Industries, Texts & Audiences

1. Industries, Texts & Audiences Unit 1.3: How Media Texts are constructed in relation to their audiences

2. Things you need to know… • How the industry thinks about its audiences. • How products are tailored to audiences. • How the industry represents its audience, other social groups or social issues of interest to its audience.

3. Why are audiences important? • Without them - why would media texts be created? • Size & reaction measure success. • People who buy provide income for production companies. • Advertising.

4. Disney • ‘High School Musical’ • Movie – DVD-stage show – ice show • CD - Stationary – Karaoke • Sticker Album – lunch boxes • Dance Mat – Dolls – clothing • Sing a long showings - competitions

5. BBC • Programmes / brands often have off shoots • educational magazine series / comics • audio books – books • DVDs • Toys – ie Tellytubbies / tweenies –

6. How the industry thinks about its audiences.

7. Target audiences • Media producers and institutions view audiences as an ‘imaginary entity’, a mass rather than individuals. They will however have a ‘typical’ audience member in mind. (len Ang: 1991)

8. Doreen • Typical listener • Age, likes, dislikes, habits, household, husband. • Educated & intelligent • Half listens • Does not necessarily understand long words or discussions. • Make sure understands and is engaged with. • Talk to personally, as if known.

9. Imaginary Entity • Subjectives used to help define the social position of the audience member: • Self image Gender • Age group Family • Class Nation • Ethnicity Education • Politics Religion • Location (geographical & local)

10. Mode of Address • The way in which a text will address or speak to its audience.

11. DEMOGRAPHICS

12. Television Scheduling • Breakfast • Daytime • Teatime • Primetime • Grave yard

13. Channel 4 Schedule

14. Audience Theories • Hypodermic needle effect. • Two step flow • Uses & Gratifications • Reception Theory • Effects debate

15. Hypodermic Needle Effect • Suggests media is capable of ‘mass manipulation’ • Audience believe what they see • Gullible audience: • War of the world s (1938 radio broadcast) • April fools – BBC Panorama spaghetti tree!!!

16. Two Step Flow Model • Paul Lazarsfeld & Elihu Katz • Mass media information is channeled to the "masses" through opinion leadership. The people with most access to media, and having a more literate understanding of media content, explain and diffuse the content to others. • They pass on their opinions and interpretations.

17. Uses & Gratifications • Jay G. Blumler and Elihu Katz • Audience has a set of needs that are met by the media. • Diversion • Surveilance • Personal identity • Personal relationship

18. Reception Analysis • Text is not passively accepted - audience interpret meaning based on individual cultural background or life experience. • Programme is encoded by the producer and decoded by the audience. • Opositional / negotiated readings • Stuart Hall – CCCS (Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, Birmingham)

19. Effects Debate • ‘Moral Panic’ [Stan Cohen 1972] • Mods & Rockers 1960s • “mass response to a group, person or an attitude that becomes defined as a threat to society” • Threat identified – panic created through press & other media.

20. Video Nasties • Jamie Bulger Murder Case 1993 • Childs Play 3 • BBFC consider influence as well as content. • Bowling For Columbine • Internet – You tube videos

21. Counting Audiences • Film: • Figures based on box office receipts. [tickets sold, then DVDs bought/ rented • [Subtract production costs to find profit = success] • Print: • Circulation [copies read] • Audit Bureau of Circulation www.abc.org.uk • Radio / TV: • Viewing figures. Sample of population, viewing/listening habits monitored for 7 days. • Broadcast Audience Research Board www.barb.co.uk • Radio Joint Audience Research www.rajar.co.uk

22. Key Audience Studies • The Nationwide Audience • Ien Ang’s Dallas Study

23. The Nationwide Audience • David Morley, 1980 • BBC Nationwide programme • Broadly based on Gramscian model of hegemonic power. • Draws on semiotics – argued that audiences worked at decoding media texts. • http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Modules/TF33120/morleynw.html

24. Dominant / Hegemonic: • Reader recognises and agrees with preferred reading. • Oppositional: • Reader recognises but rejects preferred reading (for cultural/political/ideological reasons) • Negotiated: • Reader accepts, rejects or refines elements of the programme due to previously held views

25. Ien Ang’s Dallas Study • 1985 • Reactions to and reasons for watching ‘Dallas’ • 3 response types: • Ideology of mass culture: • Watched because it was high profile piece of US popular culture • Ironic/detached position: • watch because wanted to see what other people were watching, even though knew it was ‘bad’ • Ideology of popularism: • got pleasure from watching even though knew it was ‘trash’

26. Representation • Do the media suggest to large audiences that x or y character is typical of that group, and therefore that the whole group should be viewed in certain ways?

27. Stereotypes • Negative / Positive • Coronation Street / Eastenders • Cultures - corner shop owners • Sean – Camp • Battersby family. • Hugh Grant: • Notting Hill, 4 Weddings & a Funeral, Love Actually.