Temple Media Project

Temple/London Fall 1999
A Psychological Profile of British Media

The initial observation was that American programs and films were more interesting, therefore, American programs and films would be popular in both the United States and Great Britain. However, ‘interesting’ was too subjective so similarities and differences in the types of most popular programs and films aired in the United States and Britain were evaluated. Results show which type(s) of programs and films were viewed the most along with the similarities and differences in each genre. So the question became: What are the similarities and differences in the types of most popular programs and films shown in the United States and Great Britain?

Nielsen Media Research gathered from the Internet was used to determine the most popular television shows in the United States. The most current report was dated 10/18/99 - 10/24/99. To determine Britain’s most popular television programs, the 12 November 1999 copy of Broadcast magazine was consulted. The charts below were used for this analysis.

Of the top 20 shows in the United States, seven are dramas including the top program, E.R. Athletics was also popular with five sports programs, four of which were in the top 10. Of the remaining programs, six were sitcoms, one was a newsmagazine, and one was a weekly network movie. All of the programs listed from the United States aired once a week, or at the time the sporting event occurred. Therefore, ratings, shares, and audience data accounted for the viewing of one specific program at one specific time.

Of the top shows in Britain, Coronation Street, a drama, was number one, yet was also numbers two, eight, and ten. EastEnders, also a drama, was number three, four, and six. Emmerdale, a third drama, was nine, eleven, and twelve. The number six spot goes to a documentary, Walking With Dinosaurs, and the remaining programs were both dramas and docusoaps – docusoaps being similar to American soap operas in the family-oriented situations, but more believable storylines. Eraser is an exception because it was an American film.

American viewers preferred watching dramas, sitcoms, sports, and newsmagazines. While all the dramas took place in a hospital, courtroom, or community setting, they all had a similar theme – public service. For the purpose of this analysis, the term public service related to those who help the community. American dramas portrayed story lines with doctors, lawyers, and even those sent from Heaven (i.e. Touched by an Angel).

While baseball season was ending in the U.S., football season was beginning. Viewers tuned into the last game of the baseball league championship and the first and second games of the World Series. Monday Night Football attracted over 12 million viewers for a three-hour game.

Networks were full of sitcoms because Americans usually love humor. People would watch sitcoms for entertainment value. The CBS Sunday night movie was most likely family-oriented. The network would air a Disney film, or a movie rated PG or PG-13. The newsmagazine, 60 Minutes, was directed toward an older audience, but still drew major attention because the issues presented were current human-interest stories.

According to the information in Broadcast magazine, Britain loves dramas and docusoaps. Besides an occasional movie or documentary, the majority of viewers were watching programs comparable to the United States. Although the situations differed in theme (mostly lifestyle and crime stories in Britain), British dramas came out on top.

British programs were aired more than once a week so each viewing was accounted for and placed in the weekly chart. This explains why three of the top 20 shows grabbed more than one spot on the chart.

To locate the top 20 films of the week in the United States, Entertainment Weekly Online at www.pathfinder.com/ew/charts/0,1694,movie,00.html was consulted. EW is America’s magazine for the latest news about celebrities and upcoming films. Please note that the EW listing was based on weekend gross. Had the list been provided from the perspective of gross to date, The Sixth Sense would have been number one, Double Jeopardy would be number two, etc.

Unfortunately, Britain did not provide a similar listing, as the British do not have a similar magazine. The only comparable listing was provided in the 12 November 1999 copy of Broadcast magazine. However, that list was a reflection of the top 10 movies viewed during one week on British network television. It was not a reflection of the top 20 films in Britain.

American viewers paid to see movies categorized (by the researcher) as action, thriller, suspense, comedy, sexual, inspirational, and/or a combination of the six. The number one movie of the week, The Bone Collector, was a suspenseful thriller about catching a murderer who removed parts of his victims before killing them – may it be a finger, thumb, or other body part. Of the top 20 films, numbers two, five, eight, and thirteen fell into this category. Numbers three, six, and twelve were love stories. Action-packed films took the number ten, fifteen, and nineteen spots. Information concerning the remaining films was inconclusive due to brief reviews not specific enough to determine what those films should be categorized under.

British audiences preferred watching American films to European films. Numbers one through four were American with the top two as action-packed movies. Broadcast magazine did not provide any reviews or descriptions of the top 10 movies so any unrecognizable titles (numbers five through 10) were not categorized.

Television viewers in both the United States and Great Britain preferred drama. However, Americans chose to watch a wider variety of programs including sitcoms, sports, and newsmagazines while the British stuck to dramas and docusoaps. Further studies could include a survey for each country with questions regarding how ‘interesting’ the media are.

Moviegoers in both countries preferred American films to British films. Further studies could include surveys of the most recent films viewed by consumers in both countries using questions like: Do you prefer to watch American films to European films? If so, why?