PowerPoint Presentation

Industry and Audience

Director - Frank Darabont (Originally) Glenn Mazzara (from 2011)Scott M Gimple (from 2013)Creator- Robert Kirkman (Creator of the comic series)Production - Stargate StudiosDistributed by AMC (US) & Fox (UK)

Production

Directed by: Frank DarabontA French-Hungarian-American film director, screenwriter and producer who has been nominated for three Academy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. In his early career he was primarily a screenwriter for horror films such as A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, The Blob and The Fly II. As a director he is known for his film adaptations of Stephen King novels such as The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and The Mist.

Production

It is about a group of survivors from America trying to survive a zombie apocalypse.

The Walking Dead is a TV show (originally based off of the comic series by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore)

The Walking Dead Comic series started in 2003 and is still continuing with the 163rd issue being released in February 2017.The comic has such as loyal following the comics have become collectors items

Existing Fan Base

Comic-Con 2010

Video from Season 1 Blu-Ray Making of feature

In the marketing drive that took place before the television airing of The Walking Dead, the role played by Robert Kirkman was interesting. The show was previewed at San Diego Comic-Con in Summer 2010, a huge annual event that draws large numbers of comic book fans, and attendees were given access to AMCs production team and cast. Kirkmans proximity to the new venture was used as an anchor of authenticity, whilst also pointing to the author function of Frank Darabont, and the potential offered by being able to create a new iteration of The Walking Dead, one that was not beholden to the comic. 6

Same but different?

Video from Season 1 Blu-Ray Making of feature

Clearly, the potential audience were primed for the type of textual changes we might expect from an adaptation, yet the attempt to shape expectations and audience response sometime slipsHere Kirkman struggles to articulate the similarities and differences

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The show follows the main character, Rick Grimes, a sheriff from Atlanta, Georgia as he gets into an accident and ends up in hospital, waking up to find that the world around him had completely changed. He has no idea where his family is or what exactly has happened.

The show first aired on AMC in America on 31st October 2010 (significance of date?)

The UK then aired it from Fox on 5th November 2010.

Both countries aired season 1 at 10pm but then moved the subsequent seasons to 9pm. Why?Background/Context

Genres: Post-apocalyptic, Zombie apocalypse, Horror, DramaSeries Premier: October 31, 2010Filming Location: Atlanta, GeorgiaStarring: Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Jeffrey DeMunn, Steven Yeun, Chandler Riggs, Norman Reedus

Show Profile

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Each episode costs around $2.75m to produce Hollywood ReporterAccording to Variety, The Walking Deadhas become so popular that it's now the most expensive scripted series to buy 30 seconds of ad space during, even over CBS' juggernaut of a comedy, The Big Bang Theory.Budget

Advertising

There are about 18 minutes worth of 30-second commercials during a single episode, that means AMC makes about $11 million off an episode. Subtract the amount of money it takes to produce an episode $2.75 millionthat means that AMC is profiting a healthy $8 million every week off of TWD. Not bad!Profit

Launched October 1, 1984Owned by Rainbow mediaSister Channels: WE TV, Wedding Central, Sun Dance ChannelHeadquarters in Bethpage, New YorkAMC Stands for American Movie Classics : They are going in a NEW direction now

AMC Company Profile

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Cultivates and grows viewership by developing or acquiring new programming to attract viewers to its television propertiesMainly targets the networks to specific demographic groups or niche interests, such as women and film fans. Enables the company can deliver specific audiences that advertisers want to reachAMC: The Brand

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HBOShowtime NetworksTurner BroadcastingA&E NetworksABC FamilyBravoDiscoveryFX NetworksiN DEMANDMTV NetworksSpike TVStarzSyfyUSA Network

AMC hit the ratings mother lode in the fall of 2010, when it launched The Walking Dead. During its debut the series produced some of the highest ratings in AMC's history, dominating the coveted adults 18-49 age group.Hoovers Company Records on AMC

Also Competing for 18-49 adult Viewership on Sunday NightsKey Competitors

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Series 1 was given a BBFC film rating of 15 due to containing strong bloody violence and gore.While the subsequent series are rated 18 due to the constant violent scenes, excessive gore, sexual threat and some nudity. This means that it can only be shown after the 9pm Watershed in the UK due to the fact that children could come across it on some channels. BBFC

28 Days Later Intertextuality

Night of the Living Dead

Intertextuality

Dawn of the DeadShaun of the Dead

Intertextuality

I Am Legend

Episode 1 Days Gone Bye

Viewing figures

Series 1Only 6 episodes were planned for series 1 and due to the time slot of 10pm it still attracted from 5.35m viewers (episode 1) to 5.97m viewers for episode 6.The second series was aired one hour earlier and due to the popularity it saw the viewership increase to almost 9m at the end of the second series.

Target Audience? Demographics age/gender/socio-economics?

Who would take a Preferred, Negotiated & Oppositional reading?

Uses and Gratifications?

Young and Rubicam?

Mass/Niche?

Active/Passive?

Two Step Flow theory?

Hypodermic Needle?Audience Concepts

Highest-rated telecast for any scripted drama in basic cable history among Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49Ranks as the number one scripted drama with adults 18-49 in basic cable history

Viewership

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Audience Demographics

http://adage.com/article/trending-topics/amc-s-walking-dead-eating-television-alive/230644/ - Dumenco's Trendrr Chart of the Wee33