Audience

• Hypodermic needle theory: This states that the mass audience could be 'injected' with messages created by media producers.

• UK age rating, USA age rating

• Hall and Holmes (1998): "Any media text is created for a particular audience and will usually appeal most to this particular target audience"

• Blumler and Katz (1974) suggested that there are 4 possible reasons why an audience might consume a media text:

- Entertainment

- Information/Surveillance (information gathering e.g. news, weather reports, holiday programs etc.)

-Socialisation 

-Personal relationships (using the media for emotional and other interactions e.g. soap operas for family life or the cinema for a social event)

Types of audience:

• Mass audience: Large mainstream audiences who consume mainstream or popular culture (Marxist would claim this audience is largely made up of the 'working class' such as Eastenders, Hollywood films, Premier Football etc. High culture is usually associated with broadsheets, ballet, operas and BBC 4. 

• Niche audience: Smaller than a mass audience but usually very influential e.g. those Marxist would define as upper/middle class who controlled the media may wish to see ‘high culture’ programs hence the launch of BBC Four for those who wish to hear or see artistic high culture programs. Niche audiences don’t have to be this group, they can be any small dedicated group who advertisers feel are worth targeting products for. Examples include, 'adult movies', fishing magazines, farming programs.

The impact of age ratings in the contemporary film industry

When creating an audience demographic, a film production company commonly looks at 5 things: age, gender, nationality, race and interests. This is used in many forms of media, and helps them decide who to aim their products at. In 1998, Halls and Holmes stated that "Any media text is created for a particular audience and will usually appeal most to this particular target audience”. In the film industry, a film needs to be targeted at the correct audience in order to gross a profit. Because of this, a lot of money is funded into audience research, especially by Hollywood who have the financial advantage over the British film industry. Many Hollywood films target a mass audience, whereas British films are usually pitched at more niche audiences. Dowey (2003) suggests "the UK should produce more commercial products but should not stop producing art-cinema productions". This is a valid point, because the British film industry usually do exceptionally well with creative films, but we also need films that made exceptionally large profits in order to be on a more level playing field with the Hollywood film industry.


The Hypodermic Needle Theory was constructed by a group of social scientists, who believed that the mass audience could be 'injected' with messages created by media producers. Some critics believe that there is an element of truth to this model, hence why certain products are banned and age restrictions exist. Age restrictions are put in place due the fact that young children are gullible and easily influenced e.g. seeing a violent film may make them want to be violent to others. This theory is not factual, and the idea that the media 'brainwashes' people has little evidence to support this notion.

Statistically, 15 - 24 year olds are the most frequent cinema goers, making up around 47% of total cinema admissions. This is due to the fact that those belonging to this age group have the most  leisure time and money. Hollywood take this into account when rating films, which is why many of them are 15s and very few are rated 18. Hollywood also make PG and 12 rated films, which widens their audience and appeal to families with young children. However, in the 1990s, many British film makers ignored this research and gave their films (such as Trainspotting, Snatch etc.) 18 ratings, which means a large % of teenagers cannot see these films, and many adults were put off as they thought that because the films had the highest age rating possible, they would be too violent/gruesome for them. Doing this narrowed the audience demographic, therefore giving Hollywood the advantage because they produce a variety of films that appeal to a range of audiences as well as lowering the age range for many of their films.

However in more recent times (2000-2016) the British film industry have created more films that appeal to mass audiences. Although these films have to involve Hollywood as a production/distribution company, they are still financial successes for the British film industry. Examples of these British successes would be James Bond, Harry Potter and Love Actually. This does not negatively affect creative art-type British films, which are still being made to cater for niche audiences who do not enjoy Hollywood films made for 'straight, middle class white audiences' (Medhurst, 1997).

In my opinion, I agree with age ratings for films, especially in the knowledge of how children are easily influenced by what they see around them. Therefore if they see violence/fighting of any kind this may make them want to fight their peers to 'show off'. This loosely links in with the Hypodermic needle theory, because the media is expressing something that children may want to copy. The media also has power over young girls in terms of body image, because they are giving them unrealistic expectations on how society wants them to look. This links back to my previous point - there needs to be restrictions on what young children are able to see. Having these age restrictions warns people what the film contains and why it may not be suitable for certain audiences.