Remote Control Revolution: The Limits To Democratized TV
Posted by meredith on 05-12-2010
By now you’ve heard (and quite possibly seen) that last weekend Facebook put Betty White on SNL. The results? A huge ratings success, the likes of which the long-suffering sketch series hadn’t seen since election season circa 2008. Not surprisingly, Mashable also reports that the symbiotic love between White’s supporters (which numbered around nearly half a million for the Facebook group “Put Betty White on SNL Now (Please)”) and NBC/SNL is continuing to play out online with the episode leading NBC-partner Hulu’s viewership stats and five clips from the show making the top 20 videos between May 3 and 9.
Naturally, this wildfire has sparked about a thousand more Facebook campaigns for future SNL hosts, future Betty White gigs (including both The Emmys and The Academy Awards), and a whole lot of other people and plot points that fans would like to see on the small screen. If any TV execs weren’t paying attention to the masses behind Facebook campaigns or Twitter trends before, they’re certainly sitting up and taking notice now.
On the one hand, it’s an exciting time for both sides of the screen: For newly empowered fans whose previous efforts had to go above and beyond to make any real impact (i.e, the awesome Nerd Herd of “Chuck” fans that saved the show), and for creative teams who could leverage this input from young viewers to keep old formats like SNL or late-night shows fresh and guest stars relevant (like the ones “Glee” is lining up for its tribute shows). If these efforts continue to reward under-appreciated favorites, ask poignant questions (like why the gay couple on “Modern Family” is the only one not shown kissing), and just generally make for a better breed of television than more power to the people…
At the same time, with great power comes great responsibility. And while I don’t see the controls getting completely handed off to the home audience any time soon (though I think an official texting/Facebook voting system could be great for SNL), I feel like it’s important to point out that for the non-meta components of scripted television shows, it might be better to leave the finer plot points to the professionals. Even if fans think they know better…
This might be a surprising view coming from the folks who regularly champion ugc content and youth input, and as far as the development that goes into teen shows, related side projects and general feedback, I’m still all for opening up a channel for dialogue between creators and viewers. But as we heard recently in my interview with Chris Williams of Take 180 and earlier from the panel on participatory gameplay at Engage! Expo, when it comes to storytelling, all mediums and all audiences aren’t created equal. So while a democratic system might work well for certain web shows or interactive book series that draw a relatively small, emotionally invested fan base (learn more from our panel on “Multimedia Narratives” a the Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup), calling for that type of popular consensus could end up compromising a good TV show. Not that back in the days of classic WB, I wouldn’t have wanted to personally weigh in on the choice between Ben and Noel for Felicity or given “Gilmore Girls’” Rory Gilmore some serious life advice during those last seasons, but in some ways the firmness of the fourth wall added to the realism of the fictional universe for me. This may be different for a generation that grows up empowered to impact entertainment through social media, but I think TV-watching would lose something without that tension between what you want to see and what actually happens.
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Report: 79% of Viewers Interested in Interactive TV Programming & Advertising [via Barking Robot]
Categorized under: TV