Niche & Mainstream Audience

The difference between a Mainstream text and a Niche text is the audience that the text can be applied to. A Mainstream text applies to a wide range of people, sometimes because it keeps up with current trends, sometimes because more people find the text relatable as opposed to Niche texts.  Reality TV shows like 'The X Factor' and 'Big Brother' tend to be popular as a wider demographic can relate to the people they're watching, because of this Reality TV tends to be the most popular of mainstream texts. Shows like Lost and popular US drama 'The Walking Dead' also do well and attract a large audience as they use an ensemble cast. The Walking Dead for example shows characters from different ethical backgrounds, and a huge variety of ages. Especially in the latest series where the youngest character is 6 months of age, and the oldest in his 80's. Mainstream texts also seem to feature a wider range of uses and gratifications than Niche texts. People can easily identify with mainstream texts, and often people watch these mainstream texts to better integrate socially. 

A Niche text however applies to a smaller range of people, shows often apply to a very specific group of people, maybe based on age or other factors like that, but mostly their interests, a good example is Cult films that won't interest as many people who don't know about the field. As it applies to all kinds of media text, the same could be suggested for very specific types of music. Obviously, genres like pop, rock and hip hop are huge mainstream forms of music, but music like folk, dubstep, classic and grime applies to much smaller, niche audiences. A niche text can be as specific as TV channels dedicated to a specific cause, this could include Sports teams like Chelsea or Manchester United who have their own channels, Travel channels that only show very specific shows or even cooking channels.

I'd say Niche audiences give less uses and gratifications to most but Niche texts are also very time specific. Folk and Punk rock music may be considered very niche genres of music now, but in a previous time they'd be considered mainstream by most.