The peculiar public of television

Should viewers of television be considered as audiences or publics? The different meanings of these two terms are discussed in relation to audience and reception studies on the one hand, and work on fan cultures, ceremonial television and migrant communities on the other. A number of theoretical positions are reviewed and it is argued that, in the end, television may produce `pretend publics' and `publics for a day', but that at best its viewers constitute an `almost' public.