Why do people watch Xarabank? : a qualitative study on the reasons why people watch the locally produced programme Xarabank

Abstract

The locally produced programme Xarabank is by far the largest crowd puller. It has retained its huge popularity for the past four years. During these years Xarabank has tackled all sorts of topics ranging from the most serious and controversial issues, to a much lighter style of talk. This research tries to highlight the reasons why people watch Xarabank and to identify those elements in the programme that make Xarabank so popular. The data was obtained through qualitative research methods, mainly focus groups and in-depth interviews. Semi-structured open-ended questioning was used. Chapter one extensively covers what different researchers have said about the different aspects of the talk show genre in their attempt to define this genre. It gathers together the different classifications of talk shows. This chapter also presents different reasons why people watch TV, as well as a brief description of the programme Xarabank. Chapter two explains the methodology used to attain the data required for this dissertation. Chapter three deals with the analysis of the results of the different focus groups and in-depth interviews and compares the findings of both these methods. Chapter four offers conclusions, comments and proposals for further studies.