Audience

The 'Uses and gratifications' model suggests audiences watch certain things for a various number of reasons.
Diversion- To escape from everyday life.
Personal identity- To create their own identity from characters or celebrities in media text. Entertainment- As a mean of relaxation, enjoyment and emotional release. Purely watched for the 'fun' of the experience.
Surveillance- To gain information and knowledge.
Personal relationships- Use the media text for emotional and other interaction, for example, substituting soap opera's for family life.

Three theories I now know are: identification and sensitisation, cultivation and reception. The identification and sensitisation theory is split into two parts;
Identification: The idea that if you see a reflection of yourself in a character, you are more likely to change your behaviour.
Sensitisation: if you recognise something that has happened to you from a film/source of media, you are more aware and likely to do something about it.

Cultivation: a general idea that if something is seen enough in TV programmes and movies, it is more acceptable or understandable if it happens in real life.

Reception: a readers response to something. For example, if the readers share a cultural background, they will interpret the text in a similar way.