Programme code:

The General Broadcasting Code

which is otherwise called
Programme Code for both AIR and
Doordarshan prohibits the following:
(a) Criticism of friendly countries;
(b) Attack on religions or communities.
(c) Anything obscene or defamatory.
(d) Incitement to violence or anything against
maintenance of law and order.
(e) Anything amounting to contempt of court.
(f) Aspersions against the integrity of the
President and Judiciary.
(g) Anything affecting the integrity of the
Nation, and criticism by name of any person.
Audience
• Refers to the readers of, viewers of,
listeners to one or other media channel.
• Audiences are both a product of social
context (which leads to shared cultural
interests, understanding and information
to a particular pattern of media provision.
 An audience can be define by:
(media usage)
• PLACE: as in the case of local media.
• PEOPLE: as when a medium is
characterized by an appeal to a certain
age group, gender, political belief, or
income category.
• MEDIUM OR CHANNEL: the particular
type of medium or channel involved –
Technology.
• CONTENT: content of its messages
(genres, subject matter, styles).
• TIME: daytime audience, prime time
audience.
 Audience research goal
• Measuring actual and potential reach for
purposes of advertising.
• Manipulating and channeling audience choice
behaviour.
• Looking for audience market opportunities.
• Product testing and improving communication
effectiveness.
• Meeting responsibilities performance in a
number of ways (e.g. to test allegation of harmful
effects.)
 Audience As Target
• In transmission model, the communication
process is considered as the sending of signals
or messages over time for the purposes of
control or influence.
• The receiver and thus the audience, is perceived
a destination or target for the purposeful transfer
of meaning.
• Target audience, one with a specified
composition in terms of demographic and other
attributes.
 “Audience Side” Factors
• Social background and milieu: especially
as reflected in social class, education,
religious, cultural, political and family
environment.
• Personal attributes: age, gender, family
position, study and work situation, level of
income also lifestyle if relevant.
• media related needs: media as company,
distraction and information.
• Personal taste and preferences: for certain
genres, formats, or specific items of
content.
• General habits of leisure – time media
use: media are used in space as well as
time, availability in the appropriate places
to receive (e.g. at home, in trains, driving
etc). Availability also refers to the
economic potential to be in an audience,
for instant being able and willing to pay the
price of a cinema ticket or a music
recording.
• Awareness: of the choice available and
the amount and kind of information
possessed also play a part in audience
formation. More active audience
members can be expected to plan their
media use accordingly.
 “Media Side” Factors
• The media system: preferences and
choices are influenced by the makeup of
the (national) media system (number,
reach and type of media available) and by
the specific characteristics of different
media outlets.
• Structure of media provision: this refers to
the general pattern of what the media
provide in a given society, which exerts a
long – term influence on audience
expectation.
• Available content options: the specific
formats and genres that are on offer to the
potential audience at particular times and
places.
• Media publicity: this includes advertising
and image making by the media on their
own behalf as well as intensive marketing
of some media products.
• Timing and presentation: media selection
and use are likely to be influenced by
specific strategies of time, scheduling,
placement or design of content or media
message according to competitive
audience – gaining strategies.