CUADERNOS.INFO Nº 45 ISSN 0719-3661 Versión electrónica: ISSN 0719-367x http://www.cuadernos.info https://doi.org/10.7764/cdi.45.1562 Recibido: 13-10-2018 / Aceptado: 15-10-2019 A discrete proposal: Appeals to the social networks of popular programmes in Europe Una proposición discreta: apelaciones a las redes sociales de los programas populares en Europa Uma proposta discreta: apelações às redes sociais dos programas populares na Europa BELÉN MONCLÚS, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain (Belen.Monclus@uab.cat) NURIA GARCÍA-MUÑOZ, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain (Nuria.Garcia@uab.cat) MATILDE DELGADO, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain (Matilde.Delgado@uab.cat) ROSA FRANQUET, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain (Rosa.Franquet@uab.cat) EMILI PRADO, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain (Emili.Prado@uab.cat) ALBA MENDOZA , Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain (Alba.Mendoza@uab.cat) ABSTRACT RESUMEN RESUMO This article shows the results of an El artículo presenta los resultados de una O artigo apresenta os resultados de uma empirical research dealing with investigación empírica sobre las estrategias pesquisa empírica sobre as estratégias on-screen appeal strategies calling for de apelación en pantalla a las redes sociales de apelação em tela às redes sociais the use of social networks during the de los programas más vistos en los canales dos programas mais assistidos nos most-watched programmes on general generalistas de TDT en Francia, Alemania, canais generalistas do TDT na França, DTT channels in France, Germany, Italia, España y el Reino Unido en 2016-2017. Alemanha, Itália, Espanha e Reino Unido Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom in El objetivo es identificar cómo se reclama em 2016-2017. O objetivo é identificar 2016-2017. The aim is to identify how the la atención de las audiencias sociales en como se exige a atenção das audiências attention of social audiences is sought tiempo sincrónico a la emisión y qué forma sociais em tempo sincrônico à emissão while the broadcast is taking place and adquieren en la narración y estructura de los e que forma se tornam na narração e what form these appeals acquire in the formatos. El análisis de contenido muestra estrutura dos formatos. A análise de narrative and structure of formats. The los recursos y estrategias empleadas, las conteúdo mostra os recursos e estratégias content analysis shows the resources and diferencias según país, titularidad del canal empregadas, as diferenças segundo o strategies used, the differences according y género programático, y el uso hegemónico país, titularidade do canal e gênero to country, channel ownership and del hashtag y las estrategias singulares del programático, e o uso hegemônico da programme genre, and the hegemonic info-show en los canales comerciales. hashtag e as estratégias singulares do use of hashtags and the unique strategies info-show nos canais comerciais. of info-show in commercial channels. Keywords: digital terrestrial Palabras clave: televisión digital Palavras-chave: televisão digital television; social media; hashtag; terrestre; redes sociales; hashtag; ficción; terrestre; redes sociais; hashtag; ficção; fiction; information; info-show. información; info-show. informação; info-show. Forma de citar: Monclús, B., García-Muñoz, N., Delgado, M., Franquet, R., Prado, E., & Mendoza, A. (2019). A discrete proposal: Appeals to the social networks of popular programmes in Europe. Cuadernos.info, (45), 227-240. https://doi.org/10.7764/cdi.45.1562 227 MONCLÚS, B. et al. A discrete proposal: Appeals to the social networks of popular programmes in Europe INTRODUCTION improve their audience ratings and the proliferation The concept of social TV has promoted interest in of new relation spaces. It is evident that television has the study of multiple-screen usage and the observation always had a social facet, which was strengthened by of the strategies and actions that broadcasters are concepts that redefined public ones, such as active implementing. Specifically, this knowledge will help audience (Fiske, 1987; Morley, 1992) or prosumers explain the behaviour of new audience communities (Toffler, 1980; Jenkins, 2006; García-Galera & Valdivia, and certain aspects of business models in media 2014) versus former theoretical perspectives, like the environments. hypodermic needle model during the analogue era, Research focusing on social networks and television where the passive audience was influenced by the convergence is conducted by exploring and analysing message of mass media. It should be noted that the certain specific elements, such as technological, search for communities among audience members financial and social, to name just a few. However, it is was a phenomenon already present at this earlier point worth pointing out that most research that explores the in time. The interaction through websites of certain strategies used by television channels focuses on the study television products, such as teen series, is an example of audience-generated content on Facebook, Twitter, of this (Gillian, 2010). YouTube and the broadcaster’s websites. It deals with this Content consumption changes onto second and third research centres on programmes broadcast both as part screens (Sørensen, 2015; Wilson, 2015) has multiplied of the usual schedules (Rossi & Giglioetto, 2016; Han online as well as traditional social communities. In & Lee, 2014) and specific events broadcast by television this case, both types of communities are consumers channels (Harrington, Highfield, & Bruns, 2013). of content generated by the television industry. Social A relevant factor that helps to understand this context networks redefine the power of traditional television, is knowing precisely how the television programme leading to changes generated both in family interaction schedule itself appeals to the social audience at the through second screens (Morrison & Krugman, 2010) same time as the broadcast. This makes it possible and in the consumption of content in several spaces to explore how broadcasters call for the audience’s and devices. attention and their attempts to enhance the feeling The interest in this convergence between social of inclusion in a different community relationship. networks and television has promoted numerous Likewise, mapping these on-screen appeal strategies research projects centred on the use of Twitter as a informs us of the extent to which the actions directed second screen (Deller, 2011). Twitter Social Television at social audiences can modify the narrative elements stimulates the feeling of a shared consumption of programme schedules. experience embodied in the concept of liveness by This research project presents the findings of an some authors such as Bourdon (2000) and Couldry empirical study on social network inclusion strategies, (2004). Most studies show the importance of the use conducted on-screen and during the broadcast of the most of Twitter during the linear broadcast of programmes popular programmes in five European markets: Germany, (Greer & Ferguson, 2011). The activity in Twitter is France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom during the notable both in the reality formats (Doughty, Rowland, 2016-2017 season. The programmes and formats that & Lawson, 2011; van Es, 2016) and in serialised fiction have the highest audience ratings become a privileged (Ji & Raney, 2015; Auverset & Billings, 2016) as well scenario for the study of the relationships between as in information content (Larsson, 2013; Pond, programme genres and the behaviour of the different 2016). It is evident that the research findings value audience communities. Therefore, the formats analysed hashtags highly, not only for audiences but also for correspond to the three main contents of the programme the creators and distributors of television content. schedule of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT), namely Therefore, the possible use of hashtags has a significant serialised fiction, info-show and information. role in the strategies employed inside and outside the linear broadcasts of television channels. It must not be forgotten that “Social TV involves behaviours and TELEVISION AND APPEALS TO THE SOCIAL cognitions before, during and after consuming TV AUDIENCE programming” (Auverset & Billings, 2016, p. 10). For The appearance and development of social networks their part, audience measurement companies have has allowed television programme schedulers to already included certain strategies to provide data on CUADERNOS.INFO Nº 45 / DECEMBER 2019 / ISSN 0719-3661 / E-version: www.cuadernos.info / ISSN 0719-367x 228 MONCLÚS, B. et al. A discrete proposal: Appeals to the social networks of popular programmes in Europe how the audience interacts with television programmes Furthermore, among the factors that shape the on Twitter, for example Kantar Media through its Kantar practices of broadcasters, it is worth indicating one of Social TV Ratings service. the aspects that on occasions has influenced several There have been changes to the production and strategies on television. The ownership of channels distribution of television content as adaption to can be important in capturing digital audiences. The technological and economic convergence occurs function and responsibility of public media services (Jenkins, 2014), abandoning specific traditional towards audiences has traditionally been different to the processes in favour of other innovative ones (Franquet behaviour shown by commercial media. As indicated by & Villa Montoya, 2014). The actions undertaken by the Moe, Poell and van Dijck (2016) “audience engagement broadcasters aim to capture the attention of both the obviously means something different for public digital user and the conventional television audience. service broadcasters than it means for commercial To do so, industry practices have been altered from the producers” (p. 100). State regulations, differentiated transmedia and cross-media activities, along with other business models and commercial agreements between specific actions that capture the attention of the social televisions and platforms are some of the factors which, audience during the linear broadcast. The interactions along with the broadcasters production routines , taking place in the social audience communities are can determine the final decisions of the programme determined by several factors, including the forms and schedulers (Hallvard, 2011; van Dijck & Poell, 2015). resources of appeals to online communities during the The discourse of social network audiences is guided. simultaneous consumption of television broadcasts. Firstly, the participation platform is specified, and The study of these on-screen appeals allows us to secondly, a specific topic is provided to comment on discover how they are incorporated into the narrative and discuss from the start of the programme. This and the storyline of the programme and what kind of circumstance does not guarantee an immediate participation is required. response from the digital communities. However, any In fact, one of the fundamental aspects of television element that appears on-screen in real time depends and social networks is to be found in the concept of on the decisions of those in charge of the programme, participation, on the basis of a hypothetical redefinition and not the audience. Therefore, it is necessary to know when any attempt to analyse its presence in the digital which content is created by the audiences to be shown, context is made. The concept of participation “has and which is guided and selected by those in charge become one of the key concepts of communication and of the programmes. media studies, especially after the popularization of Approaching industrial scheduling practices allows web 2.0” (Carpentier, 2012, p. 2). One of the essential us to find out what decisions are made by