Engaging Audiences Through Multi-Platform Television: Danger-5 and the Diamond Girls

Matt Loads 1 *
More Detail
1 Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
* Corresponding Author
Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, Volume 12, Issue 4, Article No: e202231. https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/12450
OPEN ACCESS   1239 Views   1175 Downloads   Published online: 09 Sep 2022
Download Full Text (PDF)

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the production processes of an Australian television drama, focusing on webisodes produced as part of a multi-platform program Danger 5. This program was broadcast on the Special Broadcast Service (SBS), Australia, in two series (2012 and 2015). Levine’s (2007) modes of production are applied to the creation of the webisodes. Through set visits and nine interviews with key creative staff, this study examines how cultural factors shaped these ancillary texts.
The SBS’s chartered purpose to use innovation to reach audiences was a key factor in the creation of these webisodes. The findings from this project include that the environment, routines, and practices in the creation of the webisodes were very similar to the broadcast Danger 5 program. However, this paper will demonstrate that shaping story for the webisodes and the efforts to reach an online audience meant that content changes were made. The more immediate feedback and clearer ability to measure audiences using social media were the reasons for a change in emphasis toward this form of online engagement during production in the program’s second season.
Keywords: webisodes, television, digital media

CITATION

Loads, M. (2022). Engaging Audiences Through Multi-Platform Television: Danger-5 and the Diamond Girls. Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 12(4), e202231. https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/12450

REFERENCES

  • ABC. (2014). Australian Broadcasting Corporation annual report 2014-15. http://about.abc.net.au/how-the-abc-is-run/reports-and-publications/
  • Ang, I., Hawkins, G., & Dabboussy, L. (2008). The SBS story: The challenge of diversity. UNSW Press.
  • Bruns, A. (2014). Media innovations, user innovations, societal innovations. The Journal of Media Innovations, 1(1), 13-27.
  • Caldwell, J. T. (2003). Second shift media aesthetics: Programming, interactivity and user flows. In A. Everett, & J. T. Caldwell (Eds.), New media: Theories and practices of digitextuality (pp. 127-144). Routledge.
  • Cunningham, S. (2009). Under great pressure, a diamond is being formed: The SBS over time. Media International Australia, 133, 15-18. https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X0913300104
  • Curtin, M., & Sanson, K. (2016). Precarious creativity: Global media, local labor. University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/luminos.10
  • Flew, T. (2009). The Special Broadcasting Service after 30 years: Public service media and new ways of thinking about media and citizenship. Media International Australia, 133(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X0913300103
  • Flew, T. (2011). Rethinking public service media and citizenship: Digital strategies for news and current affairs at Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service. International Journal of Communication, 5, 215-232.
  • Grainge, P., & Johnson, C. (2015). Promotional screen industries. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315718682
  • Levine, E. (2007). Toward a paradigm for media production research: Behind the scenes at General Hospital. In H. Newcomb (Ed.), Television the critical view. Oxford University Press.
  • Loads, M. (2014). Transmedia television drama: Proliferation and promotion of extended stories online. Media International Australia, 153(1).
  • Roose, J., & Akbarzadeh, S. (2013). The Special Broadcasting Service and the future of multiculturalism: An insight into contemporary challenges and future directions. Communication, Politics & Culture, 46, 93-115.
  • SBS. (2012). Special Broadcasting Service annual report 2012-13. http://www.sbs.com.au/aboutus/corporate/view/id/111/h/Annual-Reports
  • SBS. (2014). Special Broadcasting Service annual report 2014-15. http://www.sbs.com.au/aboutus/corporate/view/id/111/h/Annual-Reports
  • Scolari, C. (2009). Transmedia storytelling: Implicit consumers, narrative worlds, and branding in contemporary media production. International Journal of Communication, 3, 586-606.
  • Screen Australia. (2014). Australian TV drama hours produced and costs per hour by format, 2000/01-2012/13. http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/research/statistics/dramatvdramahoursxformat.aspx
  • Smaill, B. (2003). Commissioning difference? The case of SBS Independent and documentary. Media International Australia, 107(1), 105-116. https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X0310700111