Importance of Media Audiences

Relationship between Audience and Media Product A media audience is the group of people who purchase a media product. It is the group that the producers are aiming their magazine or TV show at. They are important because without an audience a media product would not sell and so would not make money

AUDIENCE New Zealand has a population of 4 million; The New Zealand media industry has a population made up of over 6,000 magazine titles – 650 locally published Approximately 300 cinema screens, 200 radio stations, 45 television channels, over 100 metropolitan and community newspapers, An advertising expenditure of approximately NZ$1.5 billion annually.

Magazines For magazines the readership is important because this determines how much they can charge advertisers …….the greater the readership the more they can charge per advertisement. Magazines make money from the advertising NOT the price you pay for them.

Advertisers are also interested in the TYPE of audience that the magazine attracts. This information is called the DEMOGRAPHICS of an audience. In groups brainstorm all the different ways you could divide up the New Zealand population eg gender (Male/ Female)

..so they will know which are the best magazines to advertise in to attract buyers of their product. WHY do ADVERTISERS want to know details about the people who read magazines?

Magazine producers gather lots of information on their audiences so they can try and convince the advertisers to place ads in their magazine. What sort of information do you think advertisers and magazine producers would like to know about their audiences? Write a list in your book. Share with neighbour and add to your list.

The advertiser will have a TARGET AUDIENCE..the one that it is aiming its product at and it has to be convinced that this magazine will be reaching the largest target audience

Measuring audience.. Here are some things demographic profiles include Numbers Gender Age Spending power…different types of households eg professionals, unemployed, retirees,

Measuring audience.. Demographic profiles TAGS Target Audience Grouping System Used by ACNeilsen, a company that gathers information on audiences. Groups are based on information on lifestyle, attitude and media consumption These are called Psychographics. AC Nielsen Surveys 12,000 people aged 10+ each year to create these profiles.

TAGS..7 different groups Liberal Sophisticates – 12% of the 10+ population The Young Hopefuls – 19% The Affluent Acquirers – 7% Struggling Young Families – 12% The Comfortable Full Nesters – 10% The Settled Seniors – 13% The Lonely and Dissatisfied – 18% The Next Generation – 9%

Demographic Profile Questionnaire Create a demographic profile questionnaire that you think AC Nielsen would use to find out information about consumers. It must have at least 10 questions on it eg What is your level of education?