Audiences Blog Post #10

Audiences

Blog Post #10

What is an audience?
An individual or collective group of people who read or consume any media text.

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 (women, men, children, adults etc.)

Friends would be categorized
as a Mass Audience

Welcome to the punch (2013)
Theatrical Poster

Niche Audience: A niche audience is much smaller but very influential. A niche audience is small, select group of people with a very unique interest. An example of a film which is aimed towards a niche audience is 'Welcome to the punch' - (2013), which is about an ex-criminal Jacob Sternwood who is forced to return to London when his son is involved in a heist gone wrong.


Why are audiences important?

Audiences are important for various reasons, firstly without audiences there would be no media, secondly the mass media is becoming more competitive than ever to attract more and more audience in different ways in order to stay profitable. Also media organizations produce media texts to make profit this means that no audience will result into no profit which could potentially lead a company to bankruptcy.

How audience use media and the gratifications they receive from it:

The belief that audiences passively receive messages is long gone.

Theorist Katz and Blumler discovered from researching into audiences that there were three main elements that provided audiences with either gratification or encouraged the use of

1) Information
Using sources such as newspapers to retrieve information about current events which satisfies curiosity gaining a sense of security through knowledge.

2) Personal Identity
Reinforcement for personal values, this is to find models of behaviour, insight into one's self. For example Twitter can reinforce your own values by only following that certain criteria in which you are relating to.

3) Integration and Social interaction
Insight into circumstances of others; social empathy, identifying with others and gaining a sense of belonging, interaction,  enabling one to connect with family, friends and society. For example someone may tune into a TV drama so that they can relate and reinforce into their own lifestyle.

Impact of technology to audiences:

Old media: (TV, Print, Radio) which used to have high audience numbers must now work harder to maintain audience members.

Modern media: 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: - Audience, however relating to age, race, gender, class/status and nationality.

Psychographics: This is more to do with audience pleasure; such as interests. hobbies and beliefs.

Audience Research:

Audience research is a major part of any media company's work. They use questionnaires, focus groups, pre-film screenings and spend a great deal of time and money finding out who would be interested with their product.

Audience and groups:

Group A:

• Doctors
• Scientists
• Lawyers
• Well paid professionals

Group B:

• Teachers
• Middle management
• Fairly well paid professionals

Group C1:

• Junior management
• Bank clerks
• Nurses
• 'White collar' professions

Group C2:

• Electricians
• Plumbers
• Carpenters
• 'Blue collar' professionals

Group D:

• Manual workers such as;
• Drivers
• Post sorters

Group E:

• Students
• Unemployed
• Pensioners                              

Source(s); http://www.thinkbox.tv/server/show/nav.914