The Playful Audience: From Talk Show Viewers to Internet Users

This text follows a series of experiential and theoretical routes toward understanding audience use of television and the Internet. The essence of play is explored, with a focus across cultures, predominantly the East's consumption of television and the Internet produced and presented by the West. Part One discusses recent work on television audiences considering local viewers' responses to globally circulating programmes. Part Two discusses the position of talk shows as a media format central not only to understanding television's development into narrowcasting, but also the theoretical study of the Internet. The concluding hypertext shows how media and their audience-users are converging in practice and theory.