TV AUDIENCES

Have you ever wondered what research tells us about TV audiences? Here come some results confirmed by a number of research studies in different countries.

In countries where the climate is moderate, TV audiences vary greatly between seasons. This doesn't seem to happen with radio audiences, which are much more stable throughout the year.

The programmes with the largest audiences are not always the most highly valued by the audience. If you ask people "what type of programmes would you like more of on TV?" many will say educational or informative programmes. However, the same people spend more time watching entertainment programmes.

The reasons why an audience watches a certain programme is often very different from the reasons expected by the producers. For example, young children watch situation comedies - not for amusement, but to see how relationships are in other families.

The size of a TV audience in wealthy countries is shrinking, but slowly. This slow shrinkage will probably continue, as more and more alternatives to TV become available. As for the attention paid to advertisements on TV, a number of studies broadly agree on the findings: 

About one third of the audience pays close attention to the average commercial message

About one third pay no attention at all - they leave the room, change channels, etc.

The middle third pay partial attention - they talk through the ad, turn the sound down, and so on, but are still available.

 

Adapted from audiencedialogue.net