In today's lecture, you were introduced to the variety of ways in which both television audiences and television producers take advantage of new media forms so as to engage with specific programmes. You were also introduced to a case study of Lost and the various ways in which audiences have engaged with this series through forms such as the internet and social media.
For this assignment, respond to this post by providing a case study of the opportunities offered by new media technologies in relation to a television series of your choice and critically reflect upon how the examples you find do/do not intersect with ideas surrounding media convergence.
For this assignment, respond to this post by providing a case study of the opportunities offered by new media technologies in relation to a television series of your choice and critically reflect upon how the examples you find do/do not intersect with ideas surrounding media convergence.
13 comments:
'''Web 2.0' or 'new media' shape the relations of public/ private, work/ non-work, home/ outside home spaces and activities.'' (Branston and Stafford 2010: p.239)
Imagine a silly alternative reality of the 21st century without other media texts but TV commercials. No radio, no internet, no newspapers, no smart phones, DVDs or CDs. No alternative media for Television. The 'statistical person' is watching the latest episode of South Park. With whom he will chatter the issues surrounding this episode? Only family and friends, so his statistical social environment.
Would South Park be as popular as it is now?
No. ''The medium is the message'' (McLuhan cited by Branston and Stafford 2010: p. 243). If there were no other medium messages except TV messages, not only South Park, but other TV shows, films, programmes would be challenged to change something in order to be watched, for example to advertise their product by making a TV commercial. However as Television would be the only source with a possibility to do that, the charges of advertising would be too enourmous for an avarage popularity show to pay.
So, hypothetically, because of the media conglomerate, shows in general and specific shows such as South Park manage to be so popular. There are a lot of ways how the show is being popularised. Not only South Park Studios suggest latest episodes of the show, but merchardising as well, thus an online shop, which offers a variety of different consumer goods: T-shirts, mugs, etc.; a forum, the page of fans, where people have a chance to see so called 'Behind the scenes', production blog; moreover there is an opportunity to play games and create an avatar (which is especially targeted to children as the replica of a paper doll game), where a child creates an avatar in a way he/she wants, but not exactly, as all the characters created still look very South Parkish).
Moreover, the airing of new episode in South Park Studios usually leads to a powerful wave of various kinds media messages, both official and unofficial. Moreover, sometimes it is even hard to say, whether the actual episode has to air in order to provoke that wave as sometimes only the title of the show might be enough. For example: when South Park Studios announced about the airing of the episode, which had a story line involving Prophet Muhammad, not only the followers of Islam took some action (as a result the episode was censored) but independent news, fans in their blogs and social networks rapidly reported and publicated the delirium about controvercial content of the episode and potential negative concequences it might instigate.
Nevertheless, the musical of the show, the Book of Mormons, has been led by TV commercial, leaflets, posters, etc. What is more, as the leaders of Mormon deviation even managed to find an advantage of this phenomenon: ''The production may attempt to entertain audiences for an evening, but the Book of Mormon as a volume of scripture will change people’s lives forever by bringing them closer to Christ.'' (LDS Church cited by Brooks: 2011), the Book of Mormons was not censored or affected in any negative way, as again the news, fans and anti-fans no matter what they were talking, they were trumpeting for the success of the musical.
Branston, G. and Stafford, R. (2010) The New Media, Student's Book. 5th edition. London, Routledge, pp. 239 – 259.
Brooks, J. (2011) LDS Church Responds to South Park Mormon Musical. [Online] Available from: http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/joannabrooks/4209/lds_church_responds_to_south_park_mormon_musical [Accessed 7th January 2012].
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The anime series Naruto(TV Tokyo 2002-) is a good example of using convergence to further promote itself. As the series airs in Japan before then being adapted and localised for other regions at a later date, the series is a victim to piracy. Legally speaking, this is wrong and should be prevented by the law, but file sharing has arguably aided shows such as Naruto in gaining a worldwide audience. This could be seen as developing a dedicated fan base, as fans translate the Japanese show and provide subtitles in a variety of languages for fans around the world. This shows that some fans are “active” in their engagement of the anime series.
