Audiences  

Welcome to audience theory where it is suggested that we the viewing public are the most important part of any film, TV series or other media produced. Without us  the viewing paying public your audience you have nothing .

Everyone's viewing will be different although some the same. You have households where the men might want to watch sport, football etc and the woman might want a romantic story, the younger children Disney or cartoons. This is why these days companies like Sky will offer services which allow you to view different channels in different rooms. What it does for family life I'm not sure,  but keeps everyone happy but not cohesive as a family unit . Families that work  and play together stay together. The cost involved maybe another factor too, as to whether a family can afford extras over and above a basic service from these providers. 

Audiences change and  adapt to what is presented today  With so many ways to watch these days from Amazon Prime, Apple TV , Netflix Catch Up TV how may people actually watch a programme at the time it is presented to us. There is probably no need for Video recorders to catch another programme whilst you watch another as with BBC iPlayer  you can stream it at a time that suits you and not the television company . Most of these programmes are available  for a month at least after being shown and in some cases up to12 months . On BOB for Universities you are able to call up long past series as they are stored for considerably longer than in the open market.

However if we go back in time we come to an age of the 1920's when cinema and advertising  were starting to come in to their own .

One of the earliest theory regarding audiences was known as the Hypodermic Needle Theory. The suggestion was that audiences just absorbed any material that was feed to them, whether through films, radio or advertising passively without thought of their own . In other words because they are told this , it must be correct, otherwise why would it be said.It was called this because the ideas  it were injected straight into your brain.

This theory became outdated as people started to become more active. Although some people still try to suggest that violent video games or films influence the audience to go and commit violent crime. Perhaps it might have an effect on a very small proportion of people who game, but for others I would suggest that this is a way of releasing pent up energy and tension without causing any harm to anyone else.

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Following on from this we have the 2 Step flow Theory . This worked on the premise that people didn't get they ideas straight from the media but through someone who was seen to be opinion leader who got it from the media . These  days we would call them an influencer in Instagram terms. This  is where people take on board what these people are suggesting .

It is also suggested that these days Social Media is much more of an influence on people, reading  and  forming their opinions from  Facebook, Twitter, YouTube Google etc.

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Uses and Gratification Theory  this is based on audience change, With the children of the 60's growing up and becoming adult, the way that they view Television has changed as stated earlier. They can now flick through the channels until they can find something that they want to watch from all the various options out there. This means that audiences are now active as opposed to passive in their viewing habits in deciding what to watch instead of just watching what is available on the TV.

This is then split into subcategories  

Escapism get away from the daily problems 

Personal Identity seeing yourself within the media 

Personal relationships , this can be finding  relationship which aren't real but is interaction with the media 

Education where you look to learn something from what you view

 

Video games are an exception as they are interactive and  allow the operator to make the decision  of how they want things to pan out .

The way that gamers play can also be sub divided into 4

Achievers, they want to beat the game 

Explorers  who want to find hidden areas or glitches 

Socialisers  who play for the fun of socialising with other players 

Killers who play for the general competition and  carnage they could cause 

All of the above need to be considered when making movies, TV, games as to what your potential audience will be 

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There is also another called the Reception Theory  which is based on how audiences interpret media. There can be hidden messages or the story itself.

Dominant or preferred

Negotiated 

Oppositional 

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