How is Eastenders appealing to the internet generation?

In terms of Chandlers CAGE theory:

C- Eastenders is aimed at the working class this is shown through the jobs and character's that are played. These are sometimes in the form of a villain for example 'Den Watts' or as a 'typical' working class citizen such as 'Peggy Mitchell'. The mise en scene is set around a market stall, this also helps to portray the particular class of which Eastenders is aimed towards.

A- There is no particular age group which Eastenders aim towards. It is watched by many from the ages of 13-70. This is shown in the characters played. For example Lucy Beale a 15 year old girl right to Dot Cotton a 70 year old woman

G- Eastenders is a soap-opera it shows dramas and highlights of which the general public can relate to and stage it to create empathy for the characters. Like other soap operas, Eastenders lets you build up a relationship with the characters before they are either killed off or get tied up in some sort of dilemma. Soap-operas let people see real problems which happens in every ones lives without actually being involved. They thrive on the fact that people like to know what is going on in other peoples lives, without actually revealing or pin pointing one particular group.

E- Eastenders doesn't aim at any one particular ethnic group, they in fact portray different ethnic groups in true light, although sometimes exaggerated. One example of this is with a Muslim family, they have given them a story line where their eldest son is gay and how the family react to this news. - it is totally forbidden. This teaches the public things they didn't know about ethnic minority groups, and can even help turn predigests around about certain ethnic minorities. Laswells theory asks who is being represented and how. In Eastenders case, the Muslim family is mainly represented by the mother, Zainab who is very out spoken and true to her religion trying to steer her children into the 'correct' muslim way of life. One example of this is at her first born sons wedding where she finds out that he has been having an affir with a man, it shows the viewers how even though her son doesnt want to marry amira (his fiance) Zainab forces him as it would bring shame to her family. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGmNwpDDgXI&feature=related

Eastenders can now also be viewed on the internet, on BBC iplayer, means people can catch up on missed episodes, and can go on about their busy lives without having to be in at 7.30 to watch every episode http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/ Another example of the Eastenders appealing to the internet generation is the 25th anniversary of Eastenders, where the friday night episode was played out live to the nation. This was watched by an average 15.6 million people. this does not include the amount of people who catched up on bbc iplayer. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8526006.stm this is shown in the record figures section)