To combat piracy and a delayed schedule on television stations, sites such as Crunchyroll or Hulu aim to stream content to fans worldwide within a week of the episodes airing in Japan. They aim to provide fans with a legal way of viewing shows such as Naruto, which uses a subscription service or advertisements to reimburse television stations.
As Naruto has found worldwide success and is aimed at a primarily teenage audience, the series also has the usual amount of official merchandise, ranging from music CDs, feature length films, toys, video games, clothing etc. However, due to the dedicated fan base of Naruto, the series has developed a vast amount of fan produced items too. Fans produce their own artwork based off Naruto on sites such as Deviant Art, or fan made music videos on sites such as Youtube or amv.org. These creations can vary, from some faithfully displaying the series, while others may adapt the series into something new, such as creating their own subplots within the narrative of the show. Such fan productions, while illegal in nature may benefit the show, as they provide free advertising, in theory. Whether this advertising may be positive or negative is another point, and varies greatly, they allow fans to consume the show beyond its normal limitations. Such fan creations could just as easily turn away potential fans as it could lead people into becoming a fan. Although such areas are legal minefields, much of this fan created content is still accessible, showing that for one reason or another, copyright owners turn the other cheek.
STUDENT ID: 11013796
The highly popular American teen series Gossip Girl uses multiple new media technologies in its episodes. New media technologies include such as social networks, websites, e-mail, streaming episodes, online groups and many more. There are several blogs based around the Gossip Girl series, both official and fan-based. An example of a fan-based blog is a Gossip Girl style blog, which presents the clothes and accessories used by the characters in the show. The network broadcasting Gossip Girl is CW. Throughout each episode there is a CW band at the bottom of the screen advertising CW and its other programs, such as a new series Hart of Dixie, which is directed to a similar audience as Gossip Girl. The CW band also has a tagline rotating every now and the “TV to chat, text, blog, talk about”, which works as a reminder to the viewers of the many forms of new media available via CW. Facebook has become a powerful new media tool. There are several groups or subscriptions, both official and fan-based, for the Gossip Girl series, its characters and the actual actors. The same applies to Twitter. Episodes of Gossip Girl can be downloaded and/or streamed from the CW website. What is more, there are multiple clips from the series on websites such as YouTube, ranging from memorable scenes to the music heard on the episodes to interviews to all kinds of fan-based extra material, e.g. a clip about the main character Serena Van Der Woodsen’s boyfriends throughout the series. Most of these forms of new media embrace the viewers’ love for the show and offer them places to exchange ideas with other fans, or even to approach the real actors and actresses. For a weekly series like Gossip Girl this kind of advertising also works as a reminder of the show even when it is not on TV. What is more, they urge people to watch not only the up and coming episodes but also to watch past episodes again (e.g. to spot a memorable moment or a certain handbag worn by one of the main characters).
Yu-Gi-Oh is a worldwide name nowadays. It first started in 1996 in Japan, and in few years after it has been spread all around the world. At the beginning the medium used for letting the public to know about the story of a young boy that duels with monster cards, were the graphic magazines. Later on the television took the original serial and translated it in English. For example in United Kingdom the CTVI broadcast the cartoons in every week-end. Also as the other big names in cartoon industry Yu-Gi-Oh managed to start a production of personalized items for fans, and even more the game itself on which the storyline of the movie is based on. Almost six hundred thousand fans are still playing the card game called “Duel monster”. On the internet the fan-blogs are something usual these days, not only because they can talk about the serial and the movie, but they also can change, buy or sell cards for the real game. Something that can be called a problem for the creators of Yu-Gi-Oh can be the piracy from the legal sites such as YouTube, where many users have uploaded episodes of the serial that wasn’t even on TV in some countries.(in Romania you can find on YouTube each and every episode from all the series, but on national televisions was only the first part) .
