The second screen experience and the ad-supported business model: ads’ synchronization between screens (the Brazilian SuperStar case)

Abstract

The second screen experience has reconfigured the way audiences watches TV (considering both social TV and the search for additional contents related to the aired one). The use of gadgets while the viewers watch TV can promote a distraction of the audience, but also potentially expands the reach of TV sponsors – to this expansion effectively occurs, it is necessary the ads synchronization between the multiple screens accessed. Such synchronization can be interesting to the advertising-supported business model in commercial TV, and is applicable especially when the broadcaster supplies the apps in order to the audience materialize their adapted televisual experience. This paper presents a case of ads’ synchronization between screens observed with the usage by the audience of an app (supplied by Brazilian Globo Network TV) during the airing of the third season of the SuperStar reality show.

Keywords
Television; Commercial TV; Second screen experience; TV business model; TV advertisers/sponsors

Resumo

A experiência de segunda tela tem reconfigurado o modo como a audiência assiste TV (tanto considerando TV social quanto a busca por conteúdos adicionais àqueles veiculados). O manuseio de gadgets concomitantemente ao ato de ver TV, enquanto pode promover distração da audiência, também expande potencialmente o alcance dos patrocinadores caso haja sincronização dos anúncios entre as múltiplas telas acessadas. Tal sincronização pode ser interessante para o modelo de negócios suportado por publicidade da TV comercial, e é aplicável especialmente no caso de fornecimento de apps pelas emissoras para materialização da experiência televisual adaptada. O artigo apresenta a sincronização de anúncios entre telas observada no caso do app fornecido pela Rede Globo para uso durante a veiculação da terceira temporada do reality show SuperStar.

Palavras-chave
Televisão; TV comercial; Experiência de segunda tela; Modelo de negócios de TV; Anunciantes/patrocinadores da TV

Resumen

La experiencia de segunda pantalla ha reconfigurado la forma como la audiencia ve la televisión. El uso de aparatos mientras los espectadores ven la televisión puede promover una distracción de la audiencia, pero también potencialmente amplía el alcance de los patrocinadores de TV – pero para esta expansión, es necesaria la sincronización de anuncios entre las múltiples pantallas accedidas. Dicha sincronización puede ser interesante para el modelo de negocio de televisión comercial basado en la publicidad, y es aplicable especialmente cuando la emisora suministra las aplicaciones para que la audiencia materialice la experiencia televisiva adaptada. Este artículo presenta un caso de sincronización de anuncios entre pantallas observado con el uso por parte del público de una app (suministrada por la cadena brasileña Globo) durante la emisión de la tercera temporada del reality show SuperStar.

Palabras clave
Televisión; Televisión comercial; Experiencia de segunda pantalla; Modelo de negocio de televisión; Anunciantes/patrocinadores de televisión

Introduction

Television’s audiences are making – all over the world – use of mobile devices to access the Internet while watching TV¹. To conceptually analyze this update in the way of watching television is complex – even due to the variation in the used terms: depending on the kind of action executed by the TV viewers while using the technological devices, it varies the term used to nominate the action. Sometimes it is entitled as (i) social TV, sometimes as (ii) second screen.

The expression (i) social TV is used to refer the “metamorphosis of television” (COLLETTI; MATERIA, 2012, p.12 – Our translation) noticed when the usage of the gadget connected to the Internet covers the posting of comments (by the audience) in digital social networks (like Facebook or Twitter), related to the TV show they watch on the TV set. This mode of usage has associated the establishing of belonging via backchannel (PROULX; SHEPATIN, 2012, p.03): it is a “real-time chat […] [that is happening] within social media channels during the time that episode [or TV show] is broadcast” (PROULX; SHEPATIN, 2012, p.11 – Emphasis from the original text). The chats regarding the TV show in the social networks enable the “feeling of being connected and part of something bigger when watching television” (PROULX; SHEPATIN, 2012, p.14 - Our emphasis). Thus, even considering the statement that “the time when a nation felt unified because everyone was watching the same program simultaneously is over (except for major events like sports, significant news and very few shows)” (DOUGLAS, 2015, p.19), the way of watching social TV seems to indicate that there is indeed a tendency in constituting kind of a living room that expands the domestic boundaries².

The term (ii) second screen (or the variation multiple screens) has been used to refer the search by the audience of additional content on the Internet related to the content aired on TV. In the case of entertainment televisual productions, it is possible to consider, for example, the supply of additional contents to the viewers that can be accessed using a proprietary app (a software product developed by the broadcaster); such app typically runs in a mobile device while the TV show is being aired on TV³. In the case of news’ TV programs, the proprietary app can supply contents that complement the broadcasted news⁴.

