LO4: Understand the target audiences of media products.

  Demographics

A- age

E- ethnicity 

G- gender

C S- class status

H- hobbies

I- interests

L- life style

BBC Radio 1: BBC Radio 1's age range is younger (15-29) as it more predominantly features popular music and younger diverse presenters. It targets a large variety of people and has a more mainstream audiences, it appeals to all ages and genders. 

BBC Radio 4: Their target audience is within an older age range (56 average age) as the schedule features more content that older people would be interested in/don't hear about otherwise. Such as news, weather forecasts and peoples stories. 

BBC 3: BBC 3 is aimed at younger (aged 16-34) covering all genres animation, comedy and current affairs.

BBC 2: mixed genre channel appealing to a broad adult audience with programs of depth and substance.

RAJAR: RADIO JOINT AUDIENCE RESEARCH

BARB: BROADCASTERS AUDIENCE RESEARCH BOARD. 

NRS: RESEARCH FOR PRINT. 

What is BARB? They are in control for audience ratings for broadcasters such as BBC, ITV and SKY. Factors their research focus' on is: Who is watching and who are they watching with?, what are they watching?, when are they watching?, which screen are they watching on?

Four different ways programs are used are: TV set (millions), PC(thousands), Tablets(thousands), Smartphone(thousands). 

I'm a Celebrity: Get me out of here! was the most viewed on a smartphone because it is entertainment for all ages, so anyone can watch. It is interactive and portable.

BBC 1 showed programs that are classed as political, whereas ITV showed programs that are more entertainment based. 

What is RAJAR? 'Radio Joint Audience Research' measures radio audiences in the UK such as BBC radio. 

18% of people who use voice activated speakers use it to listen to the radio everyday. This can help Radio companies as they can tailor the radio experience to people who use activated speakers. The use of activated speakers helps to suggest what social class they are and that they have a higher disposable income.

John Hartley (1985) - AUDIENCE REPRESENTATION

Hartley believes that institutes produce 'invisible fictions' of the audience that allows them to get a sense of who they must enter relations with meaning they must know their audience to target them effectively.

Audience profile:Visual Audiences (films and TV)

Reader Profile: Reading Audiences (magazines and newspaper) 

Dennis McQuail (1987)- USES AND GRATIFICATIONS 

McQuail identified four categories that give an insight into why audiences use and interact with media products.

1- ESCAPISM: Media products help people escape reality 

2- SURVEILLANCE: People use media products to help them find information.
3- PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS: Using media products as talking points. 

4- PERSONAL IDENTITY: Media products are used as a means of shaping their own 'sub-cultural identity'. 

Theory Task- The Quarry

The Quarry is a horror decision game where your choices decide how the night unfolds. There are multiple factors that make audiences engage with the media product that are best described by Dennis McQuails categories of 'uses and gratifications'. It is a good use of escapism as it is a video game which makes it easy to get absorbed in the world of 'The Quarry' and can be a great distraction from the real world. Another reason why audiences engage with the product is that its a good discussing point for fans to talk about which ending they got and who their favorite characters are and why. There are also queer characters that are representative of sexuality's that are not often shown in media, it can make queer people feel comfortable and represented knowing that there are people like them which is a great form of expressing personal identity.