broadcasters differences with the analogue era is that the call for from the specific perspective of audience participation participation in the digital age demands the creation in real time. This study aims to explore how the of new online communities and the capture of new producers of the most popular programmes appeal audiences. The relationship between participation directly on-screen for participation on social networks. and media has been studied by several researchers Based on this, we formulate the following research (Livingstone & Lunt, 1992; Hibberd, 2003; Cammaerts questions: & Carpentier, 2007), who confirm this complex and RQ1. Do the real-time, on-screen appeals present prickly practice, in which the industry’s activities distinctive practices depending on the country of broadcast? are focused. The presence of appeals (call to actions) RQ2. Is the ownership of channels a determining factor on-screen is an explicit way of calling for audience in the appeals? participation. However, two highly differentiated RQ3. Can differentiated strategies be identified depending strategies can be established: one which provides on the programme’s formats? on-screen information about the social network where RQ4. Is the use of hashtags a general on-screen practice the audience can give an opinion, and another which in all five markets? shows some on-screen content related to audience response through the networks. Future research on the second strategy should be initiated (van Dijck, 2013) METHODOLOGY which could account for the new productive routines The study examines a sample of thirty programmes regarding audience participation. with the highest audience ratings from a total of 26 CUADERNOS.INFO Nº 45 / DECEMBER 2019 / ISSN 0719-3661 / E-version: www.cuadernos.info / ISSN 0719-367x 229 MONCLÚS, B. et al. A discrete proposal: Appeals to the social networks of popular programmes in Europe general public and commercial DTT channels in France was stored at the GRISS laboratory2, at the Universitat (France 2, France 3, TF1 and M6), Germany (Dar Erste, Autònoma de Barcelona. A business intelligence system ZDF, ProSieben, Sat1 and RTL), Italy (RAI1, RAI2, was designed using the Oracle Business Intelligence RAI3, Canale 5, Italia 1 and Rete 4), Spain (La1, La2, tool and implemented to explore the data. TV3, Antena 3, Tele5, Cuatro y La Sexta) and the United The quantitative and qualitative content analysis Kingdom (BBC1, BBC2, ITV and Channel 4), during performed identifies where and when the appeals occur the 2016-2017 season. during the broadcast and analyse their morphology. The The DTT channels that constitute the sample have concept of appeals refers to any kind of call during the been selected from five European markets because broadcasting of the programme which asks the audience they are general content broadcasters with the highest to interact on online platforms (official websites, social audience shares in their respective territories. In these networks and apps). The unit of analysis was, therefore, countries “the role of the state has been a driving force, each of the on-screen appeals identified during the regulator and subsidiary of digitalisation” and the role broadcast of these programmes. of public television depends on “the history of the Besides the identifying variables of the programmes, corporations in each of the countries” (Urquiza García, the analysis protocol includes variables related to the 2009, pp. 390-391). The analysis of the programmatic platforms and social networks where there are appeals content of the DTT has revealed an absence of genres to the social audience, appeal typologies, authorship diversity and a continuity in the leadership of those of these appeals, modality and form of insertion already existing in the analogue era, fiction, information on-screen, duration, narrative moment where they and info-show (Bustamante, 2002; Prado, 2002; García- occur, and narrative resources to transmit the appeal Muñoz & Larrégola, 2010; Prado, 2010; Prado & to the audience, such as the use of a hashtag. Delgado, 2010). Prior to the coding of the identified call to action, a In order to select the programmes that make up pretest was carried out to evaluate the designed analysis the sample for this study, the audience data of the protocol. The six coders that would work in the coding programmes broadcasted on the DTT channels of the process participated in the pretest, and a result of 86.8% five selected markets during the 16th of January to Holsti Proceed (1969) was achieved. Once the reliability the 26th February 2017 period was firstly monitored. test was passed and the resulting discrepancies between Audience data from the audiometric companies in each coders were corrected, the content analysis of all the country (AFG, Mediamat-Mediametrie, Auditel, Kantar programmes that make up the sample was carried out, Media and Barb) allowed the creation of a data bank with the complete view of each one of them. with the most viewed programmes in each country. After the identification of the most watched programmes, the classification according to content RESULTS was carried out. For this task, our own typology was The results for the study show that the most popular used. It has previously been tested and validated by the entertainment and information programmes on consolidated research group GRISS-UAB in previous generalist DTT channels in Europe are an excellent projects (CSO2009-1212822 and CSO2012-39232), space for programme schedulers to appeal for audience and developed by the Euromonitor Observatory, which participation through online platforms. These on-screen has three leves of categorization –macrogenre, genre calls to action, which occur simultaneously to the and microgenre– (Prado & Delgado, 2010). Once the broadcast, respond to different needs and their final aim content of the programmes was labeled, those with the does not always align with the desire to increase social highest audience from the most important