Lately new episodes for Yu-GI-Oh serial haven’t been produced, so it remains a program that can be seen on the internet (here it is the paradox between the piracy, and the fact that this is the only way how you can watch the movie), or on the televisions that still can see in it a profitable and interesting product for the public. Also the series from Yu-Gi-Oh can be found for selling on sites like “Amazon.com” or the ones that have as specific sales movies of such a type.
How I Met Your Mother is a great example of the successful usage of new media techniques.
This American sitcom is mainly about the romantic lives of the five main characters. How I Met Your Mother makes use of online steaming, mainly on the CBS website available for American viewers for episodes they may have missed. It also makes use of such social networking sites as Facebook and Twitter.
Their usage of Facebook is mainly for keeping their fans up to date with new episodes and giving previews of them. This is a great thing to do as it keep this show in people's minds by regularly appearing on their newsfeeds.
But an aspect I was impressed with is their use of Twitter. They have a generic account for their show, to keep people up to date, but also have ones for the characters as if they are real people. This adds a sense of realism to the show and gives fans the opportunity to 'talk' to the characters as if they were real people living in New York.
Another excellent technique for making great use of this inclusion of the audience and this sense of realism are the websites they set up. Almost every website they say they have created on the show for one reason or another, is actually a site. They use these sites for a variety of things. For example when Marshall and Lilly sell all their things in the show and say they are doing it via a website, the website actually exists and is selling props from the show for charity.
This is an excellent use of new media, and one I have not heard of before this show. This technique builds on this growing sense of realism the producers are trying to create, along with the individual Twitter accounts. Because if the audience believes these to be real people living out their lives on television then they may feel a stronger sense of emotional interest in the show, therefore will continue to tune in.
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“Naruto” is an on-going Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masahi Kishimoto with an anime TV series adaptation. Its main character, Naruto Uzumaki, is a loud, hyperactive, adolescent ninja who constantly searches for approval and recognition, as well as to become Hokage, who is acknowledged as the leader and strongest of all ninja in the village.
The manga was first published by Shueisha in 1999. VIZ Media publishes a translated version in the American Shonen Jump, and is currently within a few volumes of the Japanese publication. Naruto has become VIZ Media`s best-selling manga series. The anime series began airing in the United States and Canada in 2005 and later in the United Kingdom and Australia in 2006 and 2007.
The series has also led to eight films which were very successful. Like films version, Naruto has been developed into video games version too. Games appeared on various consoles from Nintendo to Sony and Microsoft. Most of them are fighting games in which the player controls one of a select few characters directly based upon their counterparts in the Naruto anime. They are sort of like the movie. It all depends on which Silent Hill video game is played. There have been many games on many different systems that have had varying stories. The original for the Playstation 1 was about a man searching for his daughter in a town called “Silent Hill”. Early on in the game he realizes that there is something wrong with this town. It is a survival horror game along the lines of resident evil.
Since its creation, Naruto has spawned a large number of fan-sites that detailed information guides, and active forums. Some of the first and most popular sites targeted at English speaking audiences were established shortly after the first English manga volume was released in 2003. And like many other manga and anime titles, Naruto has also spawned its own collectible card game. Prior to the anime`s North American debut in 2005, several groups of fans translated the series and made it available for free download on the internet.
Fans produce their own work. One example would be making music videos on “Youtube”. They provided free advertising through these videos that led to a worldwide success.
