Radio TimesEric, Ernie & Me

Níamh Reilly

Eric, Ernie & Me

The use of the capliatlised bold title ‘Eric, Ernie & Me’ draws the readers attention towards the title. By using bold black font the editor has made a statement by contrasting the red ‘& ME’. The two colours on the title set the house style for the page, these colours being black, red and the base colour being white. The title uses sans serif font which makes the title stand out more. The font is not the main feature of the double page spread but the readers attention is drawn towards it because it has two colours in it. The use of the word ‘me’ grabs the readers attention because they feel involved and we naturally have a need for affiliation which is fulfilled through the use of ‘me’.

Eric, Ernie & Me

The byline briefly describes the content of the article, by giving an insight into what to expect when reading this article it neatly summarises it. It presents the article as informative by using the question ‘So what made Barry Cryer want to quit?’ this will catch the readers attention. By making the reader curious they are more likely to read on and it may also intrigue not only the target audience but a new secondary audience. The editor uses bold font in the byline on the name, this suggests that he is a household name and many people may be interested in him.

Eric, Ernie & Me

Just under this is there is a plug for the documentary ‘Morecambe and Wise: the Whole Story.’ So just after the summary the reader sees this and is more inclined to watch it out of curiosity. It tells you what time it’s on, which is after the water shed, this suggests that it is for an older viewer. It is also on BBC2 which could imply again that it is for an older viewer as BBC2 have an older viewership than say E4.

Eric, Ernie & Me

There are three images on the page all centered to the middle with text surrounding them, one of them is big and covers most of the double page spread, this may incline people to read it because it makes the article look short and easy to read to pass a few minutes. One of the smaller photos is of the same picture on the cover of the Radio Times in 1968, which again reinforces that the spectator would be older because it was obviously popular in the 60’s. The last picture used isn’t of Eric and Ernie at all, it is of the people who scripted their show making it seem that it is not all about the Eric and Ernie which adds another dimension to the article and thus the documentary.

Eric, Ernie & Me

Only two pulls quotes are used throughout. One is used very near the start of the article and is in red. The use of red keeps to the house style and attracts the reader as it contrasts against the white background.

The second pull quote is in white contrasting against the dark navy of Ernie's suite, it adds an interesting element to the composition of the page, because it is on his suit and he is in the third third it draws the readers attention back to the main picture. Then the use of red in the title brings back the attention to the first third, keeping the readers eyes on the page for as long as possible.