Peaky Blinders: Audience Targeting

Peaky Blinders is a crime drama created by Steven Knight set in Birmingham in 1919, based around a group of former World War 1 soldiers who return home and form a criminal gang.

It uses many different methods and features in order to target and attract its desired audience, mixing niche and mainstream conventions in order to do so effectively.

To begin with, the series is aired on BBC Two, a channel renowned for its highly praised and prestigious "high brow" dramas, giving Peaky Blinders the desired reputation before it has even been aired. By successfully placing the series on this channel, it demonstrates and suggests to BBC Two's audience that this new drama is highly stylised and intellectually and culturally rich, appealing to their viewers.

Whilst being a low budget show, a large element of the text includes exquisite cinematography in order to attract the active audience desired. An example of this can clearly be seen in the fight scene close to the start of episode two, between the Shelby Brothers and the Gypsies they were doing business with. The scene has been edited to be shown in slow-motion, not just to allow the understand to the action, but also to exhibit the technique and stylistic elements of that scene, namely the cinematographic elements. The way the scene has been filmed not only shows definition but also gives an element of beauty to the fight scene.

Lost: Target Audience

Lost is a television series from 2004, directed by J.J.Abrams, that was produced by ABC. The show attracts a wide, mainstream audience and as such has been coded to be inclusive for active and passive audiences.
One of the conventions of the show that is used to attract mainstream audiences is the hybrid genre that is expressed. The narrative features conventions of the action genre specifically through the use of fast pace cuts, an example of which can be seen during the scene where the hiking group are being chased by the 'unknown bear'. Other action genre conventions that are used are aspects such as the special effects, those in Kate's flashback where the back of the plane becomes detached from the main section. There is also the increase in tension in certain scenes, such as that shown in the argument between Sayid and Sawyer on the hiking expedition, as well as multiple enigma codes an example of which being the mystery of the unknown prisoner due to the discovery of handcuffs. Whilst the text effectively includes these action conventions, it also features many other conventions that fall into the fantasy genre. These include the undertaking of a quest as the hiking group embark on a trek to find signal for the radio transmitter and the supernatural phenomena used as a primary element, like the issue of a polar bear being on a tropical island. The amalgamation of these conventions, along with others, leads to a mix of genres and therefore attracts a wider audience as it appeals to many people with different interests who search for different gratifications. This therefore allows the show's hybridity to count towards its success as a mainstream programme.