User:Khawaga/Audience Commodity

Audience commodity refers to Dallas Smythe's thesis that that in modern mass media the principal commodity that media owners sell is the audience's attention to advertisers.

Dallas Smythe's thesis first appeared in his 19?? article '?????????'. Put in a quote. Smythe's thesis has been very influential in political economy approaches in media studies.

Evidence to support his thesis. E.g. UK newspapers from manufacturing consent. The closure of magazines in US with huge circulation but closed due to lack of advertising. The cancellation of Murder She Wrote that although it had good ratings and got relatively good reviews, it was cancelled because its primary audience was an old and less attractive demographic for advertisers.