1

Final paper Trends and

Strategies

A proposal for the question of BNN

Johnny Broeders

Student number: 33681

“How can we use social media to enrich

our TV programs?”

Johnny Broeders

Student Number: 336814

Trends and Strategies in the Creative Industries

2

Management summary

Social media have become an important factor in attracting audiences and consumers.

Therefore it is no surprise that BNN asked how they can use social media to enrich their TV

programs. The creation of User Generated Content is the most important factor of Social

Media and should therefore be put to use. Commercial brands are creating new methods to

involve their target groups and thereby following McLuhans advice to involve the audience.

Co-creation is a very interesting way to involve the audience who are using social media.

Youths love to create and share content. And if their created content on a BNN community is

shown on BNN during a show, the viewer ratings, image and relationship between viewers

and BNN may rise enormously. With that the number of members of BNN could rise

sufficiently. The theory of this concept is that User Generated Content has more authority

on a broadcasted show on TV than on a social medium. Reaching a mass media at once is

still a USP that television has over the internet and it would be very wise to use this unique

ability. To research the usefulness of a co-created show, I propose to do a survey first where

the willingness of the audience to produce content for the show can be measured and the

framing of such shows can be determined. If this has a positive outcome with which BNN is

pleased, a test can be executed to measure the effects of a co-created TV show.

3

Content

Introduction 2

Literature review How BNN could implement Social Media, a theoretical

framework

What does BNN do at this moment in relation to

social media?

What are other stations doing?

Integration of social media and television, a

possibility?

Interaction; the solution lies in co-creation

2 2

3

3

4

4

First answer to the question of BNN 6

Proposal for empirical research 8

Financial proposal 8

Bibliography 10

Short critical reflection 11

4

Introduction

Hyves, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube who has not heard of these social media? Over 9 million

Dutchmen have a Hyves account and over 350 million people worldwide are on Facebook.

This last number is growing with an astounding 5 million users per week. (Buurman, 2010) It

is no wonder that Pepsi announced that it is stopping its’ television advertising during the

American Super Bowl, but starting a new social media campaign. (ITcommercie, 2010)

Imagine that you have a TV show in Holland that has a viewer rating that is equal to the

amount of users of a social media site. This would be unprecedented. But not only the

ratings are important when you think of a TV show, also the image of a TV show is of great

importance. Especially when youths are a television shows’ target group it is imperative to

adjust the shows presentation to the trends of today. And youths are using social media

excessively, let there be no mistake. In the United States in 2007, 96% of online tweens and

teens have reported using social networking technologies, while 71% connect weekly (Van

den Broek, 2007).

This is why some television programs for youths have been altered in the last 5 years or so

because they are used to producing content. TMF for example has drastically changed their

format in the last 5 years or so. Their hosts and guests of their talk shows often make use of

laptops to interact with the audience. Even while music videos are playing, their so called

VJ’s interact with the audience on screen via chat programs. Now also BNN has announced

that it wants to enrich their shows by using social media. In this paper I will first analyze the

problem, then I will give a conclusion of this analysis and finally I will offer a research

proposal with which the problem can be solved.

Statement of the problem

How can BNN use social media to enrich the TV-programs they broadcast?

Literature review

How BNN could implement Social Media, a theoretical framework

The definition of Social Media is according to Kaplan and Haenlein: ‘a group of Internet-

based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of web 2.0,

5

and that allow the creation and exchange of User Generated Content’ (Slideshare, 2009).

User Generated Content is as the definition implies, the main reason why Social Media

exists. Fittingly, the number one service Web 2.0. provides us is sharing photos and videos

(Slot & Frissen, 2007). Social media has two effects according to Benkler. The first effect is

that social networks have helped to reshape and improve our relationships with family and

friends. Secondly, new sorts of relationships are rising that have different goals because of

social networks (Benkler, 2006). Because of social psychology people have the incentive to

share content without expecting anything in return, other than social acceptance. “Social

production is a real fact, not a fad. It is the critical long term shift caused by the internet.

Social relations and exchange become significantly more important than they ever were as

an economic phenomenon” (TED, 2005).

Because creating and sharing can be seen as the main value of Social Media, it is therefore

logical that BNN lets their audience create and share things that has something to do with

their shows. And because BNN wants to enrich their shows and not only communicate with

their audience, it is important that BNN let their audience create something that adds

something considerably to their shows. Before I will propose how BNN should implement

social media, I will first make a short analysis of how BNN and other television stations are

using Social Media at this moment.

What does BNN do at this moment in relation to social media?

BNN makes a lot of use of social media on their own website, with displaying many videos on

which the audience can react. They also have a website with an overview of many BNN

communities on which people can do almost the same things as on Hyves. Most of the

communities are related to a show or one of the presenters of BNN. In their shows on TV

they sometimes try to interact with social media followers but this does not have a real

added value for their shows.