Despite the variations in the nomination regarding the ways of usage, it is considered in this paper that, as an experience (thus, while constituting a general format), the actions executed are related to the existence of a “a parallel and synchronized layer of interactive content associated to the TV experience” (PROULX; SHEPATIN, 2012, p.84). Once associated with the TV experience, it is suggested (and adopted in this paper from here) the expression second screen experience to cover the various used nominations⁵, particularly considering that such experience is associated with the usage of gadgets connected to the Internet while watching TV⁶.

It is worth noting that, additionally to considering the experience of second screen as associated to the “TV experience” (PROULX; SHEPATIN, 2012, p.84), in this paper it is considered also that it occurs an effective cultural reconfiguration in the televisual experience that was previously observed (that would be understood as constituting the basic televisual experience). The basic televisual experience would be the result of two main aspects (MARQUIONI; OLIVEIRA, 2016, p.211-213): the planned “flow” (WILLIAMS, 2005, p.89-90) and the live characteristic of television⁷. When the second screen experience is materialized, the “flow” is potentially subject to variations due to the existence of additional and optional contents considering that one aired on TV (such additional and optional contents, once made available on the software, can impact the narrative of the TV show). Complementally, even a TV show that was previously recorded gets almost-‘live’ with the audience’s chatting posts in the backchannel – it potentially impacts even the live characteristic of the basic televisual experience.

To justify the statement that the second screen experience constitutes a redefinition in the TV experience, it is worth noting that the way of watching TV considering the second screen experience can be resumed procedurally as: while the viewer watches a content aired on TV (the first screen), he/she also uses a gadget connected to the Internet – a computer, a notebook, a tablet, a smartphone or a combination of these devices – to execute actions related to the televisual content. Strictly speaking, the technological device is used by the audience “as an extension of his television set” (PROULX; SHEPATIN, 2012, p.84), reaching an experience that is enhanced in comparison with the one that he/she would have if using a single screen. Finally, it is necessary to notice that despite the simplicity suggested by this general process presentation, the second screen experience affects directly the complex relations of mutual influences (GRAY; LOTZ, 2012) established regarding the three key social actors of the TV system: the audiences, the broadcasters/producers and the advertisers/sponsors. Thus, despite the second screen experience being obviously materialized due to the actions executed by the audience, an analysis of the usage of gadgets connected to the Internet concomitantly to watching TV in a complex perspective should consider the need of procedural adaptations regarding the broadcasters (the ones that produce and/or air the TV shows) and the advertisers (the ones that sponsor such shows). Indeed, the “evolution of the traditional TV [...] [into another, that is] connected to the Internet affects not only the TV viewers habits, but the whole media industry in all its levels” (COLLETTI; MATERIA, 2012, p.7 – Our translation).

To analyze this complex scenario of experiential reconfiguration observed in the TV context, the author of this paper has conducted since January 2016 a research project that investigates the impacts motivated by the second screen in the televisual ecosystem. An especially relevant theme addressed in that investigation is the synch of ads between devices when the audiences are using multiple gadgets while watching TV. Is has been analyzed, for example, how the audience’s reconfiguration in the televisual experience potentially impacts not only the way of watching, but also the production’s processes and the sponsoring of terrestrial commercial television.

Organizing a part of the investigation at hand, in this paper it is presented how the ads were synchronized between screens in the case of an app supplied by Brazilian Globo Network TV. Such app was supplied to enable the audience interacting while SuperStar reality show is broadcast (forward in this paper there is a general explanation related to the selection of both the broadcaster and the TV show); from this presentation, there are analyzes and reflections regarding the supplied app. This paper has three sections besides the introduction and final remarks: in On the audience sell and the various televisions it is briefly presented the business model adopted by Brazilian terrestrial commercial television, and it is pointed that the term television has been used to refer to distinct items (and the usage of the same word to reference distinct items potentially promotes confusions – that can culminate even with the idea that television would be living its last days); to analyze the second screen experience it seems necessary to minimize the risk of such confusions. In the section Synchronizing ads between screens it is addressed the relevance in ads sync as an alternative to minimize the risk of reducing sponsoring of TV production due to the distraction of the audiences (motivated by the concomitant usage of gadgets). Finally, in the section The SuperStar app: a case of ads sync between screens it is presented the example of ads sync observed in the proprietary app to be used by the audience of the reality show Superstar, broadcast by Globo Network.

