Media Exam Question - Ms. Wigley

Audiences are becoming increasingly powerful in shaping media output. With reference to you case study, how far is this true?

Introduction

I believe that in this day and age, audiences are becoming increasingly powerful in shaping media output. I will show this by referring to My three primary texts which are reality TV shows, The X Factor (ITV1), Britain’s got Talent (ITV1) and I’m a Celebrity, Get me out of here (ITV1). One of many similarities between the three shows is that they are all from the same genre and also they all run on the same channel which suggests ITV are a monopoly within the reality TV market. Also, they all run on three different platforms, which are print, E-media, and Broadcast. By running on 3 different platforms the shows attract a wide range of audiences and promote audience interaction which helps shape media output.

The X Factor is Britain’s most watched reality TV show which is aired on ITV1 and involves audience interaction as it depends on viewers to vote on contestants and this promotes the audience theory that audiences effectively run the show as without viewers voting and sharing their opinions, then the x factor would not be as popular as it is today. This shows that audiences are becoming increasingly powerful in shaping the show. The hit TV show attracts on an average of 17.5 million viewers each series.

Furthermore, The X Factor website also allows the audience to interact with the show. One way it promotes interaction is by running voting polls and forums on the website which the audience can vote and have their say and see what other viewers think too. For example, the current question on the x factor website is “Do you think Matt Cardle was a worthy winner?”

This therefore, shows us that the audiences are becoming increasingly powerful on what media institutions plan and put in the show. Also the website allows viewers to share their views and opinions through the X Factor blog and forum and also read the gossip on what goes on behind the scenes through The Sun which runs on the print platform.

Also because X Factor is a popular TV show viewers can catch up via the ITVPlayer. Furthermore, a social networking site such as Facebook and Twitter allow audiences to shape and place their views across, and is a place where audiences interact with one and other and share opinions through joining groups and supporting campaigns. Audience feedback and opinions have been successful, this is shown as the X Factor and Apple have joint together in a bid to react to the change in technology by releasing x factor apps.

My secondary text that I have chosen to for my case study is I’m a Celebrity, Get me out of here which is also shown on ITV 1 and involves audience interaction as it is also similar to the x factor as it is a reality TV show which attracts a wide variety of viewers. I’m a Celebrity, Get me out of here has a website for viewers to interact with the show which further engages viewers. The website has a range of activities and also includes live footage and highlights from the Jungle, and also has a blog on the website which allows the audience to share their opinions and views about the show. The audience is therefore hugely powerful in shaping the show as mainstreams audiences watch the show which is successful in using gratifications which keeps the audience entertained.

My third and final text that I have chosen for my case study is Britain’s Got Talent which is very similar to both of my other texts as they are all reality TV shows and are all aired on ITV1 and involves audience interaction as they all attract mainstream audiences. Britain’s got talent attracts an audience of 6 million.  The show is very similar to the x factor and is in fact identical in the way they approach their audiences as the structure of both shows is the same. Furthermore, The BGT website includes competitions and news about the judges and also a feedback forum which allows the audience shape the output of the media.

In Conclusion, Audiences are becoming increasingly hugely powerful in shaping the media outputs of the three shows over the three platforms. As audiences are influential in what is going to happen in with the use of blogs, social networks, print and most obviously broadcast.

Progress Report - 24/01/11

This past week as a group we have developed our ideas further and together we have come up with a Very good name for our production as well as developing our storyboards and working together to make sure that our production is a success. Also, as a group we have looked at trailers and took some good ideas that we can use for our production.

Action Plan - Finish off our storyboards.

Ms. Wigley - Homework

Do the texts enable different types of audience activity and/or interaction?
The x factor have made the broadcasting available over two days Saturday and Sunday, as people felt it was to short they have done this to keep audiences interested as results are announced on the Sunday it allows people to reflect on performers performances.

X factor have got a number of stars performers to perform and this will make it more interesting for more audiences as they are more engaged. Rihanna, Katy Perry both performed and this engaged more people to watch the x factor because of these iconic singers.

Broadcasting this allows the audience to interact by pressing the red button allowing them to navigate to a different page. This allows the audience to vote for the act they like furthermore they can also ring as well to register their vote. Moreover the audience can play quizzes via broadcasting and this makes the audience feel involved.

Are audiences able to play a role in the construction of media texts? (UGC)
In the x factor the audience play a considerable amount of involvement in constructing the media text. The audience have control and power to who will win and who will be voted on the reality TV show.  So the audience are constructing the media text because they decide what happen in the TV program.

This is discouraging as the audience use their power to keep contestants in even though they are not good at singing.

The audience also construct the text via social networking sites allowing them to talk to other people about the performances and the judges’ views and feedback.

Are there differences in the audience gratifications offered across the three platforms?

The audience are able to cast a vote which gives them power and pleasure. Furthermore they are able to interact with games and competitions.
The audience gain entertainment from the x factor over the three platforms. As x factor have a website people are able to link it their social networks therefore giving the audience social interaction.

Change in technology
The changing technology allows the x factor to appeal to more audiences, the internet has become more common in people’s lives and the x factor has used to internet to create their own website and allow people to express their opinion via blogs and social networking sites.

A change in technology allows apps to be made for phones and people can interact from wherever they are. As x factor are common In newspapers, Steve jobs and Rupert Murdoch have created an app allowing people to access news and this shows the technology changing as people are able to get info wherever they are