Television audience research revisited: Early television audience research and the more recent developments in television audience research

This article argues that early television audience research (using the normative paradigm) did not give a clear understanding of the complexities of television and its audiences and suggests that audience research based on an active audience paradigm is the key to understanding television and its audiences. In this regard, this article argues for the use of ethnographic analysis of audience reception and a mixed method approach to audience research.