On the audience sell and the various televisions

The investigative interest of the ongoing research project conducted by the author of this article encompasses not only the television experience from the perspective of the audiences. Such interest also involves analyzing to what extent the way of watching TV in second screen experience impacts the production and sponsorship of TV programs. In the context of this paper it is addressed the occurrence of mutual influences that can be observed regarding the three main social actors that operate in the televisual ecosystem (the audience, the broadcasters and the advertisers).

Such influences are directly related to the ad-supported business model (based in audience sell) in the case of terrestrial commercial TV⁸. In that business model it is established an obvious conceptual circuit: the audiences watch the TV shows aired by the broadcasters; these broadcasters sell the audience of their TV programs to the advertisers⁹; such selling is what sponsors the production of the TV shows that the audiences watch. Indeed, the audience sell and the related sponsoring have as a premise the fact that the audience will not watch only the TV show itself, but also the commercials aired during the break as a part of the planned “flow”; once the audience materialize the consumption of the services or products presented, the advertisers are motivated to continue with the sponsoring of the TV show (that will be produced, aired and watched). Thus, audiences watching the ads are undoubtedly a key factor in this business model.

It is also worth noting that despite the mentioned relation of mutual influences is valid to the cases of broadcasters that use the audience sell business model (generally those TV channels classified as commercial, open, free or linear), those mutual influences occur independently of the “technology of distribution [...] [, or of the] platform on which [the content] is listened to and/or watched” (GRIPSRUD, 2010, p.9). The analyses presented in this paper are thus valid to broadcasters that use the ad-supported business model considering the terrestrial TV, the cable TV, the satellite TV (or any other technology of distribution); additionally, the mutual influences can be observed in the case of contents watched on a cathode ray tube, on a digital TV, on a mobile cell phone, on a tablet (or on any other technological platform). This statement is relevant (and not so obvious as it seems), especially when observed the confusion that typically “mixes up ‘TV’ as a business model with ‘TV’ as a distribution channel. TV the business model derives revenue from content pushed [via the aired TV shows] through a distribution network also called ‘TV’” (WOLFF, 2015, p.28). Complementarily to the confusion regarding the (i) business model (mainly that associated to audience sell) and to the (ii) technology of distribution, it is worth noting that the word television is also used to refer the (iii) technological device (the platform, the TV set – that has been switched: other gadgets have been used to watch televisual content) – and the (iv) experience (the latter, as mentioned, has been reconfigured with the usage of an additional gadget while watching TV).

It is reasonable to suppose that referencing these four items using the same term (TV) creates a potential confusion – eventually such confusion may be one of the origins for the assertion that television would be living its last days: indeed, if television is considered as the (iii) technological device, it is possible to notice that some kind of TV sets are facing an effective extinction process (as is the case of the cathode ray tube); however, of “all the bets to make, perhaps the least safe [...] is that people will stop watching TV, even if they stop watching the TV” (WOLFF, 2015, p.28; italics in the original text) – or, in other terms, televisual content tends to be watched, despite the used monitor – or the screen. It is also possible to use as a last comment a phrase by the executive Aaron De Bevoise said in an interview he granted to Pamela Douglas. De Bevoise, the former Executive Vice President of Programming at Machinima mentioned to Douglas that the “statement ‘I watched [the series] The Walking Dead on television’ is going to be absurd ten years from now. Why are you telling me the place [the (iii) dispositive] you watched it on? You’re just going to say ‘I watched The Walking Dead’” (DOUGLAS, 2015, p.14).

Indeed, considering the (iii) technological device, it is reasonable to infer that such confusion started

[a]lmost as soon as [Marc] Andreessen’s Netscape [browser] turned the Web into a widely available and easy-to-manipulate visual medium after its release in 1994,[:] the comparison [of the Internet] with television became a common-place. The Web was potential mass media. But, with a little imagination, [it could be even] better [than TV] [...], offering a more individualized and participatory experience than television.

(WOLFF, 2015, p.39).

It should be also noticed that eventually the mentioned confusion may have to do with the fact that “analysts have been astonished by the fact that the Internet challenged all major media such as music, newspapers and books, but has faced difficulty competing with TV” (SCHLITTLER, 2011, p.44 – Our translation). Additionally – considering the metaphor presented by Wolff – it does not seem reasonable to consider the end of the (ii) technology of distribution to be a safe bet. In the complex contemporary television ecosystem, it seems possible the coexistence of various content distributions’ forms – including linear TV channels selling the televisual contents they produce to cable TV stations or OTT (Over The Top).

