The Impact Of Cross- And Social Media On Tv

Social media are changing the viewing habits By Leo van der Wal

It’s no surprise that people who are serious Internet users at home are watching less television. However, does that mean they are watching less? They may just be switching to other media. Social media & digital (online) TV has taken off in a big way, with a plethora of internet sites and channels broadcasting programmes, sport and movies. Online TV is the latest internet revolution with one of the main benefits being the opportunity to watch shows you have missed, or see favourites again. Today you never have to miss an episode of your favourite show ever again. We do this all during surfing and messaging via social media channels. We like to browse the Internet and watch TV at the same time (Nielsen, 2009). Some television shows are losing 25 percent of their audience to online endeavours. But others find ways to use the social media to attract more viewers to their programs. Here we can see that in television, internet and social media does not have to compete, but can get the best out of each other. “Yesterday the BBC decided what you watch, today you decide, tomorrow your friends will decide!” Anthony Rose, Head of Digital at BBC

Cross-media & Web 2.0: The success of BNN? By Wouter van den Buuse

In order to reach, inform and especially to ask the meaning of its target group about their TV-programs, BNN uses cross-media and especially Web 2.0 applications. According to Casper (2002), cross-media can be defined as ‘a media brand that extends its offer over several media channels’. This is exactly what BNN does, combined with Web 2.0 applications. How are they doing it? One of the social media networks BNN is using is Hyves, a website where almost every youngster in Holland has an account. BNN has a general Hyves-page about BNN itself, but also different Hyves-pages about their TV-programs. For example, one can find extra footage of episodes on those Hyves-pages (which are extensions of the programs). With Hyves, BNN gives their audience the possibility to react on their programs. An example is a poll on the Hyves-site of the program ‘Baby te huur’, where BNN asks the question: ‘Which episode did you like the most?’ The Hyvers gave their opinion and could, beside of voting, also give their opinion with a short text message. In that way, BNN can see if their episode was successful and if not, they could do something with the criticism of their target group and make the next episode better. In this way, BNN can inform their target group and can also receive feedback from that group. This results in the improvement of the quality of their programs. That makes BNN a success.

TV 2.0.: CREATIVE DESTRUCTION OF TELEVISION ENTERTAINMENT? By Johnny Broeders

TV 2.0. is a term which refers to the interactive aspect of television which is a result of the ‘new’ media. The term goes hand in hand with the term Web 2.0., popularized by Tim O’Reilly. TV 2.0. can alter the traditional TV experience. People can react on created content and share content with each other, which is very popular. Sharing photos and video’s with each other is the number 1 service which Web 2.0. provides us (Slot & Frissen, 2007). On Youtube, we can post our own created content which can be shared and commented. On Joost we can watch TV shows (which are mostly created by the site itself) for free and get in contact with people who have watched the same shows. On Seesmic (a mix of Facebook, Twitter and Youtube) we can converse with each other via video uploads so we can share ideas and give advice to one and other. And there are many more applications which fit in the term TV 2.0.. Because we can create and post high quality content ourselves without the interference of a business, we can raise the question if traditional TV programs have found new competitors which will ultimately lead to the creative destruction of traditional television. Why watch reality shows when you can see real life TV on Justin.tv. Why watch talkshows when you can participate in your own personal talkshow on Seesmic? Why watch TV shows which are interrupted by commercials when you can watch TV shows on Joost. But all ‘new’ technology must first be socially accepted. And as long as everybody still ritually turns on the TV instead of the computer when they get home, television entertainment will not be in danger soon. The own user generated content which is shown on TV 2.0. do not have the authority which professional television programs have. Although the shows on sites like Joost do have about the same quality. Thus it might be important for TV companies to follow this trend. Like how NBC Universal and News Corporation in 2007 joined forces to create the site Hulu which tries to compete with especially Youtube. On this site people can watch whole movies and TV Shows for free. It is a shame for us that only people in America can make use of this.

SOCIALISING TELLY: FROM AUDIENCE TO PARTICIPANTS by Ellen Valckx As Lister et al. (2009: p 221) already described, the Internet has become fundamental to media nowadays. One example of this are the participatory opportunities audiences have these days. The rise in popularity of numerous social networks is noticeable on a world-wide scale. People not only communicate with others via the Internet, they also present themselves and transmit information. This demonstrates audiences are not passive anymore. This participatory role can also be seen amongst TV-audiences. TV-networks have started experimenting to mingle Internet, social media in particular, with TV-programs. Fox started with broadcasting “Tweetpeats” (Callari, 2009), which is showing live tweets during an episode of a soap-opera. Also BBC-viewers were given the opportunity on its microsite to select what character they want out of the show at the end of each episode. Furthermore, BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing series gained more interaction with its viewing audience with the help of the “Strictly Social” (Callari) application. With posting ‘wow’, ‘boo’ or ‘gasp’ on the program’s website, their opinions will be modestly displayed in the live broadcasting of the show. "As far as we're concerned now, social media is part of what people do everyday and social viewing is part of our wider strategy for entertainment," says Jo Twist, BBC multi-platform commissioner. Despite, the complaints on Fox’s “tweet-peats” about its distraction from the actual TV-program, we can see that social media is slowly melting with TV. This development evolves passive audiences into participants.

JOHNNY’S SOURCES: Bloem, J., Van Doorn, M., & Duivestein, S. (2008). Me, the Media. Groningen: VINT. Slot, M., & Frissen, V. (2007). Users In The 'Golden' Age Of The Information Society. Observatorio Journal , pp. 201-224.

LEO’S SOURCES: Sager, G. 2009. Social Media and the future of television. Slideshare. http://www.slideshare.net/geertdesager/social-media-and-the-future-of-television-presentation Papworth, L. 2009. Social Media And Building Tv Audiences Communities. Slideshare. http://www.slideshare.net/Silkcharm/social-media-and-building-tv-audiences-communities 2009. Three Screen Report: Media Consumption and Multi-tasking Continue to Increase Across TV, Internet, and Mobile. Nielsen http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/three-screen-report-mediaconsumption-and-multi-tasking-continue-to-increase

WOUTER’S SOURCES: Feldman, V. (2005). Leveraging Mobile Media: Cross-Media Strategy and Innovation Policy for Mobile Media Communication. Heidelberg, Germany. http://omroepbnn.hyves.nl/

ELLEN’S SOURCES: Callari, R. 2009. TV + Social Networking = Strictly Social. Inventorspot. http://inventorspot.com/articles/tv_social_networking_strictly_social_35107 Lister, M. Dovey, J. Giddings, S. Grant, I. Kelly, K. 2009. New Media: a critical introduction. Routledge.