Les Revenants Exam Question

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"It is essential for a TV programme to simultaneously target both mass and specialised audiences"

Explore this statement with reference to Les Revenants


The French TV show 'Les Revenants' is a thriller/mystery show that has been marketed to both French speaking and English speaking audiences under the title 'The Returned' in 2014. It was produced by a French TV company 'Canal+' and was initially only available via their premium subscription before being released onto DVD for purchase.

Les Revenants targets both mass and specialised audiences, they have achieved targeting mass audiences through their use of marketing. They have marketed the TV show not only in French to attract the French speaking population in not only France but French speaking countries such as Canada. In addition to this they produced an English subtitled version under the translation 'The Returned'. This targets another mass audience of English speaking people in countries such as the UK, America and Australia. In addition to this it was vital that Les Revenants targeted more specialised audiences. For example, Mogwai were chosen to produce the soundtrack for the TV show, of which targets a more specific rock audience who may have not been previously interested in the show but are now attracted to the show because it features a band they are fans of.

Furthermore, specialised audiences are attracted to 'Les Revenants' through the use of genre hybridity. Strictly speaking it is a zombie show, as the audience is shown as scene where Camille plunges to her death of a school coach on a field trip. However, she is then seen to be coming back to life 4 years later and coming home acting like a normal 15 year old girl, dressed in the same mise-en-scene of the costume she died in. This is an atypical representation of a 'zombie' and would attract horror fans to the show as well. A mass audience would have a negotiated reading to this, as suggested by Stuart Hall in his Reception theory. They would be confused by the genre hybridity as they may have simply been attracted to the show because they thought that one of the characters, for example Simon, was attractive and thought that perhaps it was a drama TV show. They may have been confused by this as the trailer shows the scene where Simon comes back to life after committing suicide and leaving his Fiancee at the alter - this is not typical of a zombie TV show.

Another way 'Les Revenants' targets a specialised audience is through the shows funding. An Alps conservation company provided the show with a significant amount of funding for the show to have the mise-en-scene of being set in the Alps of France - this was done specifically for audiences to see the picturesque representation of the Alps in the TV show and then decide they want to book a holiday in the region. In addition to this it would provide tourism for superfans as they may want to visit the locations that the show was filmed at and go there to take pictures that they will post on social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram.  This provides free marketing of the show to not only the producer of Les Revenants but also the Alpine company.

In conclusion, it is very important for TV shows to target both mass and specialised audiences as it provides an extra opportunity for additional revenue from the show due to the show appealing to a much larger audience especially as TV shows now have more competition due to online streaming services such as Netflix.

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