About: Soaps, Documentaries and Adverts

About: Soaps, Documentaries and AdvertsBy Brandon Evans

Soap opera A soap opera is a TV show aimed at women. A soap opera is

created solely to entertain the audience. A soap opera is completely fictional and is 100% scripted. Soaps often feature extravagant storylines. Soap operas are aired in a chronological episodic format. The popular soap Eastenders costs roughly £250,000 per episode to produce (2008), these costs cover: Wages, Props, costumes, equipment amongst other costs. The first soap opera broadcast was called Painted Dreams (1930) and was broadcast on American radio. The most popular British soap is Coronation street which gains roughly 9,300,000 viewers per episode (Jan 2014). The most well known Corrie characters are Diedre Barlow, Roy Cropper and Ken Barlow. The most recognizable Eastenders characters are Phil Mitchell, Ian Beale and Peggy Mitchell. Soaps are usually set in the same few places in a town in every episode e.g. the pub, the café and the market stalls.

Documentary A documentary is a type of television show which

documents (usually) true events such as a war or a revolution. A documentary is supposed to contain factual content and is created in order to inform the viewer and provide them with information. The most well known person associated with documentaries is David Attenborough. Attenborough is known for presenting the 11-part documentary series Planet Earth, which cost £2,000,000 per episode to produce. Planet Earth gained an average of 11,400,000 million for the first 5 episodes, and the final 6 episodes received an average rating 6,800,000 viewers per episode. The first official documentary ever broadcast was Flaherty's Nanook of the North (1922).

Advert An advert is an advertisement for a product or

service. Adverts are broadcast during the breaks on a television show and between shows. Advertisements are also seen in newspapers, magazines and on websites. The first television advert ever broadcast on TV was a British advert for Gibbs SR Toothpaste (Sep 1955). Cadburys have a reputation for creating the most entertaining adverts such as the Gorilla drumming advert and the dancing clothes adverts. The costs of creating an advert vary significantly depending on the amount of money a company is willing to spend on an advert. It costs an average of £264 to air a 30 second advert on a television station during daytime TV (2013).