Programme sub-category classification

Programme data gathered from television listings was coded in sub-categories to enable the analysis of structural changes within each research case. The following sections explain the criteria and definition for each sub-category.

3.4.1.3.1. Categorisation of children’s programmes

In the absence of a universal classification system for both countries,¹⁶ children’s programmes were grouped using categorisation used by the BARB, which has been widely employed in studies on children’s programming (see e.g. Messenger Davies and Corbett 1997; Buckingham et al. 1999; Ofcom 2007). While Davies and Corbett note that this system is far from perfect, mostly owing to the fact that its categories are ‘very broad and non-specific’ (Messenger Davies and Corbett 1997: 14), allowing mis-categorisations to happen, its broadness can also be considered a strength. The categorisation accommodates programmes from the two different cultures and broadcasting traditions under research in this project. It also allows accurate coding of data in cases in which little information is available of the programme. Broad categories also take into account the evolution and changes in children’s programme traditions over time.¹⁷

The BARB categorisation employs five sub-categories for children’s programmes:

• Animation is a format rather than a genre; it refers to mostly fictional films produced with hand-drawn, stop motion or computer-generated animation

16In fact, no widely-used and recognised system of categorisation for children’s programmes exists in Finland. While the report by Suoninen (2007) classifies children’s programming into subcategories similar to those of the BARB, the annual reports on television output by the Ministry of Transport and Communications employ a different system of categorisation that classifies programmes according to their function.

17 For example, storytelling programmes (e.g. Jackanory and Iltasatu), while itself a sub-category of its own in Blumler’s (1992) survey, have all but disappeared from children’s schedules in the 2000s.

techniques. It is a wide category containing programmes as diverse as the critically acclaimed preschool series Postman Pat and the more controversial He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Care Bears, Transformers and My Little Pony, created for toy marketing purposes (Gunter et al. 2005: 27-8;

Steemers 2010: 31).

• Drama is a genre consisting of live-action fiction for children. Traditional storytelling programmes (such as Jackanory) are also classified as drama in this research.

• Entertainment is a catch-all category for entertainment-oriented live-action or magazine programmes, which do not fit any other categories. It contains weekend morning presenter-led entertainment magazines (such as SM:TV Live, and Harlekiini-klubi, some of which contain high proportions of animation) as well as variety and music shows, comedy and sketch shows. Quizzes and game shows exclusively for children are also included in this subcategory.

• Factual is another umbrella category for all non-fiction programmes, such as children’s documentaries, news, educational programmes, arts and crafts programmes, and presented hobby shows, such as the critically acclaimed Blue Peter. Programmes in this category often include an educational element, intended to stimulate children’s learning.

• Preschool refers to a certain category of live action or presented programmes targeted at preschool audiences. Although Steemers (2010: 4) argues that the term is a blanket category for age and stage-specific programmes rather than a genre-specific categorisation, this study adopts a narrower, genre-specific definition of the genre in order to maintain consistency with previous studies (e.g. Messenger Davies and Corbett 1997; Buckingham et al. 1999; Ofcom 2007). Preschool programmes may contain drama, puppetry and/or factual segments and usually serve a pedagogic purpose. Preschool programmes are intended to stimulate children’s learning and support their growth as members of a society. Play School and Sesame Street are classic examples of programmes in this category.

In addition, an unknown category was added for programmes of which insufficient information was available.¹⁸ In order to get a more comprehensive picture of the structure of programming on the CBBC channel, the categorisation also contains a schools category for the channel’s Class TV strand between 2003 and 2008. As already mentioned, such programmes for schools and colleges were omitted from the main channels’ schedules.

Different traditions between the two countries naturally create a problem for accurate categorisation. For instance, the classic format for children’s programmes in Finland is children’s magazine (such as Pikku Kakkonen, Lasten TV Puoli Kuusi and Veturi), containing both entertaining and factual segments, comparable to the ‘mini-schedule’

tradition of the BBC. As borders between these programmes are obscure and programme details contain insufficient information to differentiate between the segments, these programmes (typically produced by Yleisradio) were mainly placed under the preschool category because of their target audience and pedagogic objectives.