macrogenre audience participation with the programme content. of the general European DTT offer were selected. Table In relation to the research question (RQ1), on-screen 1 shows the programmes selected for this study, which appeals present different practices depending on the are equally distributed according to the programme countries analysed. genre1 (serialised fiction, information and info-show) Firstly, it can be said that it is possible to identify three and channel ownership. appeal levels, all of which entail a different degree of The programmes analysed were saved during the involvement on the part of the social audience as shown week of the 13-19 March 2017 and the megadata by the examples in figure 1. The first level comprises collected during the broadcast of these programmes calls to action, which aim to make the shared spaces CUADERNOS.INFO Nº 45 / DECEMBER 2019 / ISSN 0719-3661 / E-version: www.cuadernos.info / ISSN 0719-367x 230 MONCLÚS, B. et al. A discrete proposal: Appeals to the social networks of popular programmes in Europe Fiction Programme Channel Ownership Country Frequency Fais pa ça F2 Public France Weekly Section de recherches TF1 Commercial France Weekly Tatort ARD Public Germany Weekly Rabenmütter SAT 1 Commercial Germany Weekly Un passo dal cielo RAI1 Public Italy Weekly Amore pensaci tu CANALE5 Commercial Italy Weekly Cuéntame cómo pasó LA1 Public Spain Weekly Sé quién eres TELE5 Commercial Spain Weekly Eastenders BBC1 Public United Kingdom Daily Coronation Street ITV Commercial United Kingdom Daily Information Programme Channel Ownership Country Frequency 20 Heures F2 Public France Daily Le 20H TF1 Commercial France Daily Tagesschau 20:00 Uhr ARD Public Germany Daily Aktuell 18:45 RTL Commercial Germany Daily TG1 ore 20:00 RAI1 Public Italy Daily TG5 Edizione ore 20:00 CANALE5 Commercial Italy Daily Telediario 2 LA1 Public Spain Daily Informativo Noche Telecinco TELE5 Commercial Spain Daily Six O'Clock News BBC1 Public United Kingdom Daily ITV Evening News ITV Commercial United Kingdom Daily Info-Show Programme Channel Ownership Country Frequency Vivement Dimanche Prochain F2 Public France Weekly The Voice (Le plus belle voix) TF1 Commercial France Weekly Aktenzeichen XY ZDF Public Germany Weekly Vermisst RTL Commercial Germany Weekly La vita in diretta RAI1 Public Italy Daily Striscia la notizia CANALE5 Commercial Italy Daily Hora Punta LA1 Public Spain Daily El Hormiguero 3.0 A3TV Commercial Spain Daily The Real Marigold Hotel BBC1 Public United Kingdom Weekly The Voice UK ITV Commercial United Kingdom Weekly Table 1. Programme list Source: Own elaboration. CUADERNOS.INFO Nº 45 / DECEMBER 2019 / ISSN 0719-3661 / E-version: www.cuadernos.info / ISSN 0719-367x 231 MONCLÚS, B. et al. A discrete proposal: Appeals to the social networks of popular programmes in Europe Figure 1. Appeal levels Source: Screenshots from ARD and ITV. created by the broadcaster visible on-screen. Their contestant in a programme. These calls make it possible purpose is simply to redirect the audience to platforms for the social audience to actively take part in some of and social networks, an action which does not imply any the narrative elements of the programme. intervention on the part of the audience in relation to These three appeal levels can occur in the same the narrative elements of the programme. Three specific programme or else be used independently. Furthemore, practices can be differentiated at this first appeal level. the different television practices of broadcasters in Firstly, the programme website is visible, for example, relation to the three levels varies depending on the by showing its URL. Secondly, the on-screen appeal country of broadcast. shows the profiles of the official accounts pertaining to the programmes in the social networks, mainly on LEADERSHIP OF THE UNITED KINGDOM AND OF Twitter and Facebook. And the final one centres on COMMERCIAL CHANNELS IN EUROPE the visibility of apps, which may include exclusive The United Kingdom stands out as the country programme content. that appeals the most to social audiences through its At the second appeal level, actions performed by programmes with the highest ratings (58.7 percent the programme schedulers and creators involve an of total appeals). British broadcasters are notable in implicit, but not direct, appeal to the social audience motivating viewer participation through all platforms, interaction in relation to programme content or actors. whether they are social networks, programme websites The call is mainly transmitted through two actions: the or apps. This leadership is observed on all British use of hashtags (#) and, to a lesser extent, by mentions channels, whatever their ownership. (@). In this sense, a generic or specific hashtag is used These broadcasters are also differentiated by during the broadcast to allow the audience to express transmitting the appeal widely through several their comments. In the case of mentions, this is usually online platforms in comparison to the other countries associated with a profile of the main characters from the analysed. The practices selected for these actions are programme, whether they are journalists, presenters, found in the combination of different social networks collaborators or participants, offering digital audiences (like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat) and the chance to interact with them. the promotion of specific apps, as well as the corporate The third and final level encompasses appeals that or programme website, and are used individually or call for audience participation and whose action is collectively. necessary to develop the programme narrative. These Another distinctive feature of the British market is appeals are proof of the greater level of synergy between the inclusion of these appeals across different television conventional broadcasting and the explicit participation formats. The appeals made in info-show programmes through social networks by digital communities. As