What are other stations doing?

One of the other youth stations in Holland is TMF, which mostly shows music videos but they

also show a lot of youth programs just like BNN. Their hosts and guests of their talk shows

often make use of laptops to interact with the audience. This means that the audience who

6

are on social media can be a part of the show, which is really great. And during music videos

the presenters of TMF chat on screen with the audience. I think this is a real enrichment to

their music videos.

In the United States some television stations have recently been experimenting with

integrating television with social media. Fox for example has started with broadcasting

‘Tweet-peats’ which means that the station is showing live tweets during an episode of a

soap-opera. Also BBC-viewers were given the opportunity on its website to select what

character they want to leave the show at the end of each episode. Furthermore, BBC’s

Strictly Come Dancing series gained more interaction with its viewing audience with the help

of the “Strictly Social” application. With posting ‘wow’, ‘boo’ or ‘gasp’ on the program’s

website, their opinions will be displayed in the live broadcasting of the show. "As far as we're

concerned now, social media is part of what people do every day and social viewing is part of

our wider strategy for entertainment," says Jo Twist, BBC multi-platform commissioner

(Callari, 2009). So, is TV integrating with social media and can this be a solution to BNN’s

problem?

Integration of social media and television, a possibility?

There is a lot of literature available about Social TV and how the future of television is

depicted as one of an integration between television and social media (Gross, Fetter, & Paul-

Stueve, 2008). First I want to discuss that if this technology will arise, it will take a very long

time before it is implemented and therefore it will not arise in the near future. Because of

this it is not yet important to the near future plans of BNN and their plans to enrich their TV

shows. Secondly I want to discuss that this future perspective may not be a valid one if you

look at the basic meaning of television to people.

It would of course be great if (interactive) television in the future will be integrated with

social media. In this way there does not have to be a transition from audiences behind the

computer and audiences behind the television. But I think a future wherein (interactive)

television is integrated with social media, will not come anytime soon and will not come

sudden. I think this change is a gradual process, or as Croteau and Hoynes put it: “Change

will be evolutionary, not revolutionary” (Croteau & Hoynes, 2003, p. 322). New media are

7

not only defined by technological advances, they are defined by society as a whole, with

technological advances on the one hand and social psychology and economics on the other

hand. Radio for example was not made to listen passively, but as an improvement or

replacement of the telegraph. The combination of economic possibilities, controlling rules by

the government and audiences’ acceptance of radio has selected how the new technological

possibilities of the radio were used. As Lister et al put it: “new media are not born in a

vacuum and, as media, would have no resources to draw upon if they were not in touch and

negotiating with the long traditions of process, purpose, and signification that older media

possess” (Lister, Dovey, Giddings, Grant, & Kelly, 2009, p. 48). Thus I expect a radical future

with social media integrations will not happen suddenly and is not of immediate importance

to BNN.

Secondly, the integration between television and social media may even never come.

Television is a passive medium and is integrated in society as such. Research has early on

showed that there are two kinds of motivation to use television: for time consuming

entertainment and information seeking (Rubin, 1983). This does not mean that people do

not have the incentive to post a message about a TV show, but not on TV itself I think. Look

for example at the experimentation of Fox, which showed ‘Tweed-Peats’ during a show. This

led to many complaints from the audience. It seemed to distract them from the

entertainment of the show (Callari, 2009).

Thus I think BNN must not look at any integration between social media and television (for

now), but they should use the communities they have to enrich their content on the

television shows themselves.

Interaction; the solution lies in co-creation

“What the entertainment business is having problems with; the commercial brands are

figuring out.” Says Peter Hirschberg during his presentation for TED (TED, 2007). I agree with

him on this point. Commercial brands are finding new ways of interactive communication

between their brands and consumers. Instead of bombarding consumers with advertising,

brands are implementing more individual communication and trying to attract people

through new ways such as experience marketing. Hirschberg gives the example of how Nike

8

Plus is connecting consumers to the brand. With Nike Plus you can send data of your running

exercise to Nike, who analyzes it for you. At the Nike website you can also set goals, join

challenges and connect with friends in the Nike Plus community (Nike). Although this is a

good example, I think there is another great example when looking at Nike. A few years ago

Nike has started a new way of making shoes: letting people create their shoes themselves!

This is a real innovative way of co-creation. Because of this, people are coming to Nike so

they do not have to go to them. Marshal McLuhan did not advise us for nothing to get

involved with the audience. People like to be heard, like to create things and like to share

their creations.

