such as its bright colours and shapes. I asked a similar question about magazine front covers and found that children are drawn to pictures if the characters that they know and can identify with, like with the DVD covers again children want to see bright and interesting colours. Finally, I asked a group of outsiders, not children and not parents, about their thoughts and opinions about what they think the results I gathered from them was very similar to the rest of my information, by doing this it made my research fair.

28. There are a few proposals that I am going to make for my children’s TV show For my TV show to be aired on Disney channel for 2 hours back to back from 4pm – 6pm. I decided to choose this time rather than 3- 5pm because the majority of schools do not finish until 3pm therefore by the time 4pm comes round most of my target audience will be home. I am also going to make my TV show available on the internet so that they can watch their favourite show on demand I also want to create sources of synergy for my TV show in the form of a DVD and a magazine for the series. Proposals