Critically acclaimed 'Man Men', written and directed by Matthew Weiner, targets a niche audience. 'Mad Men', season 5, episode 11, 'The Other Woman', targets the preferred audience of an active viewer, who will be gratified with historical and social context of the 1960's.
The episode of 'Mad Men', 'The Other Woman', targets a niche audience due to the scheduling of the programme. 'Mad Men' has been scheduled on subscription channels which you have to pay for, in America, the programme is on AMC and in England, it's on Sky Atlantic. This reduces its audience base, due to the the channel having to be payed for to view. This means it is not on mainstream television, therefore not targeting a wide range of audiences.
Another reason why 'Mad Men' targets a niche audience is due to the gratification's it offers it's viewers. 'The Other Woman' highlights issues surrounding female rights within the 1960's, therefore only targeting an audience who are gratified by the historical context, who will be the preferred audience. This can be seen through the complex representations of the women within 'The Other Women', with Joan using her body to advance within the work place, and Peggy quitting her job due to feeling repressed. This use of representing a complex range of the results of womens rights within the 1960's will attract an active audience who is not gratified by a passive and mainstream representation. This will limit it's audience who will tale the preferred reading of the text, therefore 'Mad Men' will not target a wide range of audiences.
'Mad Men' also uses a polysemic narrative, therefore requiring an active viewer to have the gratification of decoding the text in the preferred way. This can be seen within the scene where Joan sees Peggy leaves Don's office after telling him she's quitting her job, in which the camera captures a mid-shot of Joan's expression, with the viewer being unaware of whether she's happy or not that she's going. This use of a polysemic narrative causes the viewer to have an active say in the meaning of the episode, meaning a more passive audience will not be gratified by the lack of answers and take the negotiated reading. This limits 'Mad Mens' audience who will be gratified by the text, therefore meaning it does not target a wide range of audiences.
In conclusion, I feel that 'Mad Men' doesn't target a wide range of audiences through its use os scheduling the programme on a niche channel, to limit its audience. This is done due to the text being designed to gratify a more niche and active audience through its structure and context of the series, which can be seen within the episode, 'The Other Woman'. This means that I disagree with the statement that most media texts target a wide range of audiences, due to my chosen text 'Mad Men' not doing so.
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