Compare and contrast 2 recent magazine programmes

1. Compare and contrast 2 recent magazine programmes Magazine Programmes General: A programme made up of a range of items covering a broad range of topics. E.g. This Morning Specialist: A programme made up of different items on one topic. E.g. Top Gear

2. THE CONTENT As This Morning is a general magazine show it’s content is made up of a range of different topics. Such as cooking, celebrity stories, home and garden, music, real life and much more. There is quite alot of focus on real life stories for example the Body Building Gran and celebrity stories such as Jack Tweed cleared of rape charge. They include alot of demonstrations from fashion to cooking, which are either shown live or run as a VT. They also include alot of information on health, they have their own doctors that discuss the latest health news etc, and also have people on the show to talk about their real-life health issues. While presenting the presenters seem quite relaxed and light hearted, which helps the audience relate to them more. Top Gear is a specialist magazine show and is focused on cars. They discuss different cars in front of an audience using magnet boards to place their favourite cars in order. They also bring sporting people in to race a car around their track and see how well they do compared to the other sporting celebrities. They also run VT’s of the three main presenters challenges, usually involving trying to find which car work best for a particular challenge such as which sport car has the best handling for windy roads. The information is made more comedic during these challenges but the show is always rich in detail and information. Like This Morning the Top Gear presenters are quite relaxed and tend to make fun of each other, which makes the show alot less serious.

3. THE PRESENTERS This Morning Top Gear The current This Morning presenters are Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby. Philip has been on the show for years originally presenting with Fern Britton however in 2009 Fern Britton announced that she was leaving This Morning and so the shows producers replaced her with Holly, a much younger and attractive co-host, this move was to bring in younger viewers. Throughout This Morning’s history there has always been one male and one female presenter: Richard and Judy, Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford, Philip and Fern and now Philip and Holly. Along with the main presenters there are also reports done by other people usually by someone who specialises within that field for example, fashion with Jason Gardiner. 3 males present Top Gear: Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. These presenters conduct the interviews and debate between themselves on which is the best car and they have never changed. They do everything on the show including the challenges which often involve them racing to get somewhere to see whether a car is faster than the train or going to find the best road in the world with the cars of their choices to see which one performs the best. The only other main person the audience see is the Stig who is famously known for being unknown. The Stig often features when they test cars on the track. He is always in a white racing suit complete with a white helmet and drives the cars around.

4. THE SOUND The This Morning theme tune is very upbeat, which is what is needed in the morning. It is catchy and also inviting as it makes people want to watch it, it easily recognisable as soon as someone hears this tune they immediately think This Morning is on and are more likely to watch it. It has a very happy feel to it, which would be a big draw for people in the morning. Top Gear’s theme tune sounds quite mechanical in a way, which fits in with the shows theme. It also would appeal more to a male, they would be more likely to be able to recognise it as the shows theme tune. Like This Morning it is also quite an upbeat tune, which would appeal to the audience.

5. THE LOOK This Morning’s set had a makeover last year and it definitely looks modern. It looks very homely and the way the sofas are angles towards the cameras makes it look inviting to the audience. The window in the background shows that it is live but it also adds that effect of it being like a room in a house. The wallpaper and rug are flowery and feminine, aiming towards a female audience. It is also quite colourful, this fits in with the upbeat and cheerful feel of the programme and early in the morning this is inviting to the audience. It looks as though alot of detail has gone into the set to make it look like a home and in my opinion it works. Unlike This Morning, Top Gear’s audience and the presenters are not sitting down. The layout looks quite cluttered with the audience standing around the presenters and the cars. It looks like a mechanics workshop, but this works as it fits with the shows theme, it wouldn’t work if it looked like a home. Whereas This Morning is filmed in ITV studios Top Gear is filmed in a warehouse next to a test track. It is practical and it looks exactly as it should for a show about cars, cars are for outside and the set represents that.

6. THE AUDIENCE This Morning doesn’t have a sit in audience, its audience is at home watching the presenters through their TV screens. This morning is broadcast every morning Monday to Friday so it would be hard to get an audience in so early when they have jobs and have to get their children ready for school etc, it is much easier for them to stay at home and watch it as they get ready. As they don’t have the audience in the studio they get their audience involved by having competitions for viewers at home to win money, holidays, technology etc, they also ask the audience to phone/text/email in any stories or sometimes pictures of their own that relate to the topics of that day. This Morning is for mothers of all ages however they are starting to go for a more younger age group by bringing Holly in, but from the topics to the set design to the adverts shown in between breaks it is obvious the targets are females who are likely to have a family. Unlike This Morning, Top Gear has a studio audience. However, it is quite different to other shows with studio audiences as Top Gear’s audience is standing up and is often on screen at the same time as the presenters. This allows the presenters to interact with their audience more to ask them their opinions etc. Top Gear doesn’t have phone in competitions with the audience at home as the show is pre-recorded and is shown on Tuesday nights at 7pm. Top Gears main target audience is males, this is shown through the fact that the show is about cars (typically a male interest) and also the set design, females would much prefer to watch a programme that makes them feel at home such as This Mornings design whereas males much prefer the warehouse look of Top Gear.

7. THEIR WEBSITES http://www.itv.com/lifestyle/thismorning/ This Morning’s website in terms of colour scheme matches the actual programmes colour scheme, this makes it easily identifiable as the correct website for the show. It has plenty of information about topics discussed on the show and has videos to go with that information. You can also watch the show live on the website or watch it afterwards if you missed it. The main topics of the show have their own pages/categories so that you can easily find what you are looking for. For example if you are looking for a certain recipe just click on the Food section and find the one you want alongside a how to make it video. It also has behind the scenes so if you enjoyed the show you can watch what happened off camera and watch your favourite Holly and Phil moments. http://www.topgear.com/uk/ At first glance Top Gear’s website doesn’t have as much information as This Morning’s website but this is simply because Top Gear focuses more on one topic as it is specialist. But in terms of its subject it has a lot of information such as Car Reviews, Car news, Formula 1 information and information on each of the presenters. On each of the presenters pages they have their own columns where they discuss their views on relevant topics not just on cars, which I think is a really good idea as it makes you feel like the presenters are personally involved and want you to know their views. It also has interactive games on the website which would appeal more to younger males, but I think it is a great way of getting the audience involved.

8. WHAT I LIKE What I like about both Top Gear and This Morning is that everything that they include in their programmes from the content to the set to the adverts is specifically for their target audience. And although their target audience’s are so different the programmes are so similar in the way they target their audiences. I like the fact that both programmes use banter between their presenters to keep audience’s interested, Holly and Phil have amazing chemistry between them and they come across as two great friends having a great time and it makes the items they are presenting much more interesting. Jeremy, Richard and James have constant banter going between them and every show the audience tunes in waiting to be entertained by the three of them competing against each other and making fun of each other. The audience’s keep coming back because they know and like what to expect! SOURCES For this task I not only watched the programmes that I was looking at but I also visited both of their websites http://www.itv.com/lifestyle/thismorning/?cmpid=V_thismorning and http://www.topgear.com/uk/ and I also looked at websites such as one of the production designers for Top Gear Jonathon Paul Green’s website: http://www.setdesign.tv/