Scheduling Exercise

In order to get an idea of the best time to show our soap, I decided to carry out a scheduling exercise. I did this so our soap is not in large competition with more established soaps such as Eastenders, Hollyoaks, etc. I researched the timings for popular soaps by looking at a TV guide:

From looking at the timings of soaps, I have found that between the times of 5pm and 7pm, programs such as Neighbours and Hollyoaks are shown. This is the time after people come home from institutions such as school and college. As Neighbours has a target audience of an older audience, it may be that they have chosen this time as grandparents may pick up their grandchildren from school, which works well in terms of getting an idea as to when they will be free. Hollyoaks is aimed at young adults, which therefore explains why they have chosen this time to show their soap. They also show this soap at 7pm on E4, which gives a strong indication that their intended audiences are younger viewers. On the other hand, programs shown between the times of 7pm and 9pm is a prime time for family audience, as this is the time where the whole family are home sitting around the TV. Soaps such as Eastenders, Emmerdale and Coronation Street are shown at these times as they are targeted to a family orientated audience. They are shown at this prime time in order to get the highest chance of gaining their target audience.

Overall, I feel that the best time to show our soap is between the times of 5:00pm and 6:00pm as this will prevent us from facing direct competition from established family orientated TV soap operas such as Eastenders.