Audiences

Mainstream- Something aimed towards a mass market (the majority of people). Targeted to a broad range of interests. Mainstream also appeals to lots of different audiences.

-X Factor is a mainstream show.
-Drake is a mainstream artist.

Niche- Aimed towards narrow demographic.

- Spongebob is a niche market

More things are being made so there is becoming more and more access.
Shows that have been around for a long time which were niche are becoming more and more mainstream.

Narrowcasting: Aiming programmes at specific and specialist audiences as opposed to broadcasting to 'mass' audiences.
- Youtube is specifically  narrowcasted on the internet for users who want to watch any type of video.

The Long Tail- is that our culture and economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of "hits" (mainstream products and markets) at the head of the demand curve and toward a huge number of niches in the tail.

Different channels are easy and cheaper to make. This is why niche channels are becoming increasingly popular. 

Barb data

Barb stands for Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. The collate viewing figures for all the major UK broadcasters such as BBC, ITV and Sky.

ITV barb figures show that there around six and half million people watching X Factor per episode.
In 2010 the Factor had nineteen million views. This shows that more people are watching niche. 

ITV overnight figures come out the next morning. Low viewing figures means there have been less adverts watched. This means that they will be making less money. 

BBC need high viewing figures to prove to the government that they are worth the money that is being spent on them.

Viewing figures will also help to see wether a shows creative decisions are working. Doctor Who has had a consistent number of viewers from series1 all the way through to series 7. From series 8 to 10 they introduced a new actor to be the doctor (Peter Capaldi). This shows that Doctor Who should consider a new doctor. 

Demographics- In which media producers study the breakdown of their target audiences based on variables in age, ethnicity, gender, economic status/class, level of education, hobbies and interests  and lifestyle choices.

Psychographics- Profiling of audiences based on personal beliefs, values, interests and lifestyle.

Demographics

Media is categorised. Football is aimed towards men. The Kardashians is aimed towards women.  Prison Break is aimed for both men and female. 

There are demographics for a media text. Age. Call of Duty is for 18 to 50 years old. Spongebob Squarepants is for 3 to 10 year olds.  
The Inbetweeners is for people who are 13 to 30. This is because this are the people who are school kids or have finished school not too long ago.

Race- The boondocks, this is for mainly the black race. Citizen Khan, is mainly for asian viewers.

Ethnicity- Friday night dinner is made for Jewish viewers to watch and relate to. Citizen Khan is aimed towards the muslim race. Documentaries may also target a specific ethnicity.

Spending Power- This is disposable income is money left over after tax and bills.  Pay day loan adverts target those who have a low spending power. They are during the day because these people are sat at home during the week without a job.

Hobbies- These are programmes aimed towards a specific hobby. For example, Football.

Target Audience - NRS

This graph shows that women watch more TV then men. This may be because that men tend to work longer hours.

The graph also shows that as people get older they start to watch TV more. This is may be because as people get older they have more and more free time. This could be because they stop doing exercise and do shorter hours on their jobs as they get older.

During the beginning and end of the year there are the most viewers. This is because during this time (January to December) people spend Christmas time with their family and stay in doors because of the cold weather.