Regarding the item (i) it is also possible to notice confusions. Particularly when observed the fact that the Internet also adopts the (i) ad-supported business model; such adoption contributes with the establishing of confusions encompassing the TV and the Internet. The related confusion gets more obvious when considering the case of youtube.com: this website does not proportionate a TV experience as considered in this paper; however, it uses elements of the ad-supported business model (WOLFF, 2015, p.145-150) – enabling a directly reference to the terrestrial commercial TV (i) business model. In this scenario, it seems not so difficult to understand the confusion that can be made regarding watching the videos posted on youtube.com with watching TV (particularly in the case of videos related to contents produced and/or aired previously on TV); it also seems not so difficult to understand the announcement of the death of TV due to the existence of a website that allows watching videos. These seem to characterize conceptual simplifications, especially because such simplifications are

a language issue. Everybody believe that behind a sign there is a ‘meaning’, but in fact, when you try to find a meaning, you just find other signs. Thus, when we want to know the meaning of an unknown word we use a dictionary […] [that presents] other words to explain the ‘meaning’ we are looking for.

(PIGNATARI, 1984, p.11-12 – Our translation).

In the case of the videos available on the Internet, when somebody try to understand their meaning, he/she potentially find the items (i), (ii) and (iii), that are related to the television. And this is because despite the (iii) device and (ii) technology of distribution have changed, a known TV’s (i) business model can be observed – particularly the ads – and the content is typically a video (in many cases a video related to a program that was produced and aired previously on TV, or a video that uses resources of TV production).

Indeed, if abstracted the (iv) experience, it is possible to infer a context in which a new medium (the Internet)¹⁰ replaces a previous one (the TV). This is the reason why in this paper it is considered that the (iv) TV experience constitutes a key factor to conduct the analysis and reflections regarding the reconfiguration context observed in the contemporary televisual ecosystem. It is the adaptation in televisual experience that – when considered – enables reflections encompassing the alternatives of adaptation to the (i) business model, despite the (ii) technology of distribution or the (iii) technological device.

Additionally to the context of mutual influences previously mentioned regarding the three social actors addressed, the audience (in the reconfigured way of watching TV) besides watching the aired content also materializes the second screen experience using an additional technological device (the second screen device); and such usage can promote a “distraction” (PROULX; SHEPATIN, 2012, p.106) that potentially impacts the previously presented conceptual circuit. To understand the assertion, it is necessary a brief presentation of the redefinition context observed in the televisual system addressing culturally the second screen experience (and considering the adaptations in the ways of watching TV in the duration). Also, it is necessary to observe that the viewer can have, in some cases, a relative autonomy while he/she synchronizes the content between the first and the second screens during the materialization of his/her updated televisual experience.

It is necessary to observe that the second screen experience encompasses both the hardware and the software. Indeed, the distraction is effectively initiated by the gadget – the place to where the TV viewer looks at (the hardware); this scenario allows even an analogy with the context of a period observed previously to the Internet:

Advertisers have long accused media of servicing distracted audiences (bathroom and fridge breaks, inattentive leafing through a magazine), but compared with digital, traditional media was something of a theater with a specific mind-set and focus. [...] Digital media thrived on distraction [...] instead of limiting it. [...] And then came mobile [...] – with its smaller screens, greater distractions (users were, literally, in the street).

(WOLFF, 2015, p.74).

However, besides the technological device itself, it is necessary to consider the software used to execute the action – the potential “distraction” of the audience occurs also due to what the TV viewer looks at (the software accessed during the experience). Thus it is necessary to notice that despite the broadcaster relevance to the materialization of the experience (once the actions executed tend to be motivated by the content aired on the first screen), not only the chats conducted in the backchannel, but also the search for additional contents can occur: in a way (a) controlled by the broadcaster or (b) independently from the broadcaster. In this last case, the TV viewer would have more autonomy during his/her second screen experience materialization.

