Quantative Research

The presentation for Applied Media Research went really well! I'm not the most confident person when it comes presenting but as there was only Sarah to present to, I didn't feel too worried...
We all dressed up as members from the TV shows that we have researched, Stevie was a zombie as her TV show is The Walking Dead, Elicia the doctor from Doctor Who and me, well, I guess I could have tried harder but as I am saving up money, I decided I couldn't spend much on an outfit so I painted a beard on my face and wore dark glasses just like Walt White from Breaking Bad. We know very well that this won't bump our grade but we just go so much into the assignment that we wanted to show it! I feel that this presentation ran very smoothly and in order for us to have done this, we wrote out a detailed script so that we all knew what to say at what point, I would have liked a little more time to prepare though however I had a minor problem that meant I had to spend most of the presentation day at the walk - in centre :| I'm happy to say all is good now! :)

When going over the data for our Quantative research via the questionnaires, we found out some interesting answers! We wanted to find out what the audience does at present and what they would like to see in the future. Having sent out the questionnaires to all of our class at uni and also linking the questionnaire up to Facebook so that there is a wider choice of audience, the results shows that more female's than male's filled it in.

Below is a screen shot of an example questionnaire. Take a little look and you will get the just of what we were trying to discover from the audience:

Question 1: We discovered that most people interacted with Million Pound Drop suggesting that the public prefer to watch game shows rather than dramas. This may be because people prefer to interact with shows that give them adrenaline as a posed to sitting back and 'letting the drama happen'.

Question 2: The results showed that the majority preferred to interact with the shows games rather than voting or virtual tours ect. This data suggests that audiences of such shows like to engage with games maybe because they like to play along with the show or maybe would like to find out more about the characters.

Question 3: We wanted to find out why people participate in the extra content given within these shows. The results showed that people engaged with this content because they wanted to learn more about the characters and plots and that they also wanted to have fun.

Question 4: We wanted to know if people would like to have the power to be able to change story lines within TV shows. We asked this question and the results were rather interesting. At first, I thought that the majority would vote yes or at least maybe, however results indicated that most would prefer not to change anything and just watch the show as the creators have thought out for our entertainment.

Question 5: We wanted to know what it was that people would like to see more of, in terms of extra content. Results suggest that near a quata of the audiences would like to see extra behind the footage action. This could be because they want to find out more about the characters, plot or locations and would also like to see how the show is filmed.

Question 6 : We asked which out of the shows on the questionnaire, would people most like to see use cross platform media and why. The results varied between reality TV shows, changing endings on dramas such as the channel 4 drama 'Utopia' (which I must add I worked on in the summer last year for work experience!) voting for guests on Later With Jools Holland, character interactions with the phycological show 'Supernatural' and choosing tasks in 'Big Brother'.

Question 7: Last but not least, we asked if people preferred American TV shows or British or maybe. The results came in and were equally spread out between all three, which lead us onto our deeper and more in depth research of looking into American v British television shows, of which I have blogged about previously.

Researching further shows and second screen experiences

My group and I thought it a good idea to as well as researching the top three most successful television cross platform shows, we would also research two more shows each and also American V British shows. I have researched into different findings such as the use of SMS text messaging to engage the audience further and apps that you can play along with whilst a game show is on air, making the audience feel as though they are in the contestants shoes. 

Hollyoaks.

I have looked into the second screen experience Channel 4's soap 'Hollyoaks' brings to its audience. The shows audience mainly consists of students/young people age 16 - 30, purely because of its edgy and sometimes amateur storylines. When on the shows website, the first thing I was attracted to was a video an actress had recorded not in character. It was a video about help and advice for those who may have suicidal thoughts. Her character has a bullying storyline and for those who can relate to her storyline can visit the web page and check out the video for help. 

