Audience Economics: Media Institutions and the Audience Marketplace

by Philip M. Napoli

Focusing on the electronic media―television, radio, and the Internet― Audience Economics bridges a substantial gap in the literature by providing an integrated framework for understanding the various businesses involved in generating and selling audiences to advertisers. Philip M. Napoli presents original research in order to answer several key

• How are audiences manufactured, valued, and sold?

• How do advertisers and media firms predict the behavior of audiences?

• How has the process of measuring audiences evolved over time?

• How and why do advertisers assign different values to segments of the media audience?

• How does audience economics shape media content?

Examining the relationship between the four principal actors in the audience marketplace―advertisers, media firms, consumers, and audience measurement firms―Napoli explains the ways in which they interact with and mutually depend on each other. He also analyzes recent developments, such as the introduction of local people meters by Nielsen Media Research and the establishment and evolution of audience measurement systems for the Internet. A valuable resource for academics, students, policymakers, and media professionals, Audience Economics keeps pace with the rapid changes in media and audience-measurement technologies in order to provide a thorough understanding of the unique dynamics of the audience marketplace today.

Genres: School

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 28, 2003

Reviews

[Rob Fullerton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent summary of the how audiences are estimated and used in the media industry.

A bit dated at this point, as it was written before census (machine) data, machine learning, etc. were available. Still relevant for linear (esp. over-the-air) broadcast.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another one where I need a 4.5 option. Very prescient work in many aspects and the discipline of his thinking and research are excellent. Don't agree with everything in his last chapter 'look forward' but this is excellent work that I wish I'd read a while ago.