Audiences
An individual or collective group of people who read or consume any media text. Texts are produced with audiences in mind, film producers always ask themselves 'Does it have an audience?' If yes then the producers continue to produce the film. I there is no audience then there is no profit. The mass media is becoming more competitive than ever to attract larger audiences in different ways and to stay profitable.
Katz and Blumler proposed from their research into audience behaviour that audiences use media texts for a variety of reasons.
They believed these were the reasons:
- Information- Hello magazine- this helps our knowledge or recent affairs and events.
- Personal Identity- Newspaper- Twitter as you reinforce your personal values.
- Integration and Social Interaction- Television soaps- People want a break from their normal lives to empathise with other people in similar or other situations than themselves.
Impact of New Technology on Audience
Old media which used to have high audience numbers must now work harder to maintain audience numbers.
Digital technology has also led to an increasing uncertainty over how we define an audience, with the general agreement that a large group of people reading the same thing at the same time is outdated and that audiences are now 'fragmented'.
Demographic- age, race, gender, class/status and nationality
Psychographic- interests, beliefs and hobbies
Mass audience- often termed 'broadcast audience'. Those who consume mainstream or popular texts such as soaps or sitcoms. Media and communication that targets a very large group of people.
Niche audience- much smaller but very influential. A niche audience is a small, select group of people with unique interests.
Audience research is a major part of any media company's work. They use questionnaires, focus groups, pre-film screening and spend a great deal of time and money finding out who would be interested in their product.
The link above showns me how audiences are categorized, for example:
Group A- Lawyers, Doctors, Scientists and well paid professionals
Group B- Teachers, middle management and fairly well paid professionals
Group C1- Junior management, bank clerks, nurses and 'white collar' professions
Group C2- electricians, plumbers, carpenters and 'blue collar' professions
Group D- manual workers, drivers, post sorters
Group E- student, unemployment, pensioners
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