Textual Analysis – BBC Website

At the header of the BBC Website they have their iPlayer logo which is a catch up, on-demand service by the BBC. The design of a logo includes a play button in-between the I and P which represents the programmes shown on BBC television are on demand on this website for the audience to watch. It lists their various channels which include BBC one, two, three and four, CBBC and Cbeebies which shows this website targets multiple audiences as people who watch primetime television are more likely to watch programmes from BBC One, older generations are more likely to watch BBC Two, BBC Three is a channel targeted mainly at comedy fans with multiple comedies being shown, BBC Four is a channel targeted at mainly music fans with a wide range of music programmes whilst CBBC and Cbeebies are catered for young children. Also shown here is a link to the BBC TV Guide which makes it easy for the BBC audience to view what is coming up on BBC TV and therefore make plans to watch it. The favourites link allows the audience to favourite certain programmes which would give them up to date information on their favourite shows and updates of new episodes. Finally the categories link will produce a list of categories shown on BBC TV for example drama, comedy, sport etc therefore a fan of a certain category will be able to look at that specific categories from this link to see the kind of programmes BBC showcase for that category. The visual style of this header is very simple with a simple use of colours, font and typography which connotes the BBC’s formal and traditionalised mode od address.

The main section of the BBC website firstly includes a search bar in the left hand corner which will allow the audience to search for any specific programmes they are looking for. It also includes an A-Z programme list allowing the audience to find the programme they are looking for by searching for it’s first letter e.g. E for EastEnders. It also has a recently viewed link which will allow the audience to look back on what they’ve recently viewed should they wish to view it again or look for other related programmes. Furthermore the website includes various links to programmes on the iPlayer with images to represent the programmes of perhaps stars of the show, or an image to represent the storyline of the programme. There is a most popular list of 40 programmes therefore if a member of the audience hears about a popular programme through for example word of mouth it will be easy for them to look on the most popular category and find that programme. The layout of this section gives the audience multiple options to view different kind of programming's and despite the layout being very innovative the visual style of the colours, font and typography is still very simple connoting the formal mode of address of the BBC.

Another section of the BBC website is titled explore the BBC and gives the audience a wide range of ways to explore the stuff the BBC broadcast on their channels. Firstly there is an advertisement for a Cbeebies story time app. Cbeebies is a channel targeted towards children therefore if children enjoy the programmes on that channel they or their parents/guardians will see this advertisement and therefore be encouraged to download it as it relates to the channel. There are multiple categories showcased on BBC TV therefore people looking for a specific programme/category can easily access it from this list. The visual style of this section is extremely simple with plain bold typography used, little to no images and plain grey colours used which does connote the formal mode of address of the BBC but could be potentially off putting to an audience as this is not an eye-catching visual style they would chose to view.

Ideas of InclusionThe ideas for inclusion our group has got from this website is firstly to create a logo for our new TV channel that will reflect the kind of service provided and will stand out to the audience on the website. We also aim to include links that will make the navigation of the website much easier for the audience with such things as links to a TV Guide etc so it’s more simple for the audience to find what they are looking for. We also aim to use images that represent the channel and it’s content to make the website more attractive to the audience and make it stand out more to them so they are encouraged to continue navigating and viewing the website to find out about information on our TV channel. We will use Web 2.0 and synergy to our advantage to promote the channel by linking to external links so the audience can find out more information about the channel.

Ideas for ExclusionThe ideas for exclusion our group has got from this website are firstly the choice of colours. We feel the plain black background with simple white text throughout the majority of the webpage is not going to stand out to the audience therefore we aim to use colours on our website to make it stand out more to the audience. We also feel that the content on this website is a little clustered together and feel that it would be more attractive to the audience if it was more spaced out in an organised fashion without leaving to many blank spaces. Also an idea for exclusion is some of the repetition on this website. For example they include a category list at the top of the website plus they state all the categories available at the bottom as well and we feel this is a missed opportunity to include further and different content that the audience would be interested in. We feel the visual style and the media language used on this site is very formal but we will be looking for the opposite effect on our site therefore we will be taking little to no inspiration from the visual style of this site.