Audience wants/needs questionnaire

As part of my A2 Advanced Portfolio for media I must create a trailer for TV Soap
Opera. It is important that I know what my audience wants and needs from a
television programme as they are who I am creating my product for, so I want it
to appeal to them.
1) Please put a tick in the box that applies to you:
Do you watch
soaps?

Male

Female

Yes

No

This question will help me to calculate the difference in the number of girls to
the number of boys who watch soaps. This way I will be able to work out what
characters are popular and whether to include more female characters to help
attract more male viewers. This is linked to the Laura Mulvey theory that says
that women are there for men to look at, but as the characters in the soap are
teenagers the male gaze will be featured in a sense, but characters will not be
exploited or used to show their bodies as this will not be acceptable for the age
of the target audience.
2) What is your favourite soap?
Eastenders
Emmerdale
Coronation Street
Hollyoaks
Neighbours
Home and Away
Doctors
By asking this question, I am able to understand what soaps are popular with my
audience and then find out how my soap would compete with them.
3) How often do you watch this soap?
Every night
Every other night
Twice a week
Three times a week
Every now and then
This question will show me how often the soaps are watched to understand how
many days a week my soap should be broadcast to meet my audiences
preferences. If the results show that my audience watch soaps every day, then it
would be appropriate for my soap to be shown everyday as I know they will keep
up with the narrative. However, if they were to watch soaps twice a week then it

would be more appropriate to broadcast the soap twice a week so that they did
not miss any of the programmes and then not understand how the narrative has
progressed.
4) What storylines have interested you recently and why?
By asking this to my audience, I am able to gain more understanding as to what
they are watching and what trailers have appealed to them to make them want
to watch the episodes about this storyline.
5) What do you expect to find from a Soap trailer?
This question will help me to understand what my audience wants to see from a
soap trailer and how I can make mine more recognisable and conventional.
6) Do you like action packed trailers or slow, dramatic trailers?
Action packed
Slow, dramatic
This question will help me to understand what type of trailer my audience like to
watch. This question can help to me to determine how many shots I will use, the
soundtrack that features and how I edit it together. By creating one that my
audience will like, I am able to make it more appealing.
7) What do you dislike about soap trailers?
The answers to this question will help show me what not to include in my trailer
as my audience will find it less interesting if I include things that they do not like.
8) What would you like to see in a new soap?
This question can help to give me ideas as to how I can make my soap more
unique and a threat to popular existing soaps.
9) What is the best time of day to broadcast a soap if I were to make one and
why?
9am-11am
12pm- 3pm
3-6pm
6-9pm
Why:
By asking why, I can link this question to the uses and gratifications theory to
understand why people watches the soaps at the time that they do. Many of my
target audience (16-25) will still be in full time education or have a part time job,
which many play a part in when they watch soaps. If I am able to understand
when they are available, then I can change my broadcasting time to suit this,
meaning that more people are likely to tune in as they are available when the
soap is on.
10)

What are some of your favourite themes seen in soap trailers?

Teenage pregnancy
Alcoholism
Abuse

Relationships
Health issues
Crime
Family issues
Other:
This question will show me what my audiences favourite storylines are and will
help me to decide which narrative themes to include that I know my audience
will like, making it more likely that they will tune in.