In relation to TV; people do not only want to watch TV shows anymore but they want to

participate and want to create their own content. Proof of this lies in the existence and

excessive use of social media sites like Youtube, Joost, Seesmic, MeonTV (Bloem, Van Doorn,

& Duivestein, 2008) and many others where people can create their own ‘shows’ and share

it with others. “Content is moving from shows to particals moving back and forward as a part

of social communications” says Hirschberg (TED, 2007). Broadcasters should use this new

flow of information and use their show as a centre where everything connects. Next I will

form a first answer to the question of BNN in relation to the theoretical framework I have

presented.

First answer to the question of BNN

At the moment BNN uses social media like Hyves and Twitter to communicate with their

audience. But if they really want social media to enrich their programs, they have to

combine their programs more with social media. I propose a form of co-creation, because I

think this is the way to create a new dimension of entertainment that could fit with social

media. For example BNN already uses some form of co-creation with their show: `Oh my

god’; people can upload their own movies which in they have to say the words: “Oh my god’

in the most elaborate ways, and the best movies will be used in an episode on the air.

BNN could for example ask their audience to vote on social media which has an outcome on

the show. To give a more concrete example BNN could ask the audience on social media

which presenter in Try before you die should do which task instead of doing it randomly.

They could also ask them to vote on which subjects should be discussed in Spuiten en

9

Slikken. This is a very simple form of co-creation. But this concept can also lead to a more

elaborate use. For example every week BNN chooses one lucky audience member on their

own social media communities who will be as a virtual guest on one of the talk shows. use

their own communities on the internet where. Or every week BNN lets people upload their

own movies and creates a show out of this. These are just a few examples of the co-creation

concept. This concept may have a few advantages that will up the viewer ratings of the

shows and let people be more connected to BNN which may lead to more members, which is

also very important.

When people know that they might be in the show, they may be more motivated to join the

social media of BNN and have more fun at creating their own content. And thereby they may

be more motivated to watch the show when it is first broadcasted. Because people want to

see the reactions on social media as soon as possible if they see that their created content

has been aired on national TV, which is still a big deal. National TV still gets more authority

then the User Generated Content that people can see on Youtube for example. This co-

creation concept therefore makes use of the unique selling position of television: reaching a

mass audience at once. This may be the only USP TV has, that internet does not have.

Because BNN´s core business is television and they want to attract as much viewers as

possible, it is very important to use the strength of the medium. Another advantage may be

that all the co-creations that are made on BNN controlled social media, can be used in the TV

shows, which can make producing content a lot cheaper for BNN. Negative points may be

that the surprise is ruined for viewers that via social media might know what is coming. It

may also be a lot of work to search for User Generated Content that is adequate for airing.

But I think the prospects of this idea weigh out the possible negative points.

So: how can BNN use social media to enrich the TV-programs they broadcast?

Answer: Let people themselves enrich the TV programs

10

Proposal for further empirical research

The main questions that should be further researched are:

1. Are BNN supporters on social media willing to create content for a show of BNN?

2. Will the use of User Generated Content in a show increase the viewer ratings and

image of BNN?

For the first question, I propose to do a survey on the communities that are controlled by

BNN. I choose the people on the communities as the research group because they are often

the audience of the shows of BNN and they are the users of social media. And also they are

most willing to fill in the surveys because it means that BNN in the near future will increase

the possibilities on social media. Therefore the non-compliant rate can be very low. Creating

a survey on the internet is also very cheap and less time consuming to execute. We will

assume that the survey itself will take a weeks’ time.

If the surveys show a positive a attitude, than the second question must be answered. I

propose a test that shows the effects of a co-created TV show. BNN then announces it will

show created content on the show and delivers the tools on social media (recording

themselves, uploading photos and videos etcetera) and during this process, the effects on

the participation on social media, the viewer ratings and the image of BNN will be measured.

How this co-created show must be filled in, will be discussed with BNN. We will assume that

the test itself will take a weeks’ time.

Financial proposal

To carry out the surveys on the internet, our company will provide for the creation of the

survey, the online tools and installation of these tools, the maintenance of the survey, the

analysis of the results and the reporting of the conclusion. For this we will have to take 5

weeks which comes to a total of 200 hours. Our rate per hour is €20,-.

Costs of the survey

Action Hours Costs

Creating Survey 40 €800,-

11

Online installation 40 €800,-

Maintenance of the survey 40 €800,-

Analyzing the results 40 €800,-

Reporting the survey 40 €800,-

Total 200 €4000,-

To carry out the test, our company will provide the tools that people can use to create their

own content on social media and we will measure the effects of the test. BNN must naturally

provide for the creation of the show.