will are mainly directed at encouraging the participation be shown later, these methods of appeals are associated of social audience to determine the development of with specific television formats, where the audience the programme and interacting through the hashtag is encouraged to decide, for example, the future of a or the mention, occupying the second and third CUADERNOS.INFO Nº 45 / DECEMBER 2019 / ISSN 0719-3661 / E-version: www.cuadernos.info / ISSN 0719-367x 232 MONCLÚS, B. et al. A discrete proposal: Appeals to the social networks of popular programmes in Europe Info-show Information Fiction 100% 10.9% 17.9% 4.7% 80% 60% 67.9% 84.4% 40% 20% 14.3% 0% Public Commercial Figure 2. Distribution of appeals according to ownership and programme content and channel ownership Source: Own elaboration. levels defined above. In information programmes, crucial element in a broadcaster’s scheduling strategy the appeals are mainly limited to the first level: the when seeking the participation of digital audiences. programme website where viewers can continue to Therefore, the answer to the third question (RQ3) is obtain information is posted and, on occasions, the affirmative, as the results demonstrate that the formats profiles of their journalists’ social networks are offered. present different strategies in the use of appeals. In Regarding the number of appeals made, Spanish has this regard, the info-show requires greater visibility to the second place, after the British market, with 20.7 social audiences, reaching the highest rate on the use percent, followed by France (15.2 percent). Germany of appeals (63 percent), and maintains a notable lead and Italy show a lower level of activity in capturing in quantitative terms, in comparison to information the attention of digital audiences (3.3 percent and 2.2 programmes (23.9 percent) and serialised fiction (13 percent, respectively). However, this does not prevent percent). While all the countries agree on the preferential appeals to the social audience from being articulated use of appeals in television reality formats, Italy and in these countries through other resources outside the Spain also also include an equal number of appeals in synergy that the scheduling flow offers in these countries. serialised fiction programmes and info-shows. The results validate the hypothesis of the second Once again, the RQ2 premise that gave prominence research question (RQ2), stating that the channel’s to the role of the ownership channel is resized after ownership is a determining factor in the presence the analysis of the formats, since ownership of the of appeals. In the five countries of the sample, the broadcasters is essential to understand the initiatives commercial broadcasters make greater use of these undertaken in relation to the convergence of television actions (69.6 percent) in comparison to public channels and social networks from the qualitative point of view. (30.4 percent). It should be noted that this divergence The behaviour of the channels shows that there is a between ownership occurs in all countires except polarised strategy in the patterns developed by public Germany. This trend is not observed in the case of the and commercial channels to place their products, as popular programmes analysed in that country, where shown in figure 2. A clear preference can be seen in only spaces offered by public channels make these commercial channels for infotainment content and, to calls to action. In addition, it is important to highlight a lower level, for fiction and information. In contrast, how the public programmes that have higher audience public channels give preference to the use of appeals ratings in the French and Italian markets did not have for informative content rather than serialised fiction appeals on the analysed shows. and info-shows. THE TALENT SHOW AND SOCIAL AUDIENCE, A The way audiences are evolving is highlighted DECLARATION OF LOVE prominently in television talent show formats, which Programme genres and television formats are a broadcasters have exploited to great success. Talent CUADERNOS.INFO Nº 45 / DECEMBER 2019 / ISSN 0719-3661 / E-version: www.cuadernos.info / ISSN 0719-367x 233 MONCLÚS, B. et al. A discrete proposal: Appeals to the social networks of popular programmes in Europe shows increase the advertising revenue obtained by beginning of the programme, after each contestant’s channels, have a knock-on effect on other content and performance, following the commercial break and at use the actors of these programmes in several spaces in-between or quiet moments, in which the viewers of their channels. It is precisely these talent shows are reminded that they must vote for their favourite which concentrate the greatest number of appeals (51.1 singer” (Franquet, Gómez, Coromina, & Guerrero, percent). Other genres typical of info-shows, which 2018, p. 7). also require audience engagement, albeit discreetly, These special features identified in talent shows are are talk shows (9.8 percent), reality shows (1.1 percent) not observed in other genres of info-show. Programmes and humour content (1.1 percent). of humour content and talk shows centre their activity The special feature of talent shows is revealed not only instead at the second appeal level, suggesting various in a quantitative approach; it is also visible in a qualitative social networks to interact with the social audience. approach, which presents a use of appeals calling for They mainly refer to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram audience participation to construct the programme and, mostly, resort to the programme hashtag or to a narrative. It is evident that, historically, game shows and specific topic being considered on the programme to reality formats have very often promoted both analogue draw the viewers’ attention. On the other hand, reality and digital audience participation. The very nature shows place greater focus on making the programmes of the talent Show implies an