Television 2.0: Reconceptualizing TV As an Engagement Medium
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Television 2.0: Reconceptualizing TV as an Engagement Medium by Ivan D. Askwith B.A. Individualized Study (Technology, Media & Culture) Gallatin School of Individualized Study New York University, 2003 SUBMITTED TO THE PROGRAM IN COMPARATIVE MEDIA STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN COMPARATIVE MEDIA STUDIES AT THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY SEPTEMBER 2007 © 2007 Ivan D. Askwith. All rights reserved. The author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part in any medium now known or hereafter created. Signature of Author: Program in Comparative Media Studies 10 August 2007 Certified by: //I Henry Jenkins III Peter d;l orez Professor of Humanities Professor of Comparative Media Studies and Literature Co-Director, Comparative Media Studies Accepted by: -:?Z7 MASSACHUSETTS INS - Cee~<Fo < Henryjenkins III OF TECHNOLOGY Petee Florez Professor of Humanities Professor of Comparative Media Studies and Literature IAUG 7 4 2007 Co-Director, Comparative Media Studies VM0E =ES LIIRARIES Television 2.0: Reconceptualizing TV as an Engagement Medium by Ivan D. Askwith Submitted to the Program in Comparative Media Studies on August 10, 2007, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Comparative Media Studies ABSTRACT Television is in a period of dramatic change. As the mass audience continues to fragment into ever-smaller niche audiences and communities of interest, and new technologies shift control over the television viewing experience from network programmers into the hands of media consumers, television's traditional business models prove themselves increasingly untenable. In an attempt to preserve these models, television executives are attempting to shed television's long-standing reputation as a passive medium, which emphasized the viewer's role as a consumer of television content, and which critics often decried as vacuous and mindless. The current discourse suggests that television's future now relies on the industry's success recasting it as an active medium, capable of capturing and holding the audience's attention, and effective at generating emotional investment. The single most important concept in this new industrial discourse is that of audience "engagement", a term that has generated a tremendous amount of debate and disagreement, with television and advertising executives alike struggling to understand what engagement is, how it works, and what its practical consequences will be. This thesis argues that television's future as an engagement medium relies not on inventing new methodoloies that define engagement in terms of quantifiable audience behaviors and attitudes, but instead in a new conceptual model of television, better suited to a multiplatform media environment and the emerging attention and experience economies, which focuses on the development of television programs that extend beyond the television set. Such a model must understand television not as a method for aggregrating audiences that can be sold to advertisers, but as a medium that draws upon media platforms, content, products, activities and social spaces to provide audiences with a range of opportunities to engage with television content. Accordingly, this thesis offers a framework for thinking about viewer engagement as the range of opportunities and activities that become possible when drawing upon an expanded, multi-platform conception of the modern television text. Applying this framework to the innovative and experimental textual extensions developed around ABC's Lost, the thesis indicates both the challenges and opportunities that emerge as television becomes an engagement medium. Thesis Supervisor: Henry Jenkins Title: Professor of Comparative Media Studies 5 Acknowledgements While this thesis represents the beginning, rather than the end, of an ongoing journey to develop the ideas that have occupied my attention and time at MIT, there are a number of people without whom it would have been impossible to come this far. Future versions of this document will elaborate on the reasons for these acknowledgements, but for the present, it is essential that I thank the friends who have supported (and tolerated) me over the past two years: Neal Grigsby, Amanda Finkelberg, Bridgette Thom, Anton Markin, Jamie Antonisse and Travis Sakamoto. For both his friendship and his generous assistance in helping me get a behind-the-scenes look at the television production process, I also owe special thanks to Rick Pickett. Of all of my friends, I am the most grateful to my parents, who allowed me to learn what it's like to do things the hard way. Thanks also to the many creative professionals and 'auteurs' who have created the work that made me care about television and entertainment in the first place: JMS, Joss Whedon, J. J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof have all made profound contributions to this work. Several profssionals in "the culture industries" have been gracious enough to lend me their time, interest, enthusiasm and experience as I developed the ideas introduced n this thesis. In particular, I am grateful to Michael Lebowitz and Jason Prohaska at Big Spaceship, and to several members of the Lost team who took the time to answer my questions: Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Carlton Cuse, Jorge Garcia and Daniel Dae-Kim. In addition, I owe Gregg Nations my eternal gratitude. Among my academic mentors advisors and peers, particular thanks are due to William Uricchio, Roberta Pearson, John Caldwell, Jason Mittell, Jonathan Gray and Derek Johnson. Over the past two years, and during the thesis writing process in particular, my colleagues from the Convergence Culture Consortium have been invaluable in more ways than I can express; as such, I owe a debt of gratitude to Alec Austin and Geoff Long. Particular thanks also go to Eleanor Baird, whose encouragement sustained me more often than she suspects, and to Sam Ford, whose insight and friendship I value beyond measure. And finally, there are no words to express the level of gratitude I feel toward my indefatigable thesis advisors, Henry Jenkins III and Joshua Green. For giving me enough rope to hang myself, for catching me when I almost did, and for not thinking less of me as I got back on my feet, I am forever in your debt. Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................ 3 Acknowledgem ents........................................................................................................... 5 Table of Contents............................................................................................................. 7 Introduction / Television in Transition ........................................................................... 11 A Brief History of the Television Business.............................................................................................. 13 From 'Television' to 'Content'. ........................................................................................................... ........ 15 Chapter 1 / The Elusive Concept of Engagem ent............................................................. 23 1. Industrial Approaches to Engagement ....................................................................................... 24 1.1. Struggling for Definition ................................................................................................................. 24 1.2. M easuring Engagement..............................................o.................................................................... 28 1.3. Rethinking The Television Text ...................................................................................................... 33 1.4. The Ad*VIZR New M edia Audit.................................................................................................... 36 1.5. Challenging Ad*VIZR's Approach .............................................................................................. 37 2. Academic Approaches to Engagement ....................................................................................... 40 2.1. Three Propositions About Television.............................................................................................. 40 2.2. Alternate M odels of Audience Engagement.................................................................................. 43 2.2.1. The "Consumer Expressions" Model...................................................................................................... 44 2.2.2. The "Connectedness" Model ..................................................................................................................... 45 3. A New Definition of Engagement.............................................................................................. 49 Chapter 2 / The Expanded Television Text ..................................................................... 51 Notes on M ethodology.............................................................................................................................. 52 1. Formal Program Qualities...........................................................................................o...................... 55 2. Expanded Access.................................................................................................................................