Misfits Research

‘Misfits’ is a comedy/drama/fantasy featuring a group of out-casted teenagers on Community Service in London. When caught in the middle of a storm, each of them develops a different superpower (such as the ability to turn back time or mind read) which enables them to work together to get in and out of trouble while they are on duty. ‘Misfits’ aired on E4 on Sundays at 10pm. The late night slot was suitable due to the graphic and violent nature of the programme as well as the adult language used by the characters.

Production:

The programme is produced by Clerkenwell Films which was established in 1998 by chief executive Murray Ferguson and actor John Hannah. The company is well known in the UK and internationally for producing and distributing unconventional and eccentric drama-hybrid programmes, such as sci-fi-fantasy Paradox, supernatural-drama Afterlife and crime-thriller Early One Morning to mention a few.  

Audience and institution:

‘Misfits’ is aimed towards teenagers and young adults aged 16-34. This is evident in the choice of channel which it is shown on: E4, who claim they appeal to a ''cutting edge young audience'' wo tend to be "fashion conscious, sociable, connected, heavy internet users, they love going out" (source). The programme appeals to the audience through the use of young, creditable actors as well as thrilling and innovative storylines involving elements of drama which the audience are able to relate to. The website further appeals to the target audience by including links to a related app, blog and Facebook page. This interactivity is inviting because it complies with the audience’s technologically orientated lifestyle, ultimately allowing the programme to stay current and ‘fresh’ as well as fun for fans of the show.

Viewing Ratings:

“The third season of the series opened with a consolidated TV audience of 1.8m for episode 1... Combined with VoD viewing, the audience rose to 2.2m”

“Misfits continued its cross-platform success on Twitter as E4's top tweeted programme of the week, with over 63,000 tweets about the series.” (Source)

Sources:

In addition to the links given bove, I used the following websites to gather general information about Misfits and its production:

http://www.clerkenwellfilms.com/

http://www.e4.com/misfits/



Channel 4

Institutional context

E4, Film4, and 4Music are all subsidiaries of Channel 4 as they are smaller companies within a larger company which cover a range of platforms and media types. Convergence can also be recognised within the company, in the way that they offer the ability to re-watch TV programmes on the internet (4seven and 4oD) which, essentially, appeals to the audience through two combined platforms; TV and internet.
Similarly, channel 4 uses synergy to promote their company, where different elements of a company are used to support a related product. This can be noticed, for example, in the way that 4oD is advertised on E4.
Although Channel 4 covers a few different media types (TV, film, and music) it can't be described as cross media ownership because they are all distributed by the company through broadcasting on television, rather than television, cinema, and radio, for example.

Channel 4 can be thought of as part of an oliglopery: a market which is dominated by a small number of companies. In this case, terrestrial television is prodominantly dominated by BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5, which all broadcast accross two or more channels each (e.g. BBC2, ITV2, E4, Channel 5+1).