On both it's sides, the website is inundated with posts and comments from the public tweeting about episodes or character plots. The show seems to have a rather strong link with Twitter, so this is a good way of engaging it's audience and seeing just what they think of the show, almost like a questionnaire where by the creators and actors are able to see what the audience's likes and dislikes are. Throughout the website, we see a strong link with iTunes. From almost every episode, the audience is able to go onto the website and click on the episode or blogs of choice to be able to download a song they have heard on that episode via iTunes. The music is of course mainly chart music which brings me back to my assumption of the audience being slightly younger than that of Emmerdale (also aired around the same time).

Amongst this, I found a very interesting second screen experience Hollyoaks offered. Hollyoaks pulled it's viewers into the story lines via SMS. Conker Digital dreamed this up and felt that it provided drama alongside the injection of interactivity which pushed creativity in other genres like factual entertainment, documentary and TV sports coverage. In doing this, it allowed viewers to be one step ahead of the latest story lines even before they hit the screen! This is a great way to keep audiences engaged.

The creators of hollyoaks and Channel 4 devised a concert and named it the Wretch32 Invasion. The gig was promoted via Twitter, and as I have stated earlier, Hollyoaks and Twitter pretty much go hand in hand. The gig was free to those who were quick enough to grab a ticket, and at the gig, 10 selected fans were given a Nikon 5D camera to film the gig (and stunt which will happen later on in the show) in doing so, the footage could be shown on Hollyoaks thus giving them a TV credit. Onlookers were left stunned when an actor from Hollyoaks burst onto stage and declared his love to another actress from the show. This was a climax to an on going love triangle on Hollyoaks. In doing this, the creators were able to deliver a story in real time and interact with the audience on a new level, making viewers become fully immersed in the drama. Very good interaction with the audience from Hollyoaks here!

Check out this link of footage filmed at the Wretch32 invasion by an onlooker

I discovered that there are some other innovative ways that TV networks use SMS:

• The USA soap 'Confidential' sent out sneak previews of the show to audiences via SMS or picture messaging and also information about characters, developing the characters further.
• Voting polls began to emerge in UK and America clearly seen on shows such as 'America Idol' and 'The X Factor'.
• An interetsing intercative exeprince is with the UK soap 'In Your Shoes' where the plots where decided by the audience. The show would SMS its audience at the end of each episode featuring a cliff hanger or dilemma. By doing this, the show is interacting with its audience more and therefore makes the audience believe that they are becoming more involved than others within the show. 

A family in Hollyoaks have created a short clip advertising the 'Talk Talk' 'YouView' broadband connection. The family promote the on demand, new TV catch up programme meaning they have access to a large range of on demand TV content. This applies to their audience and is also advertising the fact that in having YouView, the audience can watch and record Hollyoaks whenever they feel like it. 

Check out the Hollyoaks YouView clip here!

Million Pound Drop.

The main second screen experience that stands out for this game show is its app. The show has an app that the audience is able to play along to the show with and in doing so, puts the audience in the contestants shoes. The features include being able to connect to Facebook and sharing skills with friends and being able to apply to be a contestant on the show. The show is able to boost it's ratings by advertising itself through it's audiences Facebook when showing off results to friends. The downfall is that you can only use this app when the game is on air, however you are able to upgrade the app by £1.49 then you can play it anytime, anywhere. The other interactive experience that stood out for me, but for the wrong reason was that of a link to the online betting site 'Bet365'. Gambling is not a good sport or addiction to have and therefore I don't find it fitting that the show had advertised this on its website. Then again, I feel this is because the shows audience is mainly made up of money mad, gambling fools. Game shows are all the same, its fun to watch but some people go a step to far and can lead to gambling.

Comparing American TV shows to British TV shows using 'The Office'.

The American take on The Office had a strong 1 - 9 seasons, where as the British version only a dissapoiinting 1- 2. There are many factors to this however I think its safe to say the American version has one over all. The USA version has its own website and on it, the characters maintain their own blogs, creating character development. For the audience to be able to read a characters blog that they are interested in gives the audience more information that they may not gain from the show itself. Its much more personal than just watching the show and nothing else until the next episode. The shows website features many games such as puzzles, sports games and the 'Dunder Mifflin Monster Maze.' There is also a wealth of interactive games such as the ever popular personality quiz. In this, the audience is able to find out which character they are most like, whether that be good or bad.

