‘In the cinema the spectators are physically present, but the actors are a virtual presence only, unable to respond to the spectators or to adjust their performance to what might be occurring in the auditorium. They are images on a screen that remind us of the absence of that which is represented, as Susan Sontag has said of all photographic images: “A photograph is both a pseudo-presence and a token of absence” (1977, 16). With television both performers and audience have become pseudo-presence, and the absence of audience is only accentuated by shots of a studio audience, reminding those at home that they are not part of that audience. The current fashion for program presenters to sign off with phrases like “I’ll see you at the same time tomorrow night” may be intended to create a sense of presence, but it is extremely doubtful that anyone is taken in.’ (McAuley, 2003: 245f)

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