Can Channel 4's programme Gogglebox be viewed as a social commentary on today's society? Through discussion and analysis of the ritual of viewing TV, the content of the programme and whether the programme acts as a social voice, can this offer an explanation as to why Gogglebox the programme has gained more than two million viewers over the past three years?

4 ABSTRACT This dissertation has aimed to demonstrate that Gogglebox can be viewed as a social commentary on British society today. Through discussion and analysis of the ritual of viewing TV, the content of the programme and the social voice, these can offer explanations as to why Gogglebox the programme has gained over two million viewers over the last three years it has aired. Two selected episodes of Gogglebox were then textually analysed with Alan Rubin theories on specific viewing types and David Morley's theories on the family and the domestic living space as the ritual for viewing TV. The outcomes of this research is that the family as a symbol act as cultural indicator for shared social values and that the audience at home, established as Instrumental viewers according to Rubin's theory, view Gogglebox in order to feel connected, to learn about others but most importantly for what they learn about themselves. Gogglebox emphasises happy and healthy relationships of the different participant families to which the audience at home can relate to and learn from. The ritual of viewing TV as a collective family has demonstrated how TV can cause a social interaction and provoke conversation between family members. This research has also provided James Lull's theory on reality TV programmes producing role model figures which has been argued that Gogglebox displays these figures for social learning. Therefore this research has argued that Gogglebox can be viewed as a social commentary on British society today.ba_dapunpub1899_ethesesunpu