Considering the examples presented previously in this paper (mentioned in the footnotes related to the second screen experience in the Introduction of the article, when it was presented the variations in the terms used), typically there was a proprietary app (supplied by the TV channel). Indeed, if such software product is effectively available, it is characterized a second screen experience (a) controlled by the broadcaster, since with the proprietary app the audiences get able of executing social TV actions posting their comments directly using the software – the apps usually run connected to the websites of the digital social networks –, or even of accessing additional content suggested/made available by the TV channel on the app. The finding of additional contents can occur, for example, starting from the website/Internet portal (with the app redirecting the TV viewer to that site, or even enabling access to the site content via app). The context can be associated with one of the “ten Gold Rules” presented by Colletti and Materia (2012, p.162-167 – Our translation) to TV producers interested in their audiences’ second screen experience; indeed, the context can be related to the “Rule 7”, that informs that a TV show “format without its own app can be now compared to a TV news without talking heads. […] The TV network that supplies apps ‘developed by itself’ controls its complete value chain” (COLLETTI; MATERIA, 2012, p.166 – Our translation). In other words, the broadcaster can have more control regarding the experience if the TV channel develops its second screen apps.

In the case when the TV viewer materializes his/her experience without using the proprietary software – thus, (b) independently from the broadcaster – the TV viewer defines by himself/herself the moment when he/she will materialize the second screen experience. To enable the chats in the backchannel it can be used the site of a digital social network (with the usage of a hashtag to index the chat); to search additional contents, it can be used a search engine (like Google). But it is possible to mention another scenario that also can be materialized (b) independently from the broadcaster: the TV viewer can use an app supplied by another enterprise (for example, an app can be supplied by a TV cable provider). But in all these cases, the broadcasters have no guarantee in monitoring the audience interactions (it would be possible, for example, only monitoring the usage of some hashtags while the program is running on TV).

The previously mentioned control of the complete value chain involves directly the audience sell business model (as well as the established circuit briefly described in this section). To understand the assertion, it is possible to consider, for example, that with an experience (a) controlled by the broadcaster, even regarding the content presented in the second screen, one of the aspects that can be addressed is the articulation/sync of the ads of the TV show’s sponsors between screens (CARNEIRO, 2012). Considering that the ads are presented in various screens, it tends to be minimized the advertisers’ concern regarding the audiences’ distraction – that could limit the visualization of the ads. This theme is addressed in the next section.

Synchronizing ads between screens

Undoubtedly the context of reconfiguration in the televisual scenario due to the second screen experience is complex: TV “is changing” (GRIPSRUD, 2010, p.16, emphasis in the original text) and the usage of technological prostheses (both hardware and software ones) is a key element in that in process update. But it is necessary to notice that changes motivated using technological prostheses are not exactly new in the context of the terrestrial commercial television that adopts the ad-supported business model (related to audience sell). The relation of mutual influences between the social actors of the televisual ecosystem had a quite similar previous impact due to the zapping experience. This way of watching TV (observed in the past with the use of the remote control) allows a key analogy with the second screen experience.

Indeed, in the case of the zapping experience, the constant switch between channels using the remote by the audiences also promoted a concerning to the TV shows’ sponsors related to the fact that their ads could not be watched during the breaks (even considering that the distractions previously mentioned did not occur). That scenario motivated the broadcasters to reassess the appropriated moment to air the commercials. When the second screen experience is materialized by the audience (b) independently from the broadcaster, it is possible to consider the occurrence of a kind of zapping experience’s complexification: in the context of second screen experience, watching the sponsors’ ads can be compromised again (and this is critical to the ad-supported business model). While in the past the zapping experience promoted a mosaic between channels, the materialization of second screen experience potentially establishes a mosaic between contents watched on different devices (or watched on different screens) culminating with the previously mentioned “distraction” (PROULX; SHEPATIN, 2012, p.106).

From the audience perspective, the reconfigured way of watching television can then be analyzed as the result of a cultural preparation (MARQUIONI, 2016, p.86-99) that involved the use of the remote. However, in the case of broadcasters and advertisers, it is necessary to evaluate alternatives that equate the complex context: there is an additional complexity factor when comparing the second screen experience distraction with the zapping experience. Such additional complexity factor can be observed especially because in the second screen experience materialized (b) independently from the broadcaster, the percentage of viewers that watch the TV show weakened. To understand the assertion, it can be pointed that even in the case when there is no variation in audience ratings, there is the risk of the viewers be tuned on the TV channel, but with their attention oriented to the content presented on the technological device used to materialize their independent second screen experience. Thus, differently from zapping with the remote control (when it was possible to broadcasters having at least a general indication of the audiences’ migration between channels due to the changes in ratings of each broadcaster in relation to the other TV channels¹¹), when second screen experience is materialized without the use of a proprietary app provided by the broadcaster, it is likely that if the viewer has his/her attention oriented to the content presented in the second screen device (and not necessarily in the first screen), he/she will probably watch both the TV show and the sponsors’ ads with less attention. Additionally, the broadcasters tend to have lack of such information¹². Strictly speaking, it seems to be possible to state that it is no longer enough for the audience to be tuned on the TV channel (since the viewer may be distracted from the content of the first screen, while he/she is materializing his/her second screen experience independently). In fact, it seems that it would be preferable for the audience to be connected on the TV channel.

