Post 12:audience

 Audience

Stuart Hall - audience research

Stuart Hall is a cultural theorist and is also the Professor of Sociology at the Open University. He studied the role of audience positioning in the interpretation of the mass media texts via loads of different types of social groups. He said that there are three different ways in which we might read a media text.  

 1. Dominant reading - This style of reader, reads the text the way the author intended it to be read,  so that the code seems natural and transparent. 

2. The negotiated reading – the reader partly believes the code and broadly accepts the preferred reading, but sometimes modifies it in a way which reflects their own position, experiences and interests. 

3. The oppositional reading – the readers social position places them in an oppositional relation to the dominant code. They reject the reading.

how do we measure media audiences?

New media

The internet is used in many different ways now a days in order to measure audiences, for example:
-Facebook, Twitter, myspace etc
-Views on Youtube and subscribers
-Forums which tell us whether the film is good or not etc.


Quantitative research

There are different Quantitative methods which are used to measure audiences. Below is a list of some that are used:
-Questionnaires (although not always reliable)
- Focus groups giving feedback


Qualitative  research
-Market research 
-Pilot testing
-Open questions to generate answers which can be interpreted in different ways.

Audience engagement 
This is how the audience engages in media and how the people react differently.

Audience Expectations 
This is the idea where audiences expect certain expectations of a particular genre. 

Audience Identification

This is when an audience feels connected to the media text as it directly links in with there life styles.

Audience Placement 
This is a way of which a producer targets a particular audience and make them feel as in its specifically for them.

Audience Research 
This is a vital part when making a successful film, as it will let the directors etc know exactly what their target audiences wants and doesn't want in a film. As a result of this quantitative research is used to find the info out via questionnaires etc. This process is used throughout the stages when making a film in order to be successful.

Unique Selling Point 
This is a unique way where is makes the audience want to go and watch the film, this makes a film unique to any other film.