Mass and specialised audiences, nationally and globally

Overview

Recall questions on mass and specialised audiences, narrowcasting and the long tail, public service obligations to minorities, diaspora audiences, geo-blocking and glocalisation, travelling formats, and subtitled drama on streaming services.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Define a mass audience.

   Model answer

   A mass audience is a very large and socially varied group reached by the same product at the same time, held together by nothing more than that shared consumption.

2. 2

   Define a specialised audience.

   Model answer

   A specialised audience is a smaller group defined by a shared interest, taste or identity, which a product is deliberately made to serve.

3. 3

   What is narrowcasting?

   Model answer

   Narrowcasting is aiming content at a small, clearly defined audience rather than at the largest possible number of people.

4. 4

   Why do products aimed at a mass audience tend to avoid controversy?

   Model answer

   They must appeal across a socially varied audience, so any element that alienates a section of it costs more than it gains.

5. 5

   What is meant by the long tail?

   Model answer

   The long tail is the idea that a distributor without physical shelf space can profit from an enormous number of titles each selling very little, because together they rival the bestsellers.

6. 6

   Explain why online distribution favours specialised audiences.

   Model answer

   Holding an extra title costs almost nothing when there is no stock to store, so minority interests can be served profitably even though each one attracts few people.

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