REDRAFT
I believe that audiences are more powerful than the institution, this can be proved to a certain extent by considering what input the audience has alongside the institution. My three primary texts, which are reality TV shows are The X Factor, Britain’s got Talent and I’m a Celebrity, Get me out of here. All three texts are similar in a sense that they are all from the same genre and also they all broadcasted on the same channel. Also, they all run on three different platforms, which are print, e-media, and broadcast. Consequently, I believe fulfilling these three platforms is a necessity for a successful show as it will be able to engage the audience in several different ways.
The X Factor is the U.Ks most watched reality TV show which is aired on ITV1 and involves audience interaction such as the red button where votes can be casted and is totally dependable upon the audience to decide which consequently promotes the audience theory. It can also be noted that institutions may want the audience to believe that they have all the power and control of the show in order to gain maximum interaction between the audience and the institution thus creating a more popular show. 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 doing weekly 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?” furthermore, they also display their broadcasted show online so if anyone misses the show or would want to watch it again, they will be up to date with the show. This may be due to the fact that the institution does not ultimately want to disinterest the audience by engaging them as much as possible throughout all three platforms.
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.
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