ABSTRACT
By and large television audiences are not terribly selective in what they watch nor do they divide radically in their preferences. Contrary to what sociologists might expect, class is not a strong predictor of viewing patterns beyond the general point that less well-educated people do more viewing. Even when one examines the audience for ‘demanding’ programmes, one does not find mayor social divisions (Barwise and Ehrenburg 1988: 26). The two sorts of broadcasting which are clear exceptions are minority language programmes and religious programmes. For a very obvious reason in the case of the former, these two types of output attract a very different response to normal television or radio programming. Instead of the ‘mass’ audience which shows little loyalty, there is a very small audience which consumes a lot of that product (Barwise and Ehrenburg 1988: 71).
