Zoe Koulouris Cassandra Wibawa Sarah Abiharb

1. TRANS-MEDIA STORYTELLING:
REALITY TELEVISION’S USE OF MULTIPLE
MEDIA PLATFORMS.
C A S S A N D R A W I B A W A
S A R A H A B I H A R B
Z O E K O U L O U R I S

2. TRANS-MEDIA
- “stories told across multiple media” H. Jenkins
- vital part of our media culture, this idea of multimodal storytelling.
- “a good transmedia franchise attracts a wider audience…in different media
platforms.” H. Jenkins
- Planned from the point of commissioning- not an add-on.

3. CASE STUDY: BIG BROTHER
• Reality TV shows were the first to experiment with the use of various
media platforms
• Transmedia has given B.B the ability to create a deeper connection
with audiences and have them engage with the program on multiple
levels.
• makes use of many different platforms:
 Smartphones/ mobile devices/ landlines
 Online voting/ social media voting
 YouTube channel
• EXAMPLE 1: the website rewards visitors with content specific to this
online platform.
 Live video feeds
 Contestant bio’s
 YouTube channel with past contestants
 Links to social media platforms
• EXAMPLE 2: ability for users to vote, makes them feel as if their
participation has the ability to change the course of the narrative
(or reality TV show).

4. ELIZABETH EVANS TRANS-MEDIA
• Emerging new media technologies are leading to the creation of new forms of narrative
content and audience engagement.
• Audiences response and their ability to “willingly integrate Transmedia” (gaming,
mobile television, downloaded episodes)
• What viewers want or how they will engage with a multiplatform text beyond the initial
phase.
• Transforming the traditional definition of television and its specific characteristics.
• How audiences are “engaging with extensions of a television text” and how they engage
with initial core episodes.
• How this relates to BB:
• Watching episode online
• Big Brother “personas” through social media
• Characters become “real”
Evans, E. (2011) Transmedia Television: Audiences,
New Media, and Daily Life, New York, Routledge. (Pg
40, 55)

5. CARLOS SCOLARI’S TRANSMEDIA
• Trans-media storytelling through the perspective of semiotics
• Has given storytellers the ability to create “heavyweight narrative brands”.
• “audience segments”
• single text consumers
• single media consumers
• transmedia consumers
• based on these levels, the storyteller needs to create various entry points into their
story in order to appeal to a wide range of audiences.
• “fiction is the brand” expressed through characters, topics and aesthetic style of the
functional world.
• How this relates to BB:
• The Big Brother “World” can be engaged with on multiple platforms
• Each audience needs to be thought out and have the ability to engage with the
material, moving between various media platforms
Transmedia Consumer
Single Media Consumer
Single Text Consumer

6. LEIGH EDWARDS’ TRANSMEDIA
• Reality TV gained popularity by exploiting on recent
media trends, including “new directions in
storytelling, emotional appeals to audiences, and
taking content from TV to other media platforms.”
• Reality TV follows the popularity of multi platform
storytelling.
• The transmedia product is able to exist on its own
but also contribute to the larger whole.
• The major development of transmedia in TV is for
programs to generate a range of related media
items.
• How this relates to BB:
• Mixing genres
• Turning cast members into characters
• Audience interaction & fan participations
Edwards, L. H, (2013) The Triumph of Reality TV: The Revolution in American Television.
1st ed. California, USA. (Pg. 1-4)

7. KEY POINTS
- Transmedia elements are not “add-ons”
- Different artifacts should be able to stand alone
- When you think about your project have an in depth understanding of audience
and what their involvement will be within the narrative
- Audience interaction and fan participation is made easier
- Good media franchise attracts a wider audience
- Big brother has shown that reality television can also make use of the ever-
expanding multimodal platforms
- Transmedia elements when working together can make a whole new world of its
own- the brand is the narrative.