indivisible association website visible. with direct audience participation. For this reason, Fiction genres present two different strategies when these formats use the three appeal levels as previously using on-screen appeals. For instance, soap opera mentioned, in practices that include websites, social (10.9 percent), humour content and talk shows employ networks and applications. However, we must not hashtags to encourage audience activity on social forget that the phenomenon observed in this genre is networks. On the other hand, series focus on making precisely how relevant the third appeal level becomes, their websites known, along the line of action identified a phenomenon not shown in other content typical of in reality shows. info-show, information and serialised fiction. It is precisely this strategy that is used in a generalised The activities generated by British and French way in information. Evening news programmes (23.9 talent shows ask the viewer to comment on what is percent) mainly promote their website, but on occasions happening in the programme through social networks, they also refer to social networks and inform of the and also to vote on the progression or elimination of availability of specific apps where more content can a contestant from the game. Other actions in which be found. Social audiences can thereby interact with the social audience can partake range from direct the protagonists of the information when they know communication with protagonists through social their profiles and, highly sporadically, through the networks and the creation of communities of fans, proposal of a hashtag. These initiatives have been solely to access to exclusive programme content through identified in the evening news programmes in the platforms and applications. United Kingdom and Germany. It is important to note to what extent the appeal strategies to digital audiences form part of what THE USE OF THE HASHTAG ON SCREEN is included in the adaptation of a format and/or The results show that there is no widespread use corresponds to decisions taken by the producers or of the hashtag as proposed in the fourth research schedulers themselves. This fact must be understood questions (RQ4). The manifestation of on-screen in the context of the global format trade (Chalaby, appeals to social audiences is articulated mainly using 2011), as all programmes of this type are adaptations a hashtag (#), mention (@), URL, and to a lesser extent, of franchises, which stipulate how the role and the text, image, audio and email. It must be pointed out participation of the audience must be articulated, at that these elements can appear on-screen individually which points of the narrative, and which mechanisms or in combination. However, the presence of these are to be used to appeal to the social audience. resources is unevenly spread, depending on the genre Audiences respond to patterns developed in previous and country. markets and which have proved capable of this task. In Although the findings obtained reveal that only the case of the British and French versions of The Voice, 27 percent of programmes analysed use a hashtag “their modus operandi consists of placing appeals at the to appeal to social audiences, this resource is the CUADERNOS.INFO Nº 45 / DECEMBER 2019 / ISSN 0719-3661 / E-version: www.cuadernos.info / ISSN 0719-367x 234 MONCLÚS, B. et al. A discrete proposal: Appeals to the social networks of popular programmes in Europe Figure 3. Typologies of hashtag insertion Source: Screenshots from Canale 5, Antena 3 and La 1. Figure 4. Typologies of mention insertion Source: Screenshots from La 1, Antena 3 and ITV. one that appears most frequently on-screen and special protagonism to mentions “@” (20 percent), lasts the longest, registering a minimum duration thereby establishing it as another essential symbol in of 3 seconds and a maximum of 87 minutes, thus the physical manifestation of appeals. The decision remaining for the whole duration of the programme to include the names of programmes and their main broadcast. France, the United Kingdom, Italy and characters after the “@” is made, giving information Spain choose this resource, and always associate the about official accounts on social networks, mainly hashtag to a keyword derived from the name of the Twitter and Instagram. Information, serialised fiction programme. This can occasionally be accompanied and info-shows use this resource, although its use by the contents discussed on the programme, acquires special significance in the latter, in particular of the episode or the broadcasting channel. The in the British talent show The Voice. It is in this hashtag is used on info-show (#WalkingDeadEH, adaptation of the format created by Endemol where #HoraPuntaTVE, #THEVOICE, #TheVoiceUK), the official accounts of the contestants are shown. As fiction (#CuéntameNegocios, #SéQuiénEres9, in the case of some news programmes, these try to #amorepensacitu) and information programmes attract digital communities using the profiles of their (#BBCNewsSix). journalists. Appeals that incorporate mentions are A hashtag acquires immense value in on-screen on-screen for 2 to 43 seconds. Mentions are inserted appeals by being the most widely exploited symbol exclusively by overprint and, on some occasions, the used to invite the audience to enjoy a shared experience @ shares its presence on-screen with other resources, between digital communities and broadcasters. as shown in figure 4. Regarding the method of on-screen insertion, the Overprinting the name of the website on-screen is overprint is the dominant mode, however, it is the third resource used by programme schedulers. occasionally embedded3 into the credits at the end of As in the case of the hashtag and the mention, info- the programme, as shown in figure 3. shows, serialised fiction and information include this The second resource highlighted in appeals gives element on-screen. It is found mostly at the end of the CUADERNOS.INFO Nº 45 / DECEMBER 2019 / ISSN 0719-3661 / E-version: www.cuadernos.info / ISSN 0719-367x 235 MONCLÚS, B. et al. A discrete proposal: Appeals to the social networks of popular programmes in Europe Figure 5. Typologies of URL insertion Source: Screenshots from ZDF, BBC1 and Canale 5. programme. Germany, Spain, Italy and the United most social networks, it is now a question of learning Kingdom are the countries that practice this the most, and establishing the strategies to use those accounts and with the duration on-screen ranging between 2 to the practices that are being consolidated. 