Paper short abstract:

This paper presents a joint analysis of consumption practices and ‘most satisfying’ experiences of archaeological viewing for a statistically significant sample of visitors to the Museum of London, London.

Paper long abstract:

This paper will present initial results from the author's doctoral research, which examines current trends and future directions of the communication of archaeology in the UK through permanent museum galleries, exhibitions and television programmes, in relation to the wider media scene.

The increasing phenomena of convergence and new media penetration are drastically re-shaping media and communication. Production and distribution processes, audiences and consumption behaviours are rapidly changing, but the modalities of these changes and their implications for the communication of archaeology remain to a large extent unclear.

In order to make sense of this fluid environment, the first necessary step is to examine how archaeology is being 'consumed' by the public through the media.

This paper will therefore discuss both consumption practices and 'most satisfying' experiences of television archaeology for a statistically significant sample of visitors to the Museum of London, London. It will contribute to illuminate the degree to which museum and television audiences of archaeology overlap and it will detail respondents' practices of archaeological viewing (e.g. through what devices? In what measure, compared to other types of media consumption of archaeology? ).

Finally, it will examine the television experiences of archaeology that were found 'most satisfying' by specific segments of the audience considered, indicating what were the programmes that provided them, what types of experiences were found 'most satisfying' and why.