Audience Consumption Patterns Research

There are two main categories that audience consumption can fall under. The first is 'active' which means the audience are normally channel loyal. This can also be described as the audience being 'focused' which means that they are attentive and form deeper relationships with the content shown, allowing adverts to suit audience needs, which is rewarding to them as the audience consider adverts to be a creative form. With regards to Music TV, this type of viewing is normally attributed to the audience wanting to see recent music videos or their favourite artists. The other type of audience consumption is 'passive' which is used to describe content hunters and therefore partake in menu rotation. This can also be described as the audience being 'ambient' which means they treat the programmes as an audio background. This poses a problem to advertisers as they have to target an audience where repetition is tolerable, providing it is rewarding or relevant, as they are audio-triggers for half-watching audiences. With regards to music TV, this type of viewing is normally attributed to people wanting non-stop background music, or watching the music channels because there is nothing else to watch.
Music TV is seen as exploratory because it creates zones that all can explore, like a club entry with no door policy, where people can discover new music by crossing over styles and ideas. It acts as a source of new ideas, providing stimulation and social currency. This is when someone experiences being a member of a community at home, which highlights how Music TV is postmodern as it allows people to express themselves to a range of people from the comfort of their own home without actually meeting these people, eg. voting for your favourite video or texting in a message to be shown on screen.