You are able to click 'Inside Dunder Mifflin' where you can get much more closer to the action by going through characters emails which you wouldn't see on the show. You are also able to email the characters through this experience giving you a closer, more personal insight into the show.

In comparison to the UK version of The Office, it seems a little bleak. Even though the 'mockumentary' is supposed to capture life at its slowest, I feel in my research and in my personal opinion, the British show deptics this a little too much. The characters are extremely down trodden and I understand that this is what is meant to be captured however, the British version lacks in humour. I wouldn't say the American adaption glamourises office work, however it does seem much more light hearted.

 There are hardly any second screen experiences for the UK adaption, just basic trivia games and no character development. This leads me to believe that American V British TV shows differ quite a lot.

Further research

I've been looking again at Breaking bad and have researched deep into what other second screen experiences and platforms it brings to us.

I have discovered that the creator of the show, Vince Gilligan, has stated that he would love to see a spin off of the show one day. The shady lawyer 'Saul Goodman' will do anything it takes to stay out of the court of law and Gilligan says this would be fun to watch as apposed to the madness of character Walter White's storylines. Will fans want this? I'm not so sure. Were so used to seeing heavy, hard hitting drama from White and with lawyer Goodman being rather kooky, it seems the fans may get a little rattled because they miss the craziness of Breaking Bad, or perhaps this will be good after such an exhausting Walter White experience...
By releasing this statement of a spin off, the show is able to keep fans on a cliff hanger and in doing so, after the last season (five) fans will still be lurking around trying to sniff out any more information on up coming series' or indeed, new shows altogether.

I discovered whilst on the AMC website for Breaking Bad that there is a game named 'Go Fring Yourself' which is a clip from the season four finale in which we see a character get half of his face blown off in an explosion. Once watching this clip, it asks you to take a photo, upload one or log in using Facebook to upload a photo. In doing so via the social networking site, the show is attracting a larger audience as friends can see what you are doing. Once you have uploaded a photograph, you play the clip once more and your photograph is on the face of the man getting blown up. It seems ridiculous but it had my attention and I'm sure the attention of many others. Its intriguing and a great little interactive experience. After wards, you are able to share the clip to Facebook if you so wish.


There is also another interactive experience called the 'DEA Evidence Board'. On it, we see a board full of photographs of characters, some mug shots and stills of locations where you can click on one and it gives you more information on that person or location. This gives the audience an opportunity to find out more than what they would from the episodes and feel superior to others because they may know a secret. Here, the show is developing its characters more and gives us in depth information about them.

There is a 'Criminal Aptitude Test' which is a personality quiz where the user is able to answer questions to find out just 'how big a crook you are' out of the shows characters. In this, the audience is able to look deeper into the characters profiles and thoughts. By taking this quiz, you can relate to the characters more.

Researching Breaking Bad!

Throughout Applied Media Research, I have been looking into many different TV shows and the multi platform experiences they offer. I have devised what I shall be researching for my presentation for this module in later weeks and what it is I intend to find out.
I have written questionnaires so that we as a group can collate all the data we receive.
The group is currently researching American TV shows vs British TV shows because we want to find out what it is that attracts both audiences and why. I also want to find out the statistics when it comes to America creating an adaption of a British TV show such as The Office.
I have made a poll on Facebook asking people what their favourite TV show is out of the three we are researching, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead and Doctor Who. I'm doing this because I want to see if there is a difference in the preference of male and female genres.

Breaking Bad is an interesting but realistic portrayal into the Crystal Meth industry and at times glamourises this. I have chosen to research this TV show and when doing so, I want to find out which multi platform experience's the show uses to engage it's audience and why.
AMC's website for Breaking Bad collate games for all five seasons and stills taken from the drama. In creating games, the website has engaged the audience further. The website has an in depth discussion board and forum where people are able to share links to different sites for viewing this drama such as Netflix or sites that people are able to stream content and watch spoilers. In doing this, the fans are able to ask questions and share commentary with fellow fans, which makes them more involved. The creators of the website can find out information from you as they are monitoring what you are writing, and so have an idea of what the audience wants.

