Broadcasting or Broke-casting?

Some notes on audiences and engagement

McLuhan Galaxy ConferenceBarcelona, 23-25 May 2011

Antoni Roig Telo

Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC)

The complexity of engaging audiences.

What are audiences doing with TV

Are you broadcasting yourself?

Conclusions

Index

1 Broadcasting or brokecasting? McLuhan Galaxy

Broadcasting or brokecasting? McLuhan Galaxy2

Why did Flashforward fail (possibly)?

- Great concept, but unfocused (too many plots at once)

- Characters not compelling enough.

- Odd character decisions.

- Too self concerned with its own progress.

3 Broadcasting or brokecasting? McLuhan Galaxy

4 Broadcasting or brokecasting? McLuhan Galaxy

5 Broadcasting or brokecasting? McLuhan Galaxy

 

[data from the AIMC survey ‘Internet en medio de los medios’, 2010]

6 Broadcasting or brokecasting? McLuhan Galaxy

49,8% Consumers of both conventional TV and TV on the Internet

83,5% TV consumption on the Internet: access to content currently not available on conventional television

53,2% Most wanted content: international series

7 Broadcasting or brokecasting? McLuhan Galaxy

- TV is, more than ever, social, and audiences more active than ever.

- TV is, more than ever, global, but not homogeneous.

- TV means, more than ever, real time (even if talking about fiction).

- TV means multiple experiences and fragmentation, but it is still built around stories (even if not talking about fiction).

- TV means connectivity and mobility; broadcasting is still key, but not necessarily central.

- TV is everyday.

- TV is, in the end, about engagement.

8 Broadcasting or brokecasting? McLuhan Galaxy

Are you broadcasting yourself?

9 Broadcasting or brokecasting? McLuhan Galaxy

10 Broadcasting or brokecasting? McLuhan Galaxy

Conclusions:

- Professional producers must consider the importance and the complexities of fostering audience engagement, considering different practices and different local realities.

- …And accept that TV is not a proprietary system: TV consumption and production are social practices.

- How do we measure audiences in this context?  How can we ‘measure’ engagement?

- Engagement must be a continuous process based on reciprocity and accountability, not control.

11 Broadcasting or brokecasting? McLuhan Galaxy

“200,000 people who deeply understand a product and

brand are more valuable than 2 million lightly engaged”

[Mike Monello, from Power to the Pixel Think Tank Report, 2010]

12 Broadcasting or brokecasting? McLuhan Galaxy

Thanks for your attention

aroigt@uoc.edu