Audiences are no longer just consumers of texts, but producers too" - To what extent is this true of the media products in your case study?

Audiences are no longer just consumers of texts, but producers too" - To what extent is this true of the media products in your case study?

My case study is based upon British soap operas, and the two soaps I studied were Eastenders and Coronation Street. Relating back to these soaps I believe that audience today has become the consumer and producer of media texts. The reason being is because all soaps are based upon real life stories, suggesting that were watching our audience’s lifestyle on screen which makes them the producers of the text. Furthermore as the text is being delivered to the audience they become consumers as well as viewers who contribute towards the success of the soap (the greater the audience the bigger the response). In addition I agree to a certain extent that audience is the consumers and producers of the text.

Eastenders;

How has Eastenders official website engaged their audience?

The official website offers the audience games; quiz’s and allows them to summit their views. The purpose of this is to invlove the audeince and makes them feel worthwhile to the show itself. Games and quiz’s are targeted at teenagers as it will help attract the as they’re gaining entertainment as well as understanding of the Eastenders programme, hence Eastenders will gain more viewers.

Eastenders audience also gain the opportunity to vote their views. This creates a positive image of the producers as they are offering their audience a chance to put their ideas and choice forward. Eventually the audience will start favouring Eastenders before soap because the producers give viewers importance. This will encourage the audience to go and use the official site on E media as they have more things to do online rather than sitting in front of a TV.

The producers have also given a brief of the next episode which will attract fans and viewers who are impatient to gain information about the following scene. This makes them exclusive in terms of information as “broad viewers” are incapable of gaining this information about the next scene.

Eastenders article has been introduced which will target those members who are incapable of viewing the show either on TV or BBC iplayer. At this point the print text has been created for the audience. BBC Iplayer is an e media form which was introduced to target those members who don’t have access to the TV.

Coronation Street;

Coronation Street isn’t part if a non-commercial channel, it’s presented on ITV. Their official website is also available online which helps the producers gain more viewers and fans (it’s very similar to the website of Eastenders). Comparing both websites I believe that coronation street has a better and friendly layout. This is motivate the audience to go and use the website as again the producers are offering more things to do as well as making the website easy to use. At this point the audience becomes the consumers because they absorb the information by going online.

To begin with a blog has been created for the audience to participate and share their thoughts.  Again the purpose of this is to involve the audience and help the producers improve upon their mistakes based upon the feedback. Hence fans can look at other people’s comments and build their communication and well as information’s about the soap. This has portrayed the audience as producers as their view is taken into account, and their given the dominant role of controlling what’s happening in the upcoming scenes.

The website also offers games which gives the bored, entertainment. The audience have a variety of 3 games which means that teenagers are likely to favour them. This may be one of the reasons why public watches their episodes on e media rather than broad because it offers a larger variety to do and information.

The audience can also view the different storylines, episodes they need to catch up on, coming up shows plus corrie extra. All these features will attract the audience as they feel satisfied with the service provided by the producers. This is put the producers on the positive side of the audience which will be beneficial in the long term while persuading. Now the audience is illustrated to be the consumers as all this data that’s been produced and presented (notice the costs and how time consuming it must be) is for the audience to watch.

Just like the Eastenders viewers can watch their episodes on BBC iplayer, fans from coronation street can also watch their shows on ITV iplayer which makes them both good in terms to keeping their audience up to date and supplying them with the scenes audience has missed or want to watch repeatedly. This will satisfy the audience as they’re needs and wants are have been met by the producers.

However both websites are very similar which makes them less attractive to the audience as they feel that nothing’s exclusive. These factors will discourage the audience to use e media as the audience will view the same things over and over again. Hence for elderly people who have less understanding of how to use the internet, they will prefer using the broad for entertainment. This will reduce the E media users and viewers and favour the traditional way rather than the modern. In addition i believe that teenagers and young adults are targeted by E media as they can respond to the developing technology and appreciate what’s been done.