Who is Television Audience? A Conceptual Discussion

Abstract

“Audience” is a vague concept which is difficult to define from the perspective of television studies. Various epistemological approaches within the field of communication define audience and the processes of communication in different ways. Fundamentally, the answer of who the audience is lays in the ways in which the viewing practice is understood. Television viewing practices are situated within the everyday social interaction. In this context, different ways of social interaction which emerge through new technologies shape television viewing practices to a certain extent. In this article, the conceptual evaluation of the audience in television studies, the changes in viewing practices with contemporary technologies and what this change brought to the field of television studies is discussed.