Kishimoto, M. (2011) About Naruto. [online] Available from: http://blog.shiningstuff.com/2011/08/about-naruto-its-history/ [Accessed 10th January 2012]
(no author) (2008) Animated Television Series Naruto available worldwide, same day as Japanese Premiere: first move among major Japanese networks. [online] Available from: http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/contents/ir/eng/press/pubfile/20081117.pdf [Accessed 10th January 2012]
The only way is Essex is a popular 21st century television show that, due to developments within the media, are now available to us today has allowed the show to excel. Modern media which is accessible to cast stars and producers has become a very powerful tool in terms of promoting; Twitter for one is a great example. As the stars of the show use Twitter to communicate with fans, update their day to day activities, this increases the fan base of the show as we are no longer just an audience we have the opportunity to communicate with stars of the show.
Streaming sites on the internet, that are set up and run by the television broadcast companies (in The Only Way Is Essex’s case this provider is ITV), are also available to us; meaning we are able to watch The only way is Essex anytime, anyplace. By logging onto ITV catch-up site enables you to watch episodes of the show you may have missed. This then draws in a bigger audience, as the show is accessible anytime and at any fans’ convenience. We no longer have to adjust our free time around television airings but we can make television fit around a time that is best suitable for us. New media is all about being easy to access, although it appears to be doing us, the consumer, a favor and it is benefitting the show greatly.
YouTube is a product of new media which producers take great advantage of. This form of media promotes the show further as it features popular moments on the show which allows fans to remember why they tune in every week to watch it The only way is Essex. This is very similar to web streaming in the format of it being easily assessable. Some clips of the show have up to 386,58 views which is evidence that audiences use this form of new media.
Furthermore, The only way is Essex is becoming more popular due to available products leading on from the show. Many of the stars have their own range of beauty products, clothing lines and also a work out DVD which features characters from the show is available. In recent times the characters are also being used for product promotional purposes and also television presenting.
By having products such as these available to the audience it makes the fan base more solid and sustained and also helps draw in people that haven’t watched the show before, done by using them in product adverts on television and on the internet (as well as using the actors as presenters for TV shows).
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The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom about 4 nerdy guys who happen to work at the same school. Two of them live together, the other two, one lives with his mother and one alone.
Since its appearance in 2007, it stole many American hearts and began a whole new life experience through new media, fan-sites began to multiply over night the serial’s twitter page had a high number of followers that is still growing, Facebook group page has over 20.000 followers who are active every single day with comments, pictures and stuff from the show. CBS’s official Facebook page keeps you up to date if you click “Like”, with news, schedules and videos/previews by appearing regularly on their newsfeeds. Just like every other CBS sitcom every character has an active account on twitter with whom they all interact with the fans and make jokes between them just like on film.
The four main characters even though they’re geeky and with limited connection to the real world succeed in having relationships with their academic peers and their lovely neighbour, Penny.
I was really funny when Howard and Raj set Sheldon up with a girl from an Internet dating site and it was a perfect match. They found a girl who was Sheldon’s woman version and that made their relationship get serious and their views about the world, conceptions and lifestyle brought them together.
The Internet is often used on the show, like when they put up a marketing strategy for Penny Blossoms and made different websites for her business.
Facebook was heavily used by the guys and Penny to hook up and make everyone jealous of everyone, also Raj uses Skype video calls to talk with his parents back home and in a certain time Sheldon used Skype to chat with Leonard’s mom.
This show is about real people and real people are now overwhelmed by technology and Internet and more and more attracted to a virtually life than to a real life.
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New media has massively benefited TV series because it enables people to access them more. If they miss their show when it is first broadcasted, they can almost definately find it somewhere else on repeat whether it is through their mobile, laptop, desktop PC, 4OD, iPlayer, podcasts, or just a repeat on the channel.
"These days the scheduled first transmission of a programme has been joined by countless extra manifestations – the narrative repeat, the portfolio repeat, the same-night PVR viewing, subsequent nights' PVR viewing and iPlayer, to name only some. These are the ways new technology is reshaping how we watch." (www.guardian.co.uk New Media).