In this paper, it is considered that with the audiences using the app provided by the broadcaster it would be more likely the occurrence of that viewer connection with the TV channel: while the app tends to enhance the consumption of television content, it should also align the interests of the sponsors of the programs, broadcasters and audience. Also, the sponsors – with the two (or more) screens to present their ads – potentially have a greater reach for their products or services (despite the attention sharing, since the ads could be displayed simultaneously on the multiple screens). In such scenario, the broadcasters would potentially maintain the sponsoring for their productions, and the audience would materialize their second screen experience while watching TV.

However, considering the broadcasters’ point of view, the app’s supply has as a prerequisite the development and the maintenance of software products, what makes it more complex the process of television production due to the addition of technical activities (related to systems analysis and construction of software programs) to that tasks typically performed during the TV shows’ production. Additionally, once developed the app, during broadcast a complex context is established, associated to the maintenance of software layers synchronized with the content aired on TV. The apps in such context can be understood analogously as the “overlays” (GAWLINSKI, 2003, p.17) of the interactive digital TV¹³. Thus, it is necessary to consider the TV vertical schedule (the aired program during the day) to evaluate the interactivity alternatives (that would be enabled via app). This is necessary because there are different reading contracts¹⁴ related to different TV shows (and the interactions are potentially affected by such reading contracts).

In the complex scenario, it is necessary to rethink the way of producing TV to address the mutual influences between the social actors of the televisual system. Although referring only to the emission period, Colletti and Materia already indicated the relevance of

[e]xtending the entertainment experience [, what] obliges broadcasters to define an unprecedented assembly line [that should be] parallel in relation to that of the main program of linear TV: to develop pre- and post-program content for the active online audience; Thus maintain the interest [of the audience] beyond the canonical 60-120 minutes of broadcasting; Selling advertising in the new space created; Increase profits, or compensate for lower TV revenue.

(2012, p.29-30 – Our translation, italics in the original text, our emphasis added in bold).

In this paper it is considered that, in addition to this extension regarding broadcasting, it would also be necessary to consider the integrated and synchronized development of programs (both the TV and the software programs) concomitantly with the TV show production, so that the audiences get able to materialize their second screen experience.

It is precisely to conceptually analyze the process complexification and the potential impacts to the three actors affected by the second screen experience that the author of this paper has conducted (as mentioned in the Introduction of this text) a research project to investigate the TV production process using an interdisciplinary approach, considering the integration and synchronization of the three project life cycles¹⁵: the TV production life cycle, the Software Engineering life cycle and the Project Management/Ongoing Operations life cycle. There are two main knowledge areas considered in the research project: Communication (covering both television studies and production studies) and Software Engineering (regarding software development processes), as well as management aspects (project management and ongoing operation¹⁶). However, it should be noted that despite the several life cycles, knowledge areas and theoretical notions adopted, Communication is the research’s central reference, since all the articulations proposed occur from the TV production process. But addressing the integration potentialities is not the objective of this paper (nor the difficulties observed): other papers wrote by the author regarding the ongoing project are available in conferences proceedings (where it is presented the synchronization between TV production lifecycles and software development, as well as the orchestration of such integration and sync using project management processes)¹⁷.

In this paper, the option was to present, considering a praxis occurrence, how the ads sync between screens has been addressed (or, in other words, how broadcasters have addressed the sponsors’ interest and the supply of apps to audiences materialization of their second screen experience – considering the three main social actors of the audience sell business model). In addition to the general presentation, an analysis is also conducted considering the proprietary app (supplied by Globo Network) that was used by the audience of the SuperStar TV show¹⁸. Such analysis result from the monitoring of the program (in a participant observation format) during that reality show’s third season in Brazil (in 2016).

It is necessary a brief justification regarding the option in using Globo Network in the research: this broadcaster was selected due to the fact that it is possible to notice in Brazil what can be considered as a tacit pattern defined by Globo (and adopted by the other terrestrial commercial broadcasters). Additionally, it is possible to notice what can be considered as a cultural preparation to audiences’ interactivity conducted by Globo Network¹⁹. Also, the author of this paper has investigated the alternatives of interactivity presented by this broadcaster since the development of his doctoral thesis, presented in 2012.