3.4.1.3.2. Categorisation of religious programmes

Religious programmes pose a greater problem for categorisation. In previous studies on religious television, religious programmes have been treated as a single entity, and their output has not been separated into different categories. Therefore, no established system of sub-categorisation exists for this genre. As there are, however, significant differences between programmes in this genre, a system of categorisation was developed for this study, consisting of four sub-categories:

18 Some imported programmes on Finnish channels in particular were unidentifiable, as their original titles had been translated to Finnish, making it impossible to establish the connection to the original programme. Unknown programmes, however, averaged just 2 per cent of all Finnish children’s programmes in the research, and less than 1 per cent of the UK programmes.

• Worship & devotion is a category for programmes of devotional and confessional nature. It includes televised broadcasts of religious ceremonies (e.g. Sunday services, religious festivals), sermons, prayers, and various religious ‘thought-for-the-day’ or epilogue styled programmes, usually given or led by a member of religious clergy. Programmes in this category aim to include the viewer in a religious act of worship, reinforce the viewer’s religious belief and strengthen the relationship of the viewer and the religious community.

• Religious magazine and music is a catch-all category of programmes comprising talk shows on religious and ethical matters, religious current affairs programmes, magazines and music (e.g. hymns or gospel concerts).

Programmes in this category are often less confessional in nature than those in the previous category and may take a more investigative look at questions of religion and matters of ethics than programmes in the previous category. The Heaven and Earth Show, Big Questions, Songs of Praise, Highway and Credo – Minä uskon fall into this category, as well as televised gospel concerts.

• The documentary category includes documentaries and factual features on matters of religion and ethics. It also includes portraits of religious figures and other people, who have religious conviction, and in which religion is a central theme. Documentaries dealing with religious groups and politicised religion are also included in this category.

• Children & schools is a category for programmes intended for religious education mainly for children and youth, but sometimes for adult learners.

They comprise of religious children’s programmes (such as Revelations, Rooted and Rowanne Pasco’s Sunday Club for Children), religious education programmes for schools and colleges, as well as Open University programmes.

3.4.2. Interviews

While the quantitative research for this study provides an accurate image of the changes in the provision of minority interest programming, it fails to provide reasons why has this change taken place. In order to compose a more detailed and extensive empirical picture of the research domain, a total of 23 interviews with former and present broadcasting executives, production executives and staff, members of regulatory organisations, professional organisations and advocacy groups in the UK and Finland were conducted for this research. These interviews serve as a source of additional evidence, confirm the researcher’s understanding of the empirical research results, fill in gaps in written sources and generally add a finer grade of detail for analysis, which cannot be obtained from other sources (Pierce 2008: 119). Selection of the interviewees and measures to overcome institutional spin are explained in more detail in the Triangulation section.

In addition to the aforementioned triangulation aspects, and taking into consideration the limitations of the study resources, the interviewees were selected so that they would cover subjects and issues not covered by previous studies. Therefore, the selection of interviewees was uneven between the cases and countries. For instance, UK children’s programming is a relatively well-researched subject, with a number of comprehensive secondary sources available. There is on the other hand less research on religious programming, making it logical to concentrate the interviews in this area. For the same reason, more interviews were conducted in Finland than in the UK.

The interviews were semi-structured and in-depth by nature. An interview guide was prepared for each interview, together with some questions, but questions and themes for discussion were tailored for each interview separately. The advantage of such interviews is that they provide enough flexibility for the interviewer to follow leads arising in the conversation, but also for respondents to steer the conversation, for example to bring in all sorts of tangential matters that, for them, have a bearing on the main subject (Hakim 2000: 35). The interviews were conducted face-to-face or over

the telephone. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. In some cases, when follow-up questions emerged, interviewees were contacted by email afterwards.