Costs of the test

Action Hours Costs

Creating online tools 120 €2400,-

Maintenance of online tools 40 €800,-

Measuring the effects of the

test

40 €800,-

Total 200 €4000,-

12

Bibliography

Benkler, Y. (2006). The Wealth of networks. How social production transform markets and freedom.

Yale University Press.

Bloem, J., Van Doorn, M., & Duivestein, S. (2008). Me, the Media. Groningen: VINT.

Buurman, T. (2010, January 8). Radio Nederland Wereldomroep. Opgeroepen op January 11, 2010,

van Expats en emigranten volop actief op sociale media:

http://www.rnw.nl/nl/nederlands/article/expats-volop-actief-op-sociale-media

Callari, R. (2009, November 30). Inventorspot: serious fun for the inventor in all of us. Opgeroepen op

December 2009, van TV + Social Networking = Strictly Social:

http://inventorspot.com/articles/tv_social_networking_strictly_social_35107

Croteau, D., & Hoynes, W. (2003). Media Society. London: Pine Forge Press.

Gross, T., Fetter, M., & Paul-Stueve, T. (2008). Toward Advanced Social TV in a Cooperative Media

Space. International Journal of Computer-Human Interaction , 155-173.

ITcommercie, R. (2010, January 12). IT commercie. Opgeroepen op January 12, 2010, van

Nieuwsbericht: http://www.itcommercie.nl/nieuws/id3684-

Pepsi_vervangt_Super_Bowl_met_sociale_media.html

Lister, M., Dovey, J., Giddings, S., Grant, I., & Kelly, K. (2009). New media: a critical introduction,

second edition. London and New York: Routledge.

Nike. (sd). Opgeroepen op January 12, 2010, van Nike+:

http://nikerunning.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikeplus/en_US/plus/#//dashboard/

Rubin, A. M. (1983). Television uses and gratifications: the interactions of viewing patterns and

motivations. Journal of Broadcasting , 37.

Slideshare. (2009, November). Opgeroepen op January 11, 2010, van Social Media Definition And

Classification: http://www.slideshare.net/guestef2b2f/social-media-definition-and-classification

Slot, M., & Frissen, V. (2007). Users In The 'Golden' Age Of The Information Society. Observatorio

Journal , pp. 201-224.

TED. (2005). Opgeroepen op December 2010, van Open-source economics: Yochai Benkler on

TED.com: http://blog.ted.com/2008/04/yochai_benkler_1.php

TED. (2007). Opgehaald van Peter Hirshberg_on_tv_and_the_web:

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/peter_hirshberg_on_tv_and_the_web.html

Van den Broek, M. (2007, June 26). Marketingfacts. Opgeroepen op January 12, 2010, van ’Vrijwel

alle jongeren actief op sociale netwerken’:

http://www.marketingfacts.nl/berichten/vrijwel_alle_jongeren_actief_op_sociale_netwerken/

13

Short critical reflection

The thing I found hardest of all was getting on the way. I have read and written a lot of

things about social media but to suddenly write a final proposal was much harder than I

anticipated. It took me a few full days to write the first outline of this proposal which had

driven me crazy. But once I got started properly I think I got the hang of it and I think that I

did a good job.

I found it also very hard to read and implement some of the literature, especially the books

of Benkler and Lister et al. I often think more hands on and already have the solution in my

mind. And when some theorists delve too deep in the material it is very hard to implement

the reading in a concrete proposal. I often think that these theorists sometimes forget that

they are on planet earth. Do not get me wrong, I find most of the theories very interesting

and I tried very hard to understand it all, but it was just sometimes very hard to relate the

theoretical material to the assignments. The books of Lister and Benkler did not give me

something to hold on to. This is why I sometimes fell back to the academic literature that I

already read, such as ‘Media Society’ or ‘Me the Media’. I also found some interesting

articles, some academic, some factual. I also used a few TED presentations as a source.

These I find very interesting. The presentation of Benkler on TED was more clear to me than

the whole of the book.

One thing I am not sure of is my empirical and financial proposal. I just thought about it as

logical as possible. I could not find a great example of research costs that were fitting to my

case, so I just thought about how long such researches would take and how much I would

charge for it. I hope I did a good job.

One thing I enjoyed making is the Pecha Kucha style presentation for the pitch. I like the fact

that I had to find some illustrations that add something to what I want to say. I think I did a

good job, but I hope that I do not have to give a presention because this is a weak point of

mine. I already presented our last Pecha Kucha style presentation and although everyone

said I was really good I think it is enough of my presenting for this module.

Alright, this leaves me only with thanking Matthijs Leendertse for his very interesting

lessons. And I am not just saying this. The only recommendations I have is that the

mandatory literature is replaced with some more readable books and that the students are

given MacBooks to use, as my old laptop failed with me a lot during this course. ;)

Johnny