ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY ON TELEVISION AUDIENCE IN MEDELLIN (COLOMBIA). Habits, use and contexts of consumption

Abstract

This article presents the habits, uses and contexts of viewership consumption in Medellin-Colombia. This is one of the objectives of an ethnographic study carried out by the research group of the faculty audiovisual communication of Politécnico Jaime Isaza Cadavid. Hereby, the sense of television viewing is explored, as well the perceptions that people from Medellin have about the public and private television, in regards to the digital TV system. These results would be present in a future edition.

Families of the 16 zones in which Medellin is divided, participated in the study. The findings showed that families in Medellin watch frequently reality shows, soccer games, soap operas, series, movies, humor shows, and news. It can be heard: “Nothing than watch the small screen”, or select the Spoiler as one of the programs with highest rating in the city during zapping and zapping.

Watching TV for people in Medellin means to have a moment to share with family members or friends, where comments and critics about the programs, news or actors are recurrent topics. They use to watch TV in the afternoon or at night, however they report no to be tied to any specific program, and these do not make part of their routines, they never wait for programs or follow series neither. For younger people TV is for “desparchados”.