Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
Audience Analysis
Teaching staff
Introduction
In this course students will acquire the following knowledge:
(1) Main media consumption patterns and their potential attitudinal, cognitive and behavioral effects on end users;
(2) Main data sources of audience behavior and how those sources are built;
(3) Use of tools to collect online and offline data;
(4) Quantiative and qualitative methods applied to the study of media audiences.
Pre-course requirements
None
Objectives
The aim of the course is for students to get acquainted with main data sources to analyse media audiences, units of analysis, indicators, as well as softwares. Students will be able to analyse and interpret media audiences’ patterns by the end of the course.
Competences/Learning outcomes of the degree programme
- 06 CG - The ability to read, analyze and synthesize
- 08 CG - The ability to reflect and memorize.
- 09 CG - The ability to innovate
- 10 CG - Knowledge and mastery of bibliographic repertoires
- 16 CE - The ability to make judgments and well-argued critical assessments
- 23 CE - The ability to contextualize and critically analyze mass media products
- 24 CE - The ability to contextualize and critically analyze contemporary legal and political institutions
- 25 CE - Ability to contextualize and critically analyze macroeconomic aspects
- 38 CE - Knowledge and mastery of concepts, data, statistics and economic graphs
- 54 CE - The ability to analyze and understand audiences
Learning outcomes of the subject
- Students will get acquainted with main methodologies to investigate audiences and media outlets (both quantiative and qualitative);
- will work with real and most recent data, be able to interpret audience data, and know main strategies of audience development among media outlets.
- Students will also analyse the normative implications and effects of these strategies and decisions.
Syllabus
Topic 1. What Is an Audience?
The concept and evolution of audiences. From mass audiences to fragmented, active, participatory and connected audiences. The role of audiences within the media industries.
Topic 2. The Transformation of Media Consumption
Digitalisation and the evolution of consumption habits. On-demand, multiplatform and multi-device consumption. Social media, platformisation and the attention economy.
UNIT II. AUDIENCE RESEARCH AND MEASUREMENTTopic 3. Fundamentals of Audience Research
Key quantitative and qualitative research methods. Population, sampling and representativeness. Panels, surveys and other research techniques. Data validity, reliability and limitations.
Topic 4. The Audience Measurement Market
Audience measurement and its importance to the media industries. Key organisations, studies and data sources in the Spanish market: AIMC, EGM, Fifty5Blue, Comscore and other industry sources.
UNIT III. MEASURING MEDIA AUDIENCESTopic 5. Press, Radio and Audio
Audience measurement systems for press and radio. Key metrics and data sources. The transformation of audio consumption, podcasting and emerging measurement models.
Topic 6. Television
How television audience measurement works and its key metrics: rating, share, average audience, reach and time-shifted viewing. Interpretation of audience reports and limitations of television measurement.
Topic 7. Digital Audiences
Digital measurement methods and key metrics: users, sessions, page views, time spent, frequency, traffic sources and engagement. Web analytics, social media and digital video.
Topic 8. Cinema Audiences and Box Office Analysis
Measurement of cinema consumption and key box office indicators. Analysis of film release performance, box office trends, distribution strategies and key data sources.
UNIT IV. THE NEW AUDIENCE ECOSYSTEMTopic 9. Platforms, Streaming and New Forms of Consumption
Audience measurement across streaming platforms, YouTube and social media. Public and proprietary metrics, transparency and the challenges of cross-media measurement.
Topic 10. Audiences, Algorithms and Recommendation
Personalisation and recommender systems. Behavioural data, algorithms and content visibility. The impact of algorithmic recommendation on news consumption.
UNIT V. AUDIENCES AND JOURNALISTIC STRATEGYTopic 11. From Data to Editorial Decision-Making
The use of audience data in newsrooms. KPIs, reach, engagement, frequency, loyalty and conversion. Editorial analytics and the use of data in decision-making.
Topic 12. Communities, Participation and Audience Relationships
Participation, social conversation and community building. Engagement and loyalty strategies. Newsletters, membership models and emerging forms of relationships between media organisations and their audiences.
