O Fenómeno das Audiências
Ana Catarina Martins Correia Soares 
1
1 ISCET – High Institute of Business and Tourism Sciences, Porto, Portugal
To cite this text:
Soares, A. C. M. C. (2012), O Fenómeno das Audiências, Percursos & Ideias, Vol. 3&4, pp. 3-12.
Abstract
Western societies have seen an increase in the universal access to mass communication, at least virtually. This phenomenon, and the assumption of an essentially playful, rather than pedagogical character, has led to an increase in its consumption, conditioned by variables such as social and cultural characteristics. This situation has shaken the desires of a certain political class and the concept of public service, which should be associated with them. Thinking in this terms today, may seem, to many, to be utopian; out of reality. The concept developed by Umberto Eco, «Paleo-TV versus Neo-TV», is here well illustrated. The mass media are now an everyday item in day to day life. The daily ritual of the media follows the daily ritual of the population. This banality is agitated by the same phenomena and events that «shake» or hold the attention of the people.
Keywords
Audiences, Mass, Media, Ritual, Consumption.