Audiences

Mainstream vs Niche

• Mainstream is a media product targeting a mass audience, for example doctor who.
• Niche is a media product that is targeting a small audience such as a fishing magazine.

Definitions

Mainstream - An audience that consumes a product that appeals to a wide range of groups and cultures.

Niche - The audience of a specialist interest media product that may only appeal to a small number of people or those who fall within a specific demographic profile (e.g. age, ethnicity).

Chris Anderson: The Long Tail Theory

• First published in 2004, then as a book in 2009
• Concerns mass vs niche products and audiences

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.

BARB data can then be used by television companies to assess how well a television series is performing – compared with previous series, for example, or with rival shows on other channels.

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.

The NRS social grades are a system of demographic classification used in the UK. They were originally developed by the National Readership Survey in order to classify readers, but are now used by many other organisations for wider applications and have become a standard for market research.

Analysing Barb data

From this graph, I am able to see that during the months June and July, more people live-streamed rather then watching on demand. This is because there are two big sporting events taking place at the same time, these events being euro 2016 and Wimbledon.

As well as this, I can see from this graph that during the time of the Ryder Cup, more people watched on demand then during any of the other months on the graphs. This is because the Ryder cup was on the BBC and the BBC are very strict on streaming, meaning it was difficult for people to watch and so therefore many had to watch on demand.



From this graph I am able to see that from 8:00pm to 11:00pm, more people watch online tv on tablets compared to the rest of the time of the day. This is because it is free to watch on tablets from 8pm onwards where as it costs to watch on TV.









How someone makes a profile based on psychographic

Psychographic Information:

• - Concerned with health and appearance
• 
  
• - Wants a healthy lifestyle, but doesn’t have much time
• - Enjoys going online in the evenings, big fan of Pinterest
• - Tends to favor quality over economy
• - Finds fulfillment in her career and family
• - Values time with a small group of friends

It is important to understand your target audiences demographics and psychographics in order to reach out to them.


Why do we consume media?

• Information
• Personal identity
• Integration and social interaction
• Entertainment
• Education
• Escapism

Personal Identity

• Finding reinforsment for personal value
•  Finding models of behaviour
• Identifying with valued others (in the media)
• Gaining insight into ones self

Uses and gratifications

Information - News - radio - listen to it on BBC radio 4 each morning though never at weekends 

Personal identity - Seeing my mates, playing football and games.

Entertainment - Reality tv shows

Integration - Online poker

Education - Business Studies 

Escapism - Reality tv, music, consumed at home


Research data

• survey
• internet
• focus groups
• questionnaire
• books
• Internet searches

Research can be divided into two categories:

- Primary Research (survey, questionnaire) - comes directly from someone

- Secondary research (books, newspapers, journals, magazines) -doesn't come directly from someone

An advantage of primary research is you gain detailed responses and you can pick up on people facial expressions and body language (face to face interview).

A disadvantage of a face to face interview is that it is much more difficult to collate and people could lie.

An advantage of a focus group is that it is much more detailed and you can get more responses and you can also show the focus group things such as sketches and diagrams.

A disadvantage of a focus group is that it is difficult to collate all responses.

An advantage of internet is that you have a wider range of sources and resources.

A disadvantage of using the internet as secondary research is that not everything on there true, for example there are lies on wikipedia 

Qualitative vs Quantitative data 

Qualitative -  Typically descriptive, in-depth data used to find out how people think about a given product. This type of data can identify likes and dislikes and trends ect.

Quantitative - Data that can be measured numerically, e.g. the number of people that watch a tv show. Closed questions are yes or no questions.

Methods of conducting market research:

- Interviews

- Online surveys

- Focus groups

1. Age? - Quantitative, closed question.

2. Are you interested in watching a new talent show? - open question, qualitative

3. What would you be most interested in watching? - open question, qualitative 

4. How often do you watch TV? - Open and closed - qualitative

5. Who are you watching with?

6. Favourite genre?

7.What Tv channel do you watch most?

8. Favourite TV show?

9. Have you watched talent shows before? - Quantitive  

10. What would you like the talent show to feature?