audiences

aim: to investigate the target audiences for media products

Passive audience- an audience that observes something rather than responding to it.

active audience- an audience that immediately has a response to something rather than observing it.

PSB- public service broadcaster

What are commercial programmes?- programmes televised by a commercial company that makes its funding from sponsorship, ads and product placement.

Horizontal integration- the process of a company increasing production of goods or service at the same part of the supply chain.

Mainstream- an audience that consumes a product that appeals to a wide range of people.

Niche- the audience of a media product that has a small market an only appeals to a small number of people.

Narrowcasting- aiming programmes at specific and specialist audiences as opposed to broadcasting to 'mass' audiences.

Chris Anderson: The Long Tail Theory

• Devised by Chris Anderson of wired magazine
• First published in 2004, then as a book in 2009
• Concerns mass vs niche products and audiences

1. Cinema
2. Invention of VHS
3. Availability of Freeview, satellite channels etc
4. Streaming of Netflix
5. Youtube and internet

1. BBC 1/2 ITV
2. Channel 4
3. Channel 5
4. Satellite/ freeview
5. Tivo 
6. Streaming/ Iplayer 

BARB Data

Broadcasters Audience Research Broad

They collate viewing figures for all major UK broadcasters such as BBC, ITV and SKY

Example from 2018:

Strictly Come Dancing: 9.35m

X factor: 5.39m

Source: BARB overnight figures

BARB data can then be used by television companies to assess how well a TV series is performing. Compared with pervious series, for example, or with rival shows or channels

Doctor WHO

Mainstream: the ideas, attitudes, or activities that are shared by most people and regarded as normal or conventional.

Niche: a specialized segment of the market for a particular kind of product or service.

Who are BARB?: he Broadcasters' Audience Research Board is the organisation that compiles audience measurement and television ratings in the United Kingdom. It was created in 1981 to replace two previous systems whereby ITV ratings were compiled by JICTAR, whilst the BBC did their own audience research.

Above the line ads: "ATL" stands for "Above The Line", meaning that the advertising is going to be deployed around a wider target audience, e.g. television (TVC), radio, or billboards. ... "BTL", or "Below The Line", suggests that the advertising is going to target a specific group of potential consumers.

Black Box: In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a device, system or object which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings.

Demographics: statistical data relating to the population and particular groups within it.

Psychographics: the study and classification of people according to their attitudes, aspirations, and other psychological criteria, especially in market research.