Textual Analysis – ITV Website

The ITV website firstly includes the logo in the middle of the page with a list of internal links either side which include Player, Shows, Guide, News, Sport and a search engine. This means that whatever the audience are looking for they should find it on the head of this website for example if they are looking to catch up on TV they would click the player option, if they were looking to see the upcoming TV schedules on ITV they would look at the guide option etc. Also three of programmes shown by ITV are showcased here to inform the audience that they are available to watch on ITV’s on demand service. This Morning is a morning chat show who’s main demographic is old age pensioners who have retired and therefore will be the main audience for day time TV. Downtown Abbey will cater to fans of ITV drama whilst the Tour of Britain is a cycling event that will target sports fans therefore they have catered to three separate types of audiences. The visual style of this section taking into account the colours, images, font and typography used is very formal and casual reflecting the ITV mode of address. They try to represent both male and female in the images used for example with the images used to represent This Morning and Downton Abbey picture both male and females connoting that these shows are for both genders. Whereas the image used to represent the Tour of Britain shows just a male suggesting males are more likely to watch and be interested in a sporting programme.

This section of the ITV website showcases the programmes available on ITV’s on demand service. These programmes have all been carefully selected because they are trying to target multiple audiences. Shows like the X Factor take care of the primetime television audiences whilst shows like through the keyhole are more targeted towards fans of comedy panel shows. Chasing Shadows is targeted for fans of drama and Piers Morgan’s life stories will cater to chat show fans. Gino’s Italian Escape will be targeted at fans of cooking plus documentaries such as for the love of dogs and Harry at 30 are included. Therefore these eight different shows almost individually all target a different type of audience and it showcases the variety on ITV television that there is something for everyone. Males and females of different age groups are showcased in the images used to represent these programmes therefore connoting that ITV are targeting multiple different audiences of different ages and genders with their wide variety of programming. The visual style with the font, colours and typography used are very simple stating that with the wide variety of programming and the multiple audiences they are attracting ITV are fundamentally a very formal channel with traditional values.

This section of the ITV website includes a list of what is currently on each ITV channel. Channels ITV, ITV 2, ITV 3, ITV 4 and CITV are all shown here and it lists what is currently being broadcast on each of these channels. This is done so the audience can easily view what is currently on the ITV channels and if they see a programme they like and want to view they know it’s on now and can be viewed. It also has a next option which shows that programmes are coming on next on all five channels so if the audience see a show coming on that they like they know to view that channel to view the programme. It also lists the times in which these programmes began which gives the audience of how far into the programme is or at what time the following shows begin. The variety of programming on the different channels here shows that ITV are looking to attract multiple audiences of different age ranges and genders plus sticking to their formal mode of address and visual style with the casual choice of colours, font and typography.

Ideas of Inclusion

The ideas for inclusion our group has had from this website is firstly to include internal links that will provide the audience with more information regarding our channel such as shows and guide so they are able to find something that they enjoy. Also an idea for inclusion from this website we’ve had is to try to target as many different audiences as possible and try to please as many different fan bases we can with a variety of different shows. Also an easy to access schedule of what’s on and what’s coming up will successfully attract an audience to tune into the channel therefore that is something we may aim to include. We want to represent multiple audience types in our productions like ITV have done here by representing both gender types, different ethnic minorities, people of different age groups and more to show that our TV channel relates and will be enjoyed by multiple audiences.

Ideas for Exclusion

The ideas for exclusion our group has had is firstly the colour scheme of this website. We feel the plain white background with the majority of the text being a simple black is not eye catching and won’t stand out to the audience. Also the size of some of the text on this website is very small and therefore it is a risk that the audience won’t notice it or at the very least won’t be encouraged to read it therefore on our website we will aim to make sure any text that includes key information will stand out to the audience. Also some the descriptions for some of the programmes showcased is not very detailed therefore on our website any description we include will be very detailed and we will try to convince the audience as best we can to tune into our TV channel. The visual style of this website including the colours, font and typography is something we want to avoid because it’s obvious here ITV are sticking to a more formal and traditional mode of address whilst we want ours to stand out more and catch the audiences eye.