The American show '90210' will have definately benefited through new media because it has spread to other countries and not just the US. In the UK it is aired on E4, but if you miss it it is always guaranteed to be repeated and you can always find it online. Because it is online it means you can watch it pretty much wherever. For example through an iPhone. You dont have to be sat at a computer, you can watch it on the go. New media means series are readily available online. For a show like 90210, if you had only just started getting into it, you could go online and catch up with previous series. Having these available online encourages people to repeat watching them and keep their interest up even when a new series is being created so there isnt currently one being played through television.
Series like 90210 also have fan pages through Facebook etc so fans can really keep up with new gossip and information on the show. Also, the introduction of twitter means fans can follow their favourite characters and hear what they have to say. It is a portal into the lives of celebrities and fans like this because they feel more part of their lives.
90210 is most popular with teenagers because they are people in college living dream lifestyles which viewers will be envious of. It is a distraction from real life and makes you feel part of their reality. New media means people can constantly be part of this by watching the show whenever they feel, or by using twitter/facebook or other internet sites to keep up with the show/actors.
Overall new media definately benefits 90210 or any other popular television programme. It increases advertising for it so more people are aware of it and because of its huge advertising it encourages people to begin to watch it to see what all the fuss is about.
REFERENCE: www.guardian.co.uk New Media
As technology has developed through the last century, the amount of different mediums we are exposed to have increased. The age of New Media has arrived with the introduction of smart phones, TV on demand, Pod Casts, Prequels and Sequels online, mobile phone apps and Fan sites online. All of this began to play a part in supplementing the television, however as our lives have become busier, using technology on the go has led the television into a decline, as we can just catch up on the latest episode on our laptop or mobile, or get the new trailer sent to our phone. The New Media began as a form of viral advertising, however has now began to replace television itself.
Through the increase of New Media, fan cults have become more popular, the internet has led to fans writing their own version and ending of television programmes, message boards where people can discuss their views on the shows and a way to show fan art. Although audience members should seem to be more involved with the media, the increase in technology may leave some of the audience left alienated, for example the older generation may struggle with access to different mediums like the internet and smartphones. Although the audience will increase through the wide ranges of ways to access, it may alienate and confuse the older members of society, not allowing them to take part in the different fan fictions and such.
The programme Family guy uses all forms of media to relate to all its audience members. Not only is Family Guy available online to watch, and with different apps to download to watch and to use. There is also Family Guy merchandise such as clothing, cuddly toys not to mention the entire DVD’s on sale. This programme uses the facilities of New Media to encourage its younger audience to take part in all activities not only just watch it.
New Media has changed the way we watch television and changed our interaction with this media form. It is possible that New Media forms could replace television and its programmes completely however, the multimedia era, full of new technologies could lead to anything.
New media can have a great affect in the way that television shows can reach new viewers and create a wider audience base.
Social Networking has become a huge part of peoples lives and for this reason is great for advertising and targeting their demographic audience. The show Made in Chelsea shown on E4 is a good example of how social networking is used in order to promote the show. The show has an official show with 84,213. When talking about the show the number appears on the Facebook page this gives producers a chance to see what viewers are most enjoying about the show and focus story lines around that idea so audiences stay interested.
Another major social network that can raise awareness of a TV show is Twitter. People can tweet about the show and give their views. Made in Chelsea had many twitter updates about the relationship between Caggie and Spencer. Many fans tweeted whether or not they agreed with the story of the will they- wont they relationship. This gained appeal so the relationship was heavily focused on throughout the series.
On the main Made in Chelsea website there is a feature called Live in Chelsea where characters in the show talk to fans live over the internet. This gives fans a chance to ask the people in the show questions that they want answered and it will come from the star of the shows mouth instead of reading it in a magazine. As Made in Chelsea is a reality show many gossip magazines will make up rumours and therefore the Live in Chelsea web chats gives the stars of the show a chance to clear up certain issues to fans.
YouTube is another site that can generate further viewings as teasers for the next week and further shows can be shown online this gives fans a chance to see certain parts of the show before they happen and therefore fans can use the social networks to share the video and comment on what they think or what they want to happen during that show before it airs.
