Mass Audience v Fragmented Audience

A mass audience aims to reach a large audience in means of public communication. The institution of BBC aims to 'enrich people's lives with programmes and services that inform, educate and entertain'. Programmes such as Eastenders reaches an audience of 8,675,000. This soap creates an 'easy watch' during the times of 20.00, when many have eaten dinner and sat down with their family to watch TV and relax.

Strictly Come Dancing has been suggested  to have a mass audience, creating views of 11.41 million on a Saturday evening. As a family programme, many can watch the programme without seeing the previous episode. As an opinion based show, including the four judges it allows the audience to create their own thoughts of the celebrities involved. Many will also watch the programme in order to see the celebrities they prefer and some they may even dislike to decipher an opinion on them. The age range of the celebrities allows both parent and child to recognise them. Therefore the programme provides a variety and chance for families to watch together. The date and time scheduled also suggests the targeted audience being mass with the time being 18:31 on a Saturday. The specific time targets audiences whilst eating dinner or before they go out. 

Homeland on the other hand can be seen as a fragmented audience, reaching 3.04 million viewers. Shown on Channel 4 the US show reaches a more niche audience. The genre of the programme initially defines who would watch it. As a political thriller, it may not be classed as a family programme, including sexual and violent scenes. The scheduled time of 21.00 on Sunday is a significant factor, highlighting the narrow audience who would still be awake at this time. Many would be getting ready for work on Monday. However others would choose this time to unwind or relax with a film rather than a programme that needs concentration. 
Channel 4 as an institution aims at different ethnicities as well as advertising American shows. This would particularly gain a wider audience with the variety of ethnic groups within Homeland. However many of the British public prefer  to watch British shows. 
As a TV series it would be hard to jump into episode 5 without initially watching the programme and following the narrative. This would also highlight the fragmented audience.