Audience Theory

1. Audience research.
What is it and Why is it so important?
As a watcher of TV
News,
Write down what you as
a viewer expect and
prefer in a news
broadcast.
A title sequence – something that is
easily identifiable to the area the
news is broadcasting about.
Use of
technology Lunchtime/evening
news
Use of hard/soft
news stories
Something
which you can
watch as a
family – all can
be informed
ITV/BBC News
These are two
established
broadcasting channels
– they are also
convenient as most
audience members
watch these channels.
Short/Long
broadcasts
Presenters
dressed formally
To be informed
about local affairs
Headlines
Personal stories
Up to
date/current
Good news
storiesIdentifiable
It should
educate you

2. Ofcom:
What is Ofcom?
The Office of Communications is the independent regulatory body that
oversees the communications industry, including the distinct areas of
telecommunications and broadcasting.
Ofcom has two general duties that are set out in the Communications
Act; to further the interests of citizens and to further consumer interests
in the relevant markets, by promoting competition where appropriate.
Interesting Ofcom facts:
- Number of UK homes with digital TV - 96.2% (2012)
- Number of TVs in the UK - 60m (2011)
- Number of minutes of TV people aged 4+ watch each day - 242
(2011 average)

3. Ofcom:
Facts & Figures for Local TV News Viewing
According to Ofcom’s data it suggests that local TV news is still as popular and
relevant today as it was in the past. Local TV news is still extremely popular,
however it seems that the BBC news still gets the most views. Using this data, in
my research I will carry out research on local BBC news programmes. The BBC
may be the most popular as it is more established than other broadcasters and
also doesn’t have any advertisement breaks which may entice the audience to
watch it on that channel as oppose to ITV etc.

4. Accessing local TV News
This data from Ofcom shows which nation has the most people interested
in local TV News. From this data it shows that local TV News is most
popular in Northern Ireland, as they access it the most.

5. Accessing local TV News – By
age
From this data it is evident that over 55’s watch local TV News more
than any other age category, 20% watching more than 16-24 years
old. In a complete role reversal, 16-24 year olds access TV News via
social media more so than any other age group.

6. Audience Theory: Hypodermic Syringe
What effects do media texts have on
audiences?
o The earliest idea was the Hypodermic model. This was the
suggestion that a mass media audience was passive and
inactive – which meant that they just excepted everything on
face value.
o Members of the audience were seen as merely consuming
media texts. It was thought that this did not require the active
use of the brain, which isn’t what is believed now.
o It was thought that a mass audience just accepted what they
saw/were told as the media were seen as powerful and able
to ‘inject ideas’ into a mass audience.

7.  John Fiske came up with idea of Semiotic Democracy.
He defined the term as –
"delegation of the production of
meanings and pleasures to viewers.”
 Fiske discussed how rather than being passive audience members
that absorbed information in an unmediated way. We the viewer
actually give our own meanings to shows watched which sometimes
can differ substantially from the meaning intended by the shows
producer.
Audience Theory: Counter Argument
to Hypodermic Syringe- John Fiske

8. Audience Theory: Counter Argument to
Hypodermic Syringe- John Fiske
 Michael Madow provides the following description of the scholarly tradition in which
Fiske works:
"Cultural populists," . . . generally view popular culture as contested terrain in which
individuals and groups (racial, ethnic, gender, class, etc.) struggle, albeit on
unequal terms, to make and establish their own meanings and identities.
As the populists see things, the consumers of cultural commodities (movies, songs,
fashions, television programs, etc.) neither uniformly receive nor uncritically
accept the "preferred meanings" that are generated and circulated by the culture
industry.
To varying degrees, depending on their social location and sophistication,
consumers "resist" or even subvert these meanings. They "recode" cultural and
even industrial commodities in ways that better serve their particular needs and
interests, and "rework" them to express meanings different from the ones
intended or preferred by their producers.
(from "Private Ownership of Public Image: Popular Culture and Publicity Rights," California
Law Review, Volume 8)
 This is essentially stating that audiences place their own meanings
onto media texts as a result of their own preferences and experiences
within our own lives.

9.  Fiske went on to co-author the number one selling book
entitled ‘Reading Television’ with fellow media theorist John
Hartley.
 Hartley stated…
“Invisible fictions of the audience which allow the
institutions to get a sense of who they must enter into a
relationship with.”
 Essentially stating that producers must know their target
audience to be able to effectively target them.
Audience Theory: John Hartley
‘The Hartley Classification’

10.  Hartley came up with the ‘Hartley Classification’. Hartley theorised there
are seven socially grouper categories when it came to identifying
audience.
 These are:
Self – ambitions or interests of the audience.
Gender – associated motives by gender.
Age Group – stereotypically having different priorities, needs and aims in life.
Family – place in the family, e.g. parent or child.
Class – different social classes required different things.
Nation – the country a group of people come from and their style.
Ethnicity – the ethnic grouping of the audience may play a role in the choice of actors
or images.
 However, Hartley acknowledged that it is not clear to what extent these
‘subjectivities’ are equal, or whether in particular circumstances, some
may be more influential than others.
Audience Theory: John Hartley
‘The Hartley Classification’

11. Questionnaire
s
Question 11
- We come up with this
question as we wanted to
establish the position of
people in the family. We
found it was too broad to
ask whether they are a
mother/father etc and is
easier to ask what their
responsibilities are within
the family.

12. A Vox Pop is essentially a popular opinion represented by informal
comments from members of the public, especially when broadcast or
published.
They are not specialists – they are just opinions from every day
people, a representation of the people.
Vox Pops are helpful because…
-They gain public opinion quickly
-They relate to the audience as they show everyday people on TV
which the audience can relate to.
-They can also balance the story.
-They break up the story visually – add drama/add
Interest to the stories.
Vox Pops: