Uses And Gratifications Theory:

In 1974 researchers Blumler and Katz stated that media audiences are active and make very conscious choices about how they consume media.

They suggested that there are four types of pleasures/gratifications that audiences consume from the media...

Diversion: Escape from everyday problems and routine - entertainment.

Eastenders is a great way for audiences to escape reality as its a soap drama. they can come home from their regular daily routine and escape into a world full of different problems and scenarios.

Personal Relationships: Using the media for emotional and other interaction (e.g. developing affection for characters in TV)

Breaking Bad is one of the top Tv shows for a reason. As you continue watching you build a much stronger relationship with the characters. You feel tense as problems build up and feel as if you are part of Walter Whites family. You get to know the characters far too much and well.

Personal Identity: Finding ourselves reflected in texts or learning behaviour and values from the media. Reality TV or documentary (Educating Yorkshire) are good examples.

Jersey shore is a great example as it documents the daily outgoing, youth lives of youngsters in america that spend their days drinking, clubbing and getting together with the wrong people.

Surveillance: Information useful for living (e.g. Weather, traffic news, holiday bargains etc.)

BBC news is the prime example for surveillance, it informs us the most up to date breaking news and also tells us about the weather, traffic and other news.