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This is the author’s version of a work that was submitted/accepted for pub- lication in the following source:

Woodford, Darryl & Prowd, Katie (2014) Everyone’s watching it : the role of hype in television engagement through social media. In Social Media and the Transformation of Public Space, 18-20 June 2014, Amsterdam, The .

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Notice: Changes introduced as a result of publishing processes such as copy-editing and formatting may not be reflected in this document. For a definitive version of this work, please refer to the published source: Social Media and the Transformation of Public Space, June 18-20, 2014 – University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

Everyone’s Watching It: The Role of Hype in Television Engagement through Social Media

Darryl Woodford & Katie Prowd University of Technology [email protected] / [email protected]

Social media is playing an ever-increasing role in both viewers engagement with television and in the television industries evaluation of programming, in Australia – which is the focus of our study - and beyond. Twitter hashtags and viewer comments are increasingly incorporated into broadcasts, while fan pages provide a means of marketing upcoming shows and television personalities directly into the social media feed of millions of users. Additionally, bespoke applications such as FanGo and ZeeBox, which interact with the mainstream social networks, are increasingly being utilized by broadcasters for interactive elements of programming (c.f. Harrington, Highfield and Bruns, 2012).

However, both the academic and industry study of these platforms has focused on the measure of content during the specific broadcast of the show, or a period surrounding it (e.g. 3 hours before until 3 am the next day, in the case of 2013 Nielsen SocialGuide reports). In this paper, we argue that this focus ignores a significant period for both television producers and advertisers; the lead-up to the program. If, as we argue elsewhere (Bruns, Woodford, Highfield & Prowd, forthcoming), users are persuaded to engage with content both by advertising of the Twitter hash-tag or Facebook page and by observing their network connections engaging with such content, the period before and between shows may have a significant impact on a viewers likelihood to watch a show.

The significance of this period for broadcasters is clearly highlighted by the efforts they afford to advertising forthcoming shows through several channels, including television and social media, but also more widely. Biltereyst (2004, p.123) has argued that reality television generates controversy to receive media attention, and our previous small-scale work on reality shows during 2013 and 2014 supports the theory that promoting controversial behavior is likely to lead to increased viewing (Woodford & Prowd, 2014a). It remains unclear, however, to what extent this applies to other television genres. Similarly, while networks use of social media has been increasing, best practices remain unclear.

Thus, by applying our telemetrics, that is social media metrics for television based on sabermetric approaches (Woodford, Prowd & Bruns, forthcoming; c.f. Woodford & Prowd, 2014b), to the period between shows, we are able to better understand the period when key viewing decisions may be made, to establish the significance of observing discussions within your network during the period between shows, and identify best practice examples of promoting a show using social media.

References

Biltereyst, D. (2004). “Media Audiences and the Game of Controversy: On Reality TV, Moral Panic and Controversial Media Stories”. European Culture and the Media, 5(1), 117-137. Social Media and the Transformation of Public Space, June 18-20, 2014 – University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

Bruns, A., Woodford, D., Highfield, T., & Prowd, K. (Forthcoming). “Mapping Social TV Audiences: The Footprints of Leading Shows in the Australian Twittersphere”. [Submitted Paper]

Harrington, S., Highfield, T., & Bruns, A. (2012). More than a Backchannel: Twitter and Television. In J. M. Noguera (Ed.), Audience Interactivity and Participation (pp. 13–17). Brussels: COST Action Transforming Audiences, Transforming Societies. Retrieved from http://www.cost-transforming- audiences.eu/system/files/essays-and-interview-essays-18-06-12.pdf

Woodford, D., Prowd, K. & Bruns, A. (Forthcoming). “Telemetrics: Towards Measuring Social Media Engagement with Television”. [Submitted Paper].

Woodford, D. & Prowd, K. (2014a). “My Kitchen Rules pair are all the rage on social media – for now”. The Conversation, 5 Feb 2014. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/my-kitchen-rules- pair-are-all-the-rage-on-social-media-for-now-22830

Woodford, D. & Prowd, K. (2014b). “Twitter Excitement Index & Aussie TV Premieres” [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://www.tvmetrics.net/twitter-excitement-index-aussie-tv-premieres/