Final Blog: Niche Audiences & Programming

I have selected to watch the "prime-time" television slot. I chose the hour of 7p.m to 8p.m on Monday night. In addition, I tuned-into ABC channel 7's program "The Bachelor: Women Tell All." My partner, Neil Sarami, watched an hour of daytime/afternoon weekend television (I believe on Sunday). 

I chose the Demographic Segmentation for my program, "The Bachelor:Women Tell All." My ideal or targeted viewer characteristics for this show consisted of: Female, Caucasian, between the ages of 18-30, middle-class (middle-upper), college educated, respectable income. This is my predicted list of 15 minutes of commercials for this program:

• Cosmetics (make-up, shampoo, etc.)
• Cars
• Movie Trailers
• ABC network ads (local news, programs)
• Pet products
• Cleaning products (detergents, soap, etc.)
• Low-fat grocery items
• Household appliances (blender, vacuum, etc.) 
• Healthcare (medicine)
• Women's clothing 
• Baby products
• Jewelry
• Singles networks (E-Harmony, etc.)
• Weight loss (programs, pills, gyms)
• Cell phone

Results. The actual commercials presented consisted of: cell phone carriers, beauty products (hair color, face wash, shampoo), ABC programming (local news, shows), cars (Honda), women's clothing (JC Penny), pet (cat odor protection), cleaning products (fabric softener), and healthcare (allergy). I was fairly correct in my commercial assumptions for this programming. I feel I was dead-on in my target audience, however, there were some surprises when it came to advertising. I included all of these areas in my predictions, but there was a series of food ads that I did not expect. Numerous McDonald's, Red Lobster, Subway, chocolate, and low-cal soup ads were shown. I did not think a great deal of fast food would have been included. I thought healthier items would have been shown(with the exception of the soup). I was very surprised to not see one weight loss product, singles/dating network, or movie trailer advertised. 

I believe niche audiences are very accurate when it comes to advertising. Without a doubt, media executives can pinpoint a particular group that will watch their programming; this assignment accurately proves this (it was even done by just me, a television viewer). However, I do think certain programs are easier to pinpoint while others may be more broadly viewed across groups. For example, BET channel programming is more focused on a group rather than MTV. Nonetheless, everything has a targeted audience even if it is no so apparent. 

Consumption Journal: 15 years from now...

 My personal locus in 15 years will primarily consist of providing for my family and succeeding in my career. I will have a wife and two kids which I will put first in my life; this means do everything I can to care for them (goal number one). I work in music management and focus on the careers of musicians. As a result, one my goals is to persuade others in the interest of my musicians. In addition, I hope to make a steady income to provide for my family and myself in order to live a long and happy life. Hopefully I will retire early and spend a good amount of time on my yacht in the Caribbean. 

 In 15 years from now, general media categories will be presented to us through computers. All of these media categories will mainly be connected to the Internet. The Internet will have books, online programing (television), movies, music, video games, and radio. These different forms of media will all merge under the Internet. Computers will be the way in which individuals consume their media. 

 On a general day, I will find myself constantly connected to these media forms through the Internet. I will wake up and gather my news from the main media center computer in my house (which will have Internet, television, etc.). I will then use a portable form of this computer (about the size of a wrist watch) and listen to the radio, watch television shows, and surf the internet while doing my morning jog. Next, on a separate computer, I focus my attention on my work for the day which consists of managing my clients. In my home office on a laptop I will listen to music, send emails, and make phone calls. When the work day is done I will relax by catching my favorite "television shows" on my media center computer through the internet. Then I'll download a movie from a Blockbuster type database. 

Consumption Journal: Week Four

My media consumption for Week Four, since Monday 1/26 consisted of cable/broadcast television, movies, computer (Internet), newspaper, and music. Last week I watched the movies There's Something About Mary and Layer Cake. In addition, I watched programs on cable and broadcast television including news, late night talk shows, and the Super Bowl. I read the Chicago Tribune throughout the week along with gathering my news through Internet Websites (Yahoo). 

I finally bought an iPod so I took time converting my cd collection to MP3s. Furthermore, I listened to the radio while driving in my car. I also spent time on the Internet visiting Facebook, Youtube, and Myspace music. 

The Internet has proven to be a great tool for musicians to promote their music and update fans on current news. You can get radio play, grow a fan base, create a distribution channel, manufacture and sell CDs and music downloads all online. Artists can use such sites as Myspace, Pure Volume, and Facebook to reach their fans or gain new listeners. 

However, now more than ever, unsigned bands or artists can gain a fan base without the support of a major label because of the Internet. Of course this always means that horrible music needs to be "weeded out" before one can actually find the good stuff. There has even been the emergence of Myspace records, an independent record label started in 2005 to sign artists who appear on the social networking site MySpace.

If you want to be successful promoting and distributing your music online, it's going to take time and hard work. Like anything else of real value, you get out of it what you put into it. But aspiring musicians should know that they don't need a major label deal to have a successful music career. If you are seeking  to "make it big" in the music business, then yes, you need the backing of big money. But, if you're just wanting to do music full-time and be a successful artist, that's something you can do all on your own, and the Internet can help you reach that goal.