Regarding SuperStar, the TV show franchise was selected because the app used in this reality show constitute an example of second screen experience materialization (a) controlled by the broadcaster; also, the app is fundamental to the TV show narrative. It characterizes a case of app that not only enables the second screen experience, but must be supplied together with televisual content (establishing a maximum need of sync between life cycles, since the TV program and the software program must debut and be available to the TV viewers simultaneously). Additionally, there is a constant sync between the app content and the televisual content during broadcast (in each aired episode of the TV show there are various vote sections that are started to allow the audiences to decide the contestants that should continue participating in the reality show – such vote sections sync the content aired on TV with that presented on the gadget used to second screen experience materialization). The SuperStar app also enables audience connection with their digital social networks: the votes can be posted directly from the proprietary app in the viewers’ social network. Finally, the option in considering SuperStar can be justified because differently from the perspective that the “next thing they’re going to go after is television’s share of advertising [considering the content also sponsored in the Internet]” (WOLFF, 2015, p.25), or even considering the possibility of synchronizing “contents of mobile devices with the linear programming of the broadcaster” (CARNEIRO, 2012, p.152 – Our translation), in fact the app allows observing that the potential of ads sync between devices has been used in a limited way by the broadcaster. When watching the TV show using the app it is possible to notice a basic sync between contents – thus, considering only part of the effective sponsors of the program, with no advertisements to targeted audiences in the social networks (WOLFF, 2015, p.36-37), or even the sale of specific ads according to the preferences of the public (or previous accesses made in their devices).

In the next section, it is presented the sync of advertisers between screens that could be observed during the third Brazilian season (aired in the first half of 2016) of the franchise.

The SuperStar app: a case of ads sync between screens

In order to understand the SuperStar’s proprietary app it is necessary to notice that the app interface gets various states²⁰ during the period the TV show is aired on the first screen (on TV). To understand the sophistication associated to the usage of the app, Figure 1 presents a diagram on which it is possible to observe the transitions between the states of that app²¹ – this diagram was elaborated by the author of this paper from the use of the app during the participant observation; it was elaborated according to the rules of the UML – Unified Modeling Language (BEZERRA, 2007, p.15-19) –, a technical notation that is used by global software community.

Figure 1
Suggested diagram to represent the state transitions observed in the Superstar app

To read the presented diagram (Figure 1), it is necessary to start from the points indicated as Initial, and advance following the direction of the arrows between the states (the boxes presented in the diagram). Notice that each state has a numbering associated in its title to facilitate the references throughout the analyzes below.

Also, each arrow associated with the transition between states has two markers. The first one corresponds to the condition (C) that must occur in the environment of the app so that its states advance (to advance from one state to another): this is an event initiated sometimes by the viewers, sometimes by the broadcaster. In the Figure 1, the events initiated by the viewers are indicated with the {V} notation, while events initiated by the broadcaster are indicated with the {B} notation. The second marker presented is the corresponding action (A) executed in the app that promotes the effective transition between states. The reading of the diagram then occurs between states, following the direction of the arrows, until reaching the point indicated as Final. It is also worth noting that the ‘Repetition’ box in Figure 1 indicates the group of states that is repeated throughout the program’s first screen broadcast (this group is repeated in the app to audience vote in relation to each contestant of the reality show that performs their gigs). Thus, the states between 03 and 10 (including these two) occur several times while the program is broadcasted. On the other hand, the states 01 and 02 typically occur only once (the only possibility to states 01 and 02 occur more than once during the same SuperStar episode is in the case of the viewer logs out the app, and accesses it again later while the TV show is airing). Also, the state 11 occurs only once, when the TV channel ends the program’s broadcast on TV (and at the same time terminates the run of the app that enables materializing the audiences’ second screen experience).

A quantitative analysis of the markers on the arrows that indicate the transition between states shows that the usage of the app is effectively (a) controlled by the broadcaster: in most cases (in seventeen occurrences), events are associated with an action originated by the broadcaster (these are actions executed in the app’s backstage, and that justify developing future analysis in a specific article). On the other hand, in only eight transitions between states the events have associated a direct action executed by the viewer. However, it is important to note that although the viewer does not generate events in the app regarding most events that motivate the state transitions (as presented in Figure 1), in all the eleven states presented (in all the eleven boxes that represent the states in Figure 1) there is a specific software interface. Such interface is presented in the app (in the technological device used to materialize the second screen experience) – thus, it is with that interface that audiences establish visual contact (also, in eight cases, the audiences can effectively interact using such interface). The very identification of the states by the author of this article (that enabled the elaboration of the diagram presented in Figure 1) was only possible because such interfaces vary in each state transition presented.