There are featured quizzes on the website and ones that you can click on with the face of a character you may like/dislike suggesting the quiz may be related to him/her. When clicking on a quiz, you immediately see a pop up asking you to log in using your Facebook account in order to carry on the quiz which is engaging a wider audience. This is because your friends on Facebook are then made aware that you are either watching Breaking Bad or are doing something related, thus advertising itself and gaining more viewers. You can share you results via Facebook with other friends which again is gaining a wider audience for the show.

There are many character blogs throughout the website where audience is able to have a snoop around. You can continue to read these blogs on a link off the AMC website which I feel engages the audience more because you feel its more personal and real. Having character blogs is a good way in developing the character further and as ever, you are able to comment on the blog or share it via social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, gaining a wider audience. In engaging the audience this way, the creators of the blogs are making the audience aware that the characters are carrying on living their on screen life whilst the show is not on air, almost like a virtual life and so making the audience feel they can find out more than what the show is telling them or any secrets of characters.

Heres a link for the Breaking Bad website via AMC. Have a look yourselves!

There is a newsletter that the audience is able to sign up to where they are then able to get up to date information regarding Breaking Bad and its actors/plots/characters. In this is questions and answers between actors and links to competitions for prizes however, not just for Breaking Bad. This a good way to advertise similar dramas such as The Walking Dead by having a simple pop up to the right about entering a competition in order to win a car identical to that of one in the show. By stating that the car is the same as the one in the show engages the audience further and will make them feel superior to others than just having a normal car, even though the car is an inanimate object and wouldn't get you away from zombies any faster than a 'normal' car would...

Seasons four and five of Breaking Bad went straight to Netflix after premiering its episodes in USA and not even airing in the UK. It seems this is because of the ultimate fan base and the audience wanting to know straight away what happened next carrying on from the cliff hanger ending season four. Breaking Bad is a niche show with a bigger cultural cachet than it has ever had viewers!

Doctor Who star Matt Smith stated that his ultimate cross over fantasy episode would be Breaking Bad meets the Timelord. I found this rather interesting because the top three multi platform TV shows we are researching involve Doctor Who and Breaking Bad!

Below is a trailer for Breaking Bad:

Breaking Bad have created a very interesting second screen experience called 'story sync', which is designed to be timed up to date with the show. On it is an entertaining mix of photos, videos, polls and flashbacks from previous seasons. It has been cleverly tied to on screen action which is such great way to engage fans. The only down fall within the story sync experience is that when there is a break on the show, there is also a break on the story sync, therefore you are inundated with advertisements, and ones that are not related to Breaking Bad so you essentially have two screens of advertisements.
Just to make sure your not forgetting your second screen experience when watching the show, a small pop up noise is activated whenever there is a notification. This keeps the audience engaged in both screens, which almost can detract from the actual live show making you miss important plot moments. There are flashbacks throughout the story sync so that the audience is able to remember previous episodes.
I think that in having a noisy pop up whenever there is a notification is leaning toward distracting the audience...

Check out this link for the Breaking Bad Story Sync experience!

Another interesting platform I have found out through my research relating to Breaking Bad is the game 'Grand Theft Auto 5'. The game does not have an actual release date as of yet however its new artwork has a similarity between the two characters in Breaking Bad, Walter White and Jesse Pinkman. Below is the art work:

Statistics for Breaking Bad: 

• Series premiered in January 2008
• Filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Season 4 increased viewers 24 % over season 3 for adults 18 - 49, most growth for any drama on basic cable
• Audience grew 42% over season 3 (aged 18 - 34)
• Average of 1.9 million viewers
• 6 Emmy Awards
• 10 nominations in first 3 seasons
• Social Networking Statistics
• 4,046,240 number of fans
• 97,145 people talking about the show at one point
• 52% of the shows fan base is based in America

See full list of statistics here

Throughout my research I intend to keep posting back with my findings and results from the presentation in uni. So far on the polls via social networking sites, Breaking Bad is coming top!