29 seconds. The integration of this resource shows a In relation to the interaction with the public through diversity of modalities that may occur individually or social networks, the routines that the television industry jointly. Again, overprint is the most frequent method ultimately incorporate become a clear indicator of of on-screen inclusion, but credits, embedded and broadcasters’ policies. In the field of public television, overprint and mention are also other insertion formulae the current scenario is an opportunity to rethink employed, although more inconspicuously. Figure 5 the social and educational functions that could be illustrates some examples. incorporated into the genres and formats of the information matrix. Without forgetting either, the possibilities that the programmes called infotainment DISCUSSION could offer to citizenship could broaden, offering added Industry practices can design strategies to attract services of information and dissemination. Similarly, the attention of other audiences and build up a loyal the practices of citizen participation on public television following inside and outside the real-time broadcast through live, on-screen appeals should be explored of a programme. The research results on social and incorporated by those responsible for audiences networks and television content, whether online or and social networks. Discovering which strategies offline and presenting different forms of consumption and tactics could be implemented, both by public and (synchronous/asynchronous, streaming, etc.), provide commercial channels, should be a priority to increase substantive elements of the function that content can television audiences. have on society. The relationship between broadcasters and audiences, Interaction with networks should promote the whether the latter is outside social networks or are daily discourse or interest of the audience towards themes users of digital communities, is important not only in or other aspects that reinforce the triple and traditional involving audiences quantitatively and qualitatively, function of the media. Certain strategies can be made with greater or lesser participation, but also to review effective in specific formats based on the countries’ the production inertias of cultural industries. For this communicative policies. Globalization allows practices to happen, it is necessary to conduct longitudinal and that improve the relationship between social networks systematic studies that become regular observatories and audiovisual content to spread, as global format or on how digital audiences are being targeted to promote other television products do. While reception studies and the use of second and third screens. cultural studies underline the relevance of the contexts of consumer, public and user communities, it is also known that certain industry practices end up becoming CONCLUSIONS productive routines. Just as audiovisual content, whether Despite the fact that the most popular entertainment television with or without a platform, has accounts on and information programmes of the selected European CUADERNOS.INFO Nº 45 / DECEMBER 2019 / ISSN 0719-3661 / E-version: www.cuadernos.info / ISSN 0719-367x 236 MONCLÚS, B. et al. A discrete proposal: Appeals to the social networks of popular programmes in Europe DTT generalist channels are a suitable space to appeal practices. Info-shows have become spaces that seek to the audience’s participation, the sudy conducted the greatest engagement with digital communities. highlights a somewhat timid and discreet activity, which Format strategies like talent shows need to reach high distances itself from a generalised and systematic use audience ratings and, therefore, they use resources in of appeals that help capture social network audiences the form of appeals, which seek direct participation in and their possible insertions into television content. the development of the programme. An example of this The on-screen activity of popular programmes reveals would be voting and other appeals through networks that three types of specific actions are put into practice. like Instagram and Twitter that allow for the increase in The first makes shared spaces, platforms, official membership of these fan-created communities. We must accounts and applications visible. The second attempts not forget that interaction with the programme through to appeal to the audience via hashtags (#) and mentions voting is also an important contribution to its storytelling (@). The third encourages the audience to actively and it can affect the development of the competition. In participate in specific aspects of the programmes. In addition, the increase in audience ratings and followers addition, there are factors that shape and influence is obviously essential to increase advertising revenue. television practices, such as the ownership of the Twitter and, specifically, the use of hashtags channels, the programme’s formats and country of overprinted on-screen is becoming one of the most origin. In terms of ownership, the general behaviour of common practices used by broadcasters to capture public channels is to show greater numbers of appeals digital audiences. Understanding the efficiency of this to digital audiences in news programmes, especially strategy requires the analysis of the possible involvement on BBC1, whereas commercial channels opt to do so and engagement of digital