2. ‘No-one ever lost money
underestimating the intelligence of
the audience.”
- P.T. Barnum (American show business entrepreneur)
3. How may audiences of
today be different to
audiences of earlier
centuries?
4. Modern media
audiences are
different from
audiences of
earlier
centuries in 7
different
ways.
Media audiences are usually located in the privacy of their own home or
car. The exception is the cinema, which is a public space.
The audience is unobservable because it is so large and fragmented.
The idea of a media audience is like the idea of ‘society’ or ‘normality’.
It is vague, debatable and hard to pin down.
Media audiences may be audiences for a particular medium, text or
genre. Audiences maybe defined to some extent by the media
product they consume. Soap opera audiences are not the same as
audiences for computer magazines. Players of online games are a
different type of audience from viewers of reality programs, even
though the membership of the two groups may overlap.
5. Modern media
audiences are
different from
audiences of
earlier
centuries in 7
different
ways.
Audiences may be a product of a particular institutions or technologies. The
audience members of a public service broadcaster or of a subscription
television channel may be the followers of the institutions themselves.
Some people are fans of the discovery channel. Similarly, the internet has
created communities of audiences that cross national boundaries.
Sheer size can define some media audiences. Almost the entire world has
seen images of the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Approximately one-third of
the world’s population has seen at least one of the StarWars films.
Being a media audience is one sign of citizenship. Membership of modern
society requires citizens to be well informed, and for many the media are
the most significant source of information. Watching the news and
television is therefore an act of citizenship.
Media audiences are multiple. Because of the sheer scale of media
audiences, it is impossible for them to behave as one. Media audiences
are made up of thousands of subgroups sand individuals in these groups.
Each audience member is watching for a different reason.
6. ActiveAudiences
Depending onage,
race,gender,
communityidentity,
educationandsocial
class, eachperson
understands things
slightly differently.
However, the greatest
influence onaperson’s
understanding ofthe
mediatext is their life
experiences.
There are five ways in which an audience can be judged to be active:
Selective: An audience can be described as active if they exercise choice.
The greater possibility of choice, the more potential there is for an active
audience. Active users are also more likely to choose particular types of
programs that fit with their own individual world view.
Practical Users. Active audiences use their media choices for particular
purposes. For instance, someone reading a stock market report in financial
newspaper is an active audience member. Someone who watches a film to
talk about it with a friend the next day is equally as active.
Aware/Intentional. Someone who thinks about what they consume in the
media, and who processes information can eb regarded as an active
audience member.
Resisting Influence. Active audience members cannot be influenced
unless they want to be. Active audiences make personal choices about
whether they let a text change their thinking or not.
Keenly involved. Anybody who is ‘caught up’ in things is involved and
active.This could mean they are extremely interested in a political debate,
or really frightened by a horror movie.The degree of activity might well be
the same even if the text is different.
7. What can we
consider
NICHE
content?
When looking at modern audiences we should simultaneously be
looking at modern media, as we know our viewing experienced
has changed so much over the past ten years or less.
Do audiences want a wide selection of content that they may be
attracted to through genre, stylistic and aesthetic conventions, via
streaming services like Netflix and Disney+?
Are these niche audiences more inclined to seek out quality media
content, thought provoking and visual pleasing in nature?
Could we consider audiences who follow Christopher Nolan to
still be niche audiences?
