Being there from afar: The media event relocated to the public viewing area

Abstract

This article examines the media event as relocated to public viewing areas (PVAs) erected in cities across the globe, where people gather to watch the events together live on-screen. The study is based on ethnographic research carried out in PVAs located in selected cities during the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2012 Summer Olympics. We examine the relationships between these events, as reconstituted in these different locations through media networks, and the public’s participation via the event on-screen. The PVA emerges as a new location of experience and participation, with its own histories as a place of attraction for the local public and for visitors from afar, in what D. Massey would describe as an ‘intersection of local and global social relations’. The host city arena is no longer the self-evident ‘centre’ for this event, which has been pluralized through the complex web of media structures and the activities of participants who come to experience the event in these other, dispersed locations.

The sociality of public space broadcasting during media events

“…Whilst Hyde Park can be taken as a regulated or semi-regulated site for public viewing, the sites organized by the BBC provided a more open and less commercialized alternative (Becker and Widholm, 2014). Comparing Hyde Park with the PVAs in Birmingham and Manchester can thus reveal interesting insights into how structural features of PVAs impinge on audience interactions and identity articulations.…”

“…Through narrowcasting, viewing experiences within PVAs become increasingly self-reflexive and interactive, as motions, gestures and other performances by the public become visible on the screen. In sites where such techniques are deployed, the screened content oscillates between ‘internal’ and ‘external’ representations, connecting the local viewing context with a broader (national or global) context (Becker and Widholm 2014).…”

“…In addition, such sites have become ideal locations from which the media report and construct media events, as they signify public involvement and engagement beyond traditional symbolic ‘centres’ (e.g. the locations where events are said to take place) (Becker and Widholm, 2014). Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork carried out in connection with the British Royal wedding (2011) and the London Olympics (2012), this article explores the ‘sociality’ of public space broadcasting, focusing on sociocultural interaction and performance of identity among people who gathered for collective viewing in city centres across the United Kingdom.…”

European football supporter attitudes toward ambush marketing

“…Each host city for the 2016 European Championships housed an official fan zone which broadcast matches live into purpose-built constructed PVAs. Becker and Widholm (2014) noted that PVAs provide sponsors with expanded "performative" and "mass participatory" consumption opportunities. This emphasis placed on experiential consumption by sponsors in and around PVAs affords brands a means of creating interactive activations (McGillivray and Frew, 2015).…”

“…This emphasis placed on experiential consumption by sponsors in and around PVAs affords brands a means of creating interactive activations (McGillivray and Frew, 2015). These zones have therefore become integral elements of mega-events' sponsorship inventory, and prime locations for sponsors to activate their partnerships and engage with supporters in an active participant setting (Becker and Widholm, 2014;Lauss and Szigetvari, 2010).…”