communities in this social on info-show programmes. This generates the need network. Mapping appeals made by those in charge of for future studies to observe to what extent public television channels reveals the industry’s confidence broadcasters call for audience interaction on social in Twitter to capture the attention of audiences that networks regarding information issues, in an attempt to consume contents in real-time broadcasts. The analysis reestablish the social and cultural function of television carried out in this study reveals that the use of hashtags as a public service. by the television industry is more a visibility practice All programming is capable of appealing to digital than a previously planned strategy to articulate actions audiences, but at present it is mainly programmes that that convey participation through the discourse of require large audiences which experiment with certain audiences on social networks. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work was founded by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (MINECO + FEDER), Project ID: CSO2015-65350-R. The authors wish to thank the research work carried out by the work team formed by Òscar Coromina, Gemma Gómez, Pau Lluis Gumiel, Celina Navarro, Elisa Paz, Javier Rodríguez and Ging Shenglan. NOTES 1. The programme classification has been made in accordance with the methodology used by EUROMONITOR, the permanent television observatory in Europe, created by a group of European researchers (Paoli Baldi, Ian Connel, Claus Dieter Rath and Emili Prado) in 1989, with the support of the RAI’s VQPT service. Its main office was based in Geneva until 1995, but then it transferred to the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona where it operates under the leadership of Professor Emili Prado (GRISS-Euromonitor). 2. The Image, Sound and Synthesis Research Group (GRISS, Gup de Recerca en Imatge, So i Síntesi) is a consolidated research group at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), created in 1980, recognised by the Catalan Government (ref. 2017SGR672) and affiliated to the Department of Audiovisual Communication and Advertising. 3. The appeal forms part of some programme’s set. CUADERNOS.INFO Nº 45 / DECEMBER 2019 / ISSN 0719-3661 / E-version: www.cuadernos.info / ISSN 0719-367x 237 MONCLÚS, B. et al. A discrete proposal: Appeals to the social networks of popular programmes in Europe REFERENCES Auverset, L. & Billings, A. (2016). Relationships Between Social TV and Enjoyment: A Content Analysis of The Walking Dead’s Story Sync Experience. Social Media + Society, 2(3), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305116662170 Bourdon, J. (2000). Live television is still alive: On television as an unfulfilled promise. 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Television & New Media, 17(2), 174-191. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527476415593348 ABOUT THE AUTHORS Belén Monclús, is Assistant Professor at the Department of Audiovisual Communication and Advertising of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). She is Researcher at GRISS (Image, Sound and Synthesis Research Group) from the UAB. Her main research lines are Television and Sound Studies. She was guest researcher at several universities such as University of Glasgow, Instituto de Investigaciones Gino Germani (Universidad de Buenos Aires) and Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho”. Nuria García-Muñoz, is Associate Professor at the Department of Audiovisual Communication and Advertising of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) since 1999 and Senior Researcher at GRISS (Image, Sound and Synthesis Research Group) from the UAB. Her main research lines are Television Studies and Gender and Communication. García-Muñoz is the co-PR of a project about Social Television in Europe (CSO2015-65350-R). Matilde Delgado, is Associate Professor at the Department of Audiovisual Communication and Advertising of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). She is Senior Researcher at GRISS (Image, Sound and Synthesis Research Group) from the UAB. Her main research line is Television Studies and currently is the co-PR of a project about social television in Europe Europa (CSO2015-65350-R). Rosa Franquet, is Full Professor of Communication, Media and Advertising at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Project Manager at GRISS (Image, Sound and Synthesis Research Group). She is specialist in cultural industries, cross-media content and audience participation and has published numerous articles and books. She has been guest professor at International universities such as the University of California at Berkeley, the University of London (Goldsmiths) and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). Emili Prado, is Full Professor of Communication, Media and Advertising at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. He is the director of GRISS (Image, Sound and Synthesis Research Group) and EUROMONITOR, a permanent observatory of television in Europe. He has been guest professor and researcher at the University of Québec, University of California, New York University, University of São Paulo, University Leonardo Davinci, among others. He is also an Advisor of different administrations, companies and regulatory authorities He is author of works on radio, television, information and communication technologies. Alba Mendoza, is a PhD candidate at the Department of Audiovisual Communication and Advertising of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and Research Assistant at GRISS (Image, Sound and Synthesis Research Group). She has a Master’s Degree in Audiovisual Communication and Advertisement (UAB) and a Bachelor Degree in Audiovisual Communication (Pompeu Fabra University). She has worked in several media companies as a scriptwriter and producer assistant. CUADERNOS.INFO Nº 45 / DECEMBER 2019 / ISSN 0719-3661 / E-version: www.cuadernos.info / ISSN 0719-367x 240