Topic 13. Challenges in Audience Research
Fragmentation and cross-media measurement. Platform opacity, privacy and first-party data. Artificial intelligence, algorithmic bias and the future of audience measurement.
Teaching and learning activities
In person
| TRAINING ACTIVITY | ECTS CREDITS |
| Lectures. In lectures, lecturers/professors not only transmit content or knowledge, but also, and above all else, attitudes, motivation, skills and values, etc. They also ensure that participants can express their opinions and arguments to the other students. | 1,5 |
| Coaching. Monitoring how students learn the content of the subject, either individually or in groups. In the coaching sessions, mistakes will be corrected, queries answered, and exercises and activities to achieve the established objectives will be suggested. | 0,4 |
| 0.4 | |
| Meeting Point. Meetings will be organised with notable people from the professional and scientific fields or the international field, and students. These sessions will take the form of conferences, work sessions, discussions, or interviews, etc. | 0,4 |
| Practical workshop. A highly practical working activity, where students can acquire skills that are practical or also theoretical (intellectual skills, logical skills, critical skills, intellectual learning skills, study skills, quoting skills, etc). | 0,3 |
Evaluation systems and criteria
In person
The course is worth 3 ECTS credits and is delivered on campus.
Throughout the course, students will complete a range of practical activities related to the course content. All assessed activities will be carried out in person in the classroom.
1. Continuous Assessment — 50%Continuous assessment will be distributed as follows:
- 30% – Practical audience analysis exercises. Individual or small-group work on cases and exercises related to different audience measurement systems, including press, radio, television, cinema, digital media and platforms.
- 10% – Data analysis and interpretation. Short in-class exercises based on charts, tables, rankings, reports or audience datasets.
- 10% – Current industry cases and applied participation. In-class discussion and analysis of cases related to changes in media consumption and the audience industry.
Activities may include, among others, the interpretation of EGM data, television audience analysis, box office analysis, comparisons of digital or streaming metrics, and case studies related to the audience strategy of a media organisation.
As these are in-class activities, submissions completed outside the classroom will not be accepted unless expressly authorised by the lecturer.
2. Final Examination — 50%The final examination will combine theoretical and practical components and will assess both students’ understanding of the fundamental concepts covered in the course and their ability to apply them and interpret audience data.
The examination may include:
- Short questions on key concepts.
- Interpretation of audience tables, charts or data.
- Calculation and interpretation of audience metrics.
- A reasoned solution to a practical case study.
To pass the course, students must obtain a minimum grade of 4 out of 10 in the final examination and an overall weighted grade of 5 or above.
Second Examination PeriodIn the second examination period and any subsequent attempts, the examination will account for 100% of the final grade.
Bibliography and resources
Berrocal, J. A. J. (2007). Estadística para periodistas, publicitarios y comunicadores. Editorial UOC.
Huertas Bailén, A. (2002). La audiencia investigada. Gedisa.
Neira, E., Clares-Gavilán, J., & Sánchez-Navarro, J. (2021). New audience dimensions in streaming platforms: The second life of Money Heist on Netflix as a case study. El Profesional de la Información, 30(1). https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2021.ene.13
Neira, E., Clares-Gavilán, J., & Sánchez-Navarro, J. (2024). Las claves del éxito en el streaming. Una aproximación teórico-práctica a la medición del impacto de los contenidos bajo demanda en las plataformas SVOD.
Quintas-Froufe, N., & González-Neira, A. (2021). Los estudios de la audiencia: de la tradición a la innovación (N. Quintas-Froufe & A. González-Neira, Eds.; 1st ed.). Editorial Gedisa.
Roncallo, S., Arango, G., & González Bernal, M. I. (2018). Estudiar las audiencias: tradiciones y perspectivas. Universidad de La Sabana. eLibro. Accessed 1 September 2026.
Vaca Berdayes, R. (2017). Pantalles i audiència en mestissatge. (155).
Web Resources