Audiences

Audiences are highly important to all media texts as without an audience the media text will not have success and not make a profit. Considering the audience aids producers in setting parameters to aid targeting the audience through casting, plot or even the opening of the tv show/film.

An audience is either a singular consumer or a group of consumers of a media text. Media organisations produce media texts in order to make a profit and without an audience they won't make a profit at all. 

Due to an increase in technology mass-media is more competitive than it was thirty years ago with the introduction of more TV channels, radio stations, newspapers, magazines and in more recent years the internet with digital media like on demand services such as BBC iPlayer and Netflix. 

Old media such as TV, radio and print (newspapers, magazines and books) used to have a higher audience but with the introduction of digital media audience has become fragmented, meaning that the audience for something has been separated, for example one part of an audience for a TV show would watch it when it airs whilst another part would wait until it is on demand (iPlayer, ITV player, All 4). 

There are two types of audience, mass and niche. 

Mass audiences are those who consume mainstream or popular media texts such as soaps, sitcoms, reality tv or popular film franchises. 

Those targeting these mass audiences have to think about a large group of people with multiple factors (women, men, children, adults.) Examples of texts targeting a mass audience would be:

• BBC News
• The Guardian 
• Antiques Roadshow 
• The One Show

Niche audiences are much smaller and restrictive audiences but very influential. A niche audience is more select and a collective of those with a unique interest.

Examples of texts targeting a niche audience would be:

• Bird watching magazine
• Walking with Dinosaurs
• Trekkies (documentary)

There are also primary audiences and secondary audiences. The primary audience would be the ones who watch, read or listen to the text with intent and the secondary audience would consume the text as a result of being present.

Demographics are characteristics that are targeted by the media industry. Demographics are characteristics there are fixed. Some examples would be: Ager, gender, nationality/regionality and socio-economic status.
The national readership surgery displays socio-economic status in A to D with A being the richest and D being people with the lowest income (unemployed, students, pensioners)