The advantages of new media means that it can bring together audiences in ways that have not been able before as the advertising for a programme will not only come from the institutions of the show. The ‘textual space’ of a contemporary television series is characterised by “commercial intertextuality” (Hardy 2011: 7). This statement refers to new shows not only be advertised by the programme itself and merchandising to get the show watched but also fan engagement such as making YouTube videos, fan websites/blogs about the show and independent news reports and reviews.
Although new media offers a wider range of advertising to generate audiences to the show there are some negatives. People that dislike the show for example have the same right to tweet and blog about how much they hate the show and people following may think that if this person doesn’t like it, I won’t and therefore viewers could be lost. Some parts of the show may only be accessed if have a computer such as the Live in Chelsea and fans might feel isolated or that they are getting missed out if they cannot access these features.
In conclusion all though there are some negatives to new media it is generally a great help to TV shows and also adds something to their audience. Fans of Made in Chelsea may feel more connected to the show and the people featured in it due to their updates on Twitter, their live web chats and Facebook page. It also makes fans more connected allowing them to discuss and comment on current shows and what they think is going to happen and see whether people agree or disagree.
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New media has changed the way in which we can view all of our favourite television programmes. We no longer need to just be sat in front of the TV. New media has been adapted by TV shows for how they are broadcasted and their advertising campaigns. It has to be said that the biggest impact of new media has been the use of the internet. Providing the public with instant access to almost anything they require at the click of a button. With this in mind producers have to find the right balance between gaining their television audience and their internet audience. For example when E4’s Dead Set was launched; very little about the show was revealed, especially on television. E4 showed quick, snappy advertisements at the end of a Big Brother show. This however relied very heavily to the use of the internet and the webpage that Dead Set had set up. The website contained an interactive page where the person accessing would place his or her name in a box before being allowed to continue. That name would then be written on a wall shown on the website in blood. It is this personal interaction with each individual viewer that new media has allowed companies to engage better with their audience.
The website revealed a lot about Dead Set that the television advertising campaign did not so E4 were very confident that the internet was powerful enough to gain their audience. It also provided the audience with the option of watching the whole series online once it had been broadcasted on television. This again is what new media brings to us as an audience. The series was available to watch online for quite some time after its initial showing on television showing just how much not only we as an audience rely on the internet, but the companies themselves need the internet in order to reach its audience.
The influence of new media has become more important in the way people interact with the television that they watch. Developers of television programmes have realised this and attempt to use new media as a tool to promote their programmes and offer something extra for the audience that watches their programmes.
The example I have chosen to use to look at how a television programme has utilized new media is the BBC's EastEnders. EastEnders is using new media in a number of ways the BBC's I Player is just one of the facets of new media that it has tapped into. The I Player offers people the ability to catch up on any BBC television programme or radio show when they want to and EastEnders is no exception. The I Player is a prime example of media convergence as there is media from television, radio and film all available in one place.
EastEnders even has it's own dedicated online show known as E20 which showcases young talent both on the acting side of things and when it comes to the writers of the programme. The fact that they have dedicated a whole cast of actors and writers to an online programmes further demonstrates how the internet and television is becoming one.
Fans of EastEnders also have the opportunity to take a look at up coming story lines and see in advanced what will happen to their favourite characters through websites like digital sky where they have spoilers about the show and news about the cast and all other EastEnders related things.
There are also forums dedicated to EastEnders so viewers of the show have the opportunity to discuss things about the show and interact with other fans of the programme which is again another positive thing that has come out of television and its relationship with new media.
To summarise I personally feel that new media and television go hand in had. As you have read it offers the opportunity for audiences to engage even further with the programmes that they love and in the case of the E20 series it offers young fans the chance to get involved with there own part of EastEnders. I think as time goes on the lines between programmes on your television and on your computer will blur and televisions and computers will merge into one.
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