audienceaudience /ˈɔdiəns/ noun 1 
the people who are watching or listening to a performance► audience
the people who are watching or listening to a performance► audience the people who are watching or listening to a performance: The audience clapped and cheered at the end of the concert. There seemed to be a lot of young people in the audience. ➔ GRAMMAR: Audience is usually followed by a singular verb: The audience was fascinated.
► spectator someone who watches a sports event, especially with many other people: More than 10,000 spectators came to see the football game.
► crowd a large group of people. Crowd can be used about a large group who have gathered to see or listen to something: A crowd of 43,000 cheered as the Giants won.
► listener someone who listens to someone else give a speech: The speaker made his listeners laugh many times.
2 the people who watch, listen to, or read something in newspapers, on television, etc.► audience the people who watch a television show, read a particular book, website, or magazine, or listen to a radio show: The show attracts a regular audience of 20 million people.
► viewer someone who watches a television show: The Academy Awards are watched on television by millions of viewers around the world.
► reader someone who reads a particular newspaper, magazine, or type of book: The book was very popular with young readers.
► listener someone who listens to a radio station or show: Danny is one of the millions of listeners who hear our show every day.
► readership, viewership, listenership the group or number of people who read a particular magazine or newspaper, who watch a particular television show, or who listen to a particular radio station or show. These words are used mainly in news reports or in business: The newspaper has a readership of more than 500,000. Fewer people are watching the news on television, and viewership is steadily decreasing.