Audiences
are vital to the people who make the media. Firstly, without an audience there
would simply be no point in the media being produced. In addition, media
producers rely on audience statistics to sell to advertisers, as a company
would not want to advertise with media that has no audience. Therefore, if the
media has poor audience, this means that the film will make no profits from
advertising, meaning that the media may have to stop production.
A piece of
media may have a poor audience for many reasons. They may have failed to
advertise the media, such as a film, using modern methods, such as billboards,
website banners and advertising on social network sites such as Facebook,
Twitter & YouTube, meaning that people won’t know anything about the film,
and that the film has been released. People tend to view the films that are
most talked about in their social groups, so it is vital that producers raise
good awareness of their piece of media.
In modern
times, there is a very competitive market, which means that ‘Old Media’ forms,
such as TV, newspapers and radio, have to work harder to maintain their
audience. Audiences have become very ‘fragmented’, meaning that they have
smaller audiences, because audiences have become ‘split’ between all the
different forms of media available.
Advertisers
categorise audiences into two group; mass audiences and niche audiences.
Programmes such as EastEnders and BBC News attract mass audiences, as these
programmes would appeal to lots of different categories of audience, from
younger viewers (teenagers and people aged 20-25), right the way through to
older viewers (65+). However, magazines such as Gardeners World and Golf Weekly
would attract niche audiences, as these magazines only attract people interested
in these activities.
Advertisers
always target a specific type of audience, based on social class, gender and
age. This helps them to make sure that they are targeting their advertising at
the right group of people, meaning that they will be in the best position to
earn the most interest out of the advertising they are selling.
There are
now many ways in which a piece of media can advertise. Social media sites, such
as Facebook, rely on advertising revenue to keep operating. The company sells
advertising using the sidebars and headerbars on their website. Organisations
can select the audience they would like to target, by their location, their age
and their gender. The video service YouTube, run by Google, also offer an
advertising scheme, and often run commercials at the beginning of video clips
for films and movies. In addition, free mobile phone and tablet apps and
websites also use advertising in the same way.
Often,
advertising agencies may undertake research to find out which audience groups
like to digest which forms of media. There are two methods of research used by
advertisers – Quantative research, where questionnaires and surveys are used and
data is gathered in a numerical form, and there is Qualitative Research, where
interviews and focus groups are used to gather data about advertising trends.
The Thriller
film genre usually attracts working class younger audiences (between ages 15 –
30), and would perhaps appeal to men more than they would women, due to some of
the graphic scenes in the film. Romantic films would also appeal to working
class younger audiences (between ages 15-30), but would perhaps attract more
women than men. Also, Sci-Fi movies would probably attract a younger audience,
perhaps children between the ages of 5 & 12, and would appeal to more boys
than girls, because many boys read magazines and play games with similar
characters. However, Sci-Fi films may also attract more middle aged people
(aged 25-50), because many parents may accompany children to the cinema.
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