Engaging the Audience in a Digitised Television Production Process

Abstract

This article discusses producer practices and the reasons why they engage their audience in the production process. In a digitised media context, audiences have become more visible, mainly through social media, and have more means to participate. Our research deconstructs the production process of a particular television programme by means of the 'hierarchy of influences' model, which separates micro and macro levels that influence production. It draws on in depth interviews with all editors of Flemish current affairs programme De Afspraak (The Appointment) and on a three-month participatory observation. We conclude that immersive ways of engaging the audience are applied in our specific case. More broadly, we argue that although practices change, pre-existing norms and values about the television audience remain central to how producers engage their audience through digital and social media. KEYWORDS audience; digitisation; engagement; hierarchy of influences model; interviews; participatory observation; producers; television production. This article provides an empirical analysis of the role of audiences in the production process of De Afspraak during its first season (October 2015-January 2016. Drawing on indepth interviews, complemented by participatory observation in the editorial office, we examine how editors deal with the push to digitise their programme through social media, how they engage their audience and the reasons behind these production practices. Building on the HOI model, our analysis focuses on daily practices while taking the broader context into account. While a specific case study of a single programme in a specific genre, broadcasting institution and country emphasises the importance of particular contexts for audience engagement, the framework of the HOI model allows for the identification of structuring mechanisms and logics that have wider significance. From audience participation to engagementResearch on the role of the audience in a digital media environment often focuses on the concept of audience participation. Over the past decades, this has led to an extensive body of scholarship on participation, which we do not aim to summarise here. Instead, we briefly discuss some of its aspects to explain why this article chooses to further explore the concept of audience engagement.Audience participation has been defined in various ways, but often considers the democratising potential of digitisation for audiences and the consequential shift of power between producers and audiences (Carpentier and De Cleen 2008). Many scholars argue that digitisation changes the role of audiences, since they can participate more easily online (through social media, blogs, forums, etcetera) which may change the power dynamics between professionals and their audiences, giving the latter a more active role. Rosen ( 2008) famously appealed to media industry personnel stating that: "The people formerly known as the audience are simply the public made realer, less fictional, more able, less predictable. You should...

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