Digital media have dramatically increased the nature and diversity of the ways people can access media content, and the bias that audiences occupy a position of "reception" is giving way to an understanding of audiences as media-active. The contributions assembled here offer an expansion of the conceptual frameworks underlying the field and a wealth of research wisdom and expertise for researchers requiring a solid foundation in the complexity of "audience" and "audiences" and of existing research traditions. Placing the emphasis on technologies, theories, research methods and research pragmatics, this handbook brings together leading international scholars to provide a comprehensive overview of the complexity and diversity of audience studies.