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Follow the BlogDon't forget – you can always post, read, and carry out online conversations with the C3 team at our blog. C3 and Transmedia in the News
Professor Jenkins to Speak at Film Finance Summit 2008 in Santa Monica, CA Transmedia Storytelling: Pioneers in the New Age of Narrative, Pt. II - Lisa Holton of FourthStory Media - The Bookish Dilettante Blog - The Bookish Dilettante Research Memo AbstractMore Cerebral Gelatinizing Shows Anytime, Anywhere: Constructing Audiences
for Online Television in the Media Ecology During the 2009 Super Bowl, Hulu.com aired a commercial [1] in which Alec Baldwin, describing the website, explains, "Hulu beams TV directly to your portable computing devices, giving you more of the cerebral gelatinizing shows you want anytime, anywhere, for free." While the advertisement maintains a mock-serious, humorous tone, Baldwin's concise statement about the purpose of Hulu -- it puts television on your computer -- conflicts with the general experience of online video compared to the conventions of watching television. How does the concept of television online affect how audiences are constructed? This paper argues that online television can develop from older cultural practices of watching television as long as online video distributors understand how their platforms affect user engagement. In his essay, "second-shift media aesthetics: programming, interactivity, and user flows" (2003), John Caldwell writes that the primary goal of television networks has continually been "to keep viewers engaged with a single network's proprietary, ad-sponsored “flow'" (134). He argues that in the face of failure in potentially not achieving this goal of viewer loyalty, networks have shifted their strategies to "push"-ing out ancillary content, especially online, to drive audience engagement back toward the television set. However, these attempts which he describes are merely that -- ancillary to the programs' narratives -- and he avoids the most recent trends that networks have taken to adapt to the evolving media landscape, where networks have established video portals that feature clips and full episodes directly gleaned from the television set. Unlike Caldwell's explanation of "programming strategies [that] have shifted from notions of network program 'flows' to tactics of audience/user 'flows,' these online spaces benefit from a new temporal and spatial variety of programming that interacts with audience networks. I build upon Caldwell's notion of different flows to explain the relationship between online programming and audience networks, and its value to the organizing television networks that aim to establish the relationship. To interpret the connections between audience and programming present in these online spaces, particularly where television networks operate not as producers but as distributors, it is necessary to understand the media ecologies of the Web spaces: the relationship between human, physical, code, and content layers of a system online. On websites such as Crunchyroll.com, CBS.com, and Hulu.com, it is not just the cultural modes of viewing television, but also how the structure of the Web-based platform shapes new and reshapes old cultural practices that affects the relationship between the programming and its potential audiences. By examining how viewers interact with programming across multiple television networks' websites, this paper aims to investigate further the concept of "the television audience." How do the cultural practices of a television viewer translate to the online space, and how do video portals mediate new cultural practices of watching online video? I argue that constructions of audience depend on relative variables of user, viewer, and audience identity (distinctions that Caldwell's outdated moniker of "user-viewer" does not approach). In particular, I build upon Sheila Seles's interpretation [3] of the value of disaggregated audiences: in such a segregated media environment, how does an understanding of the online television audience inform how program-specific viewers and site-specific users remain television audiences across platforms? Finally, this paper also applies these cultural practices of television and online video to a proposed analysis of the value of the relationship between the audience member and the online distribution mechanism. TVWeek reported [4] in October 2009 that Hulu would begin charging a subscription fee for its services, and the New York Times published [5] in December 2009 commentary on Comcast's initiative to put cable television on the Web through its "TV Everywhere" initiative. With the opportunity for television networks to establish revenues beyond ad-supported measures, how will the fiscal stratagems influence and warp the cultural practices of audiences on websites? [1] http://www.hulu.com/superbowl/55719/super-bowl-xliii-ads-hulu-alec-in-huluwood#s-p1-sn-i0 [2] New Media: Theories and Practices of Digitextuality. Ed., Anna Everett & John T. Caldwell. Routledge, 2003. [3] Something Old, Something New: Understanding the value of television's disaggregated audiences [4] "Hulu to Charge Users in 2010," http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/tvbizwire/2009/10/hulu-to-charge-viewers-money-i.php [5] "Comcast Introduces a Streaming TV Service," http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/business/media/16comcast.html?_r=1&emc=eta1. Alex Leavitt is a research specialist with the Convergence Culture Consortium. Alex graduated from Boston University in May 2009, with a degree in English Literature & Language and Japanese Literature & Language. In 2008, he studied abroad in Japan at Kyoto University through the Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies. Alex has previously researched with the Digital Natives Project at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University Law School, and currently is a Lead Researcher on the Web Ecology Project. His primary research interests include the intersection of fandom & transmedia, Japanese animation & manga, and Internet (sub)culture. Alex has presented numerous talks at major events such as South by Southwest and fan conventions such as Anime Expo, Otakon, and Anime Boston. In addition to his weekly articles on the C3 blog, Alex writes long-form about Japanese popular culture at The Department of Alchemy and short-form on Twitter (@alexleavitt).
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This issue of the C3 Weekly Update compiled and edited by Daniel Pereira (dpereira@mit.edu) for the Convergence Culture Consortium.
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