captive audience
noun
: a person or people who are unable to leave a place and are thus forced to listen to what is being said
The passengers on the plane were a captive audience.
Examples of captive audience in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Last November, the agency ruled that captive audience meetings, or mandatory employee meetings typically called by employers during union campaigns, are unlawful.
—
Annie Palmer, CNBC, 6 Feb. 2025
There’s no captive audience to try to persuade because audiences are no longer captive.
—Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 6 Feb. 2025
Instead of looking away, the award show chose to use the platform and captive audience for good and a lot of singing and dancing along the way.
—Sandra Gonzalez, CNN, 3 Feb. 2025
This year, as viewers catch the Kansas City Chiefs face off against the Philadelphia Eagles, and see Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance, brands taking advantage of the huge captive audience are estimated to have paid some hefty prices.
—Bruce Gil, Quartz, 2 Feb. 2025
That captive audience made TikTok an influential player in Hollywood and on Madison Avenue, not to mention in shopping carts as viral products flew off store shelves after trending there.
—Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY, 19 Jan. 2025
In return, banks get a captive audience of consumers who are incentivized to swipe the cards not only for travel but everyday purchases as well.
—Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 5 Dec. 2024
With fans primed, the record arrived to a captive audience.
—William Earl, Variety, 5 Dec. 2024
Past unionization campaigns that occurred before the 2017 Amazon takeover, such as in Madison, Wisconsin and Tyson’s Corner, Virginia, succumbed to captive audience trainings and other effective union avoidance techniques.
—Errol Schweizer, Forbes, 2 Dec. 2024
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Annie Palmer, CNBC, 6 Feb. 2025
There’s no captive audience to try to persuade because audiences are no longer captive.
—Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 6 Feb. 2025
Instead of looking away, the award show chose to use the platform and captive audience for good and a lot of singing and dancing along the way.
—Sandra Gonzalez, CNN, 3 Feb. 2025
This year, as viewers catch the Kansas City Chiefs face off against the Philadelphia Eagles, and see Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance, brands taking advantage of the huge captive audience are estimated to have paid some hefty prices.
—Bruce Gil, Quartz, 2 Feb. 2025
That captive audience made TikTok an influential player in Hollywood and on Madison Avenue, not to mention in shopping carts as viral products flew off store shelves after trending there.
—Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY, 19 Jan. 2025
In return, banks get a captive audience of consumers who are incentivized to swipe the cards not only for travel but everyday purchases as well.
—Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 5 Dec. 2024
With fans primed, the record arrived to a captive audience.
—William Earl, Variety, 5 Dec. 2024
Past unionization campaigns that occurred before the 2017 Amazon takeover, such as in Madison, Wisconsin and Tyson’s Corner, Virginia, succumbed to captive audience trainings and other effective union avoidance techniques.
—Errol Schweizer, Forbes, 2 Dec. 2024
Dictionary Entries Near captive audience
Cite this Entry
“Captive audience.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/captive%20audience. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
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