Stuart Hall and reception theory

This video outlines reception theory, which is often attributed to Stuart Hall. It argues that producers use media language to encode meanings within media products, which audiences can then decode and negotiate in a variety of different ways.
Audiences may agree with the preferred reading of the product, in other words they will agree with the ideology of the producer. The audience also may disagree with the producer's ideology and form an oppositional reading of the product. It is most likely, however, that the audience will negotiate the message of the producer, and will agree with certain ideological aspects while rejecting others.
Reception theory is exciting, as it suggests that audiences have agency and can make their own decisions based on their own life experiences. Therefore reception theory is an active audience theory, and is a world away from passive audience theories like Bandura's effects model and Gerbner's cultivation theory. Maybe audiences are not mindless zombies after all!