Since the viewer needs to look at the app during the TV show’s broadcasting (to identify the moments in which he/she can interact), it is possible to analyze the advertisers’ articulation/synchronization between the first and the second screens. Especially because the “second screen is a great opportunity for advertisers who look at their television media buy as an integrated [...] experience where each component (or screen) works together – thus making the advertising much more impactful” (PROULX; SHEPATIN, 2012, p.103). To enable this analysis, the Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5 present the interfaces related to four of the states indicated in Figure 1 (states 01, 02, 03 and 10).

Figure 2, 3, 4 and 5
Content presented in the app during the states 01, 02, 03 e 10²² (according to Figure 1), respectively

It is worth noting that the following images were obtained on the TV show website (that images were screenshotted from a notebook, not a smartphone or a tablet). However, even on that website it is suggested that the app would be accessed using the screen of a smartphone (a mobile phone picture is presented to audience to vote on the website of the broadcaster. Its presentation of a mobile phone screen even in a website screen seems to characterize a kind of cultural preparation for audiences using the second screen apps through a mobile device when the viewer gets such a device.

It should also be noted that although the images related to only four of the eleven states presented in Figure 1 are provided in Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5, this content is considered here as sufficient for the analyzes suggested in this article. To understand the assertion, it is necessary to notice that, curiously, the sponsors of SuperStar are presented as footnotes in the app interface only in a context that does not involve the attention sharing (or in moments when his/her attention is supposed to be more oriented to the second screen gadget). Explaining: only in Figures 2 and 3 it is possible to observe on the app’ footnote screen the banner image of one of the three TV show’s sponsors²⁴ (the Tic-Tac drops). However, even such banner is not presented in any other interface of the app during the entire broadcast (or in any other state of the app). Even when accessing the app from other devices (the author of this paper accessed the app using three gadgets: a smartphone, a tablet, and a notebook); thus, despite the device used to access the app, only one of the three advertisers was presented. The other sponsors (as well as the drops presented in the gadget) are only mentioned in merchandising actions while the TV show is broadcasted (and on commercial breaks).

Another aspect that needs to be pointed involves the fact that only while the broadcaster did not start airing the TV show (state 01), or when the program is already on air, but the viewer has not reached his/her voter status, the sponsor has its ads presented (the viewer reaches the voter status, a key role in the context of this reality show starting from the app’s state 03). Even if it is argued that this option in omitting advertisers during the key stages of the app usage is motivated to not confuse the audiences at important moments, it should be noticed that, paradoxically, when the TV show gets its commercial break on the first screen, and the app gets on specific state (state 10, Figure 5), there is no indication of the program sponsors on the app screen.

This analysis allows inferring that in the case of the proprietary app on which audiences materialize their second screen experience in SuperStar reality show in Brazil, despite most of the interactive actions allowed in the app are controlled by broadcaster, the sync of ads between screens has occurred in a limited way. Thus, the use of the potential to present advertisers to the viewer synchronously between screens cannot be effectively observed in the SuperStar’s proprietary app. Strictly speaking, in the moment that can be considered that one of maximum interest and participation of the public in relation to the TV program (when it is held a vote that defines the contestant’s permanence in the TV show) – an interface presented repeatedly, and to which the viewers need to look at to vote – there is no mention to the program sponsors.

Final considerations

It is planned to conduct another participant observation to analyze the sync of ads between screens in the case of an eventual new season of the TV show in Brazil. With the participant observation conducted in 2016, it was possible to infer that the articulation of advertisers between the screens during the TV show broadcast occurred in a relatively limited way, although the broadcaster control of actions while the app runs. In other words, considering the ad-supported business model, it seems that the second screen experience had a limitedly expanded in the case of the analyzed app. Such limited use seems to reinforce the potential issue of audience “distraction”, although in the case analyzed in this article the interactivity occurs through a proprietary app supplied by the broadcaster. Paradoxically, even though the app control is in most time with the broadcaster, the SuperStar app did not present the sponsors at key moments of the software usage.

With the continuity of the project, it is expected to systematize the analyses related to the integration of the life cycles of software development and project management with the TV production one. Especially due to the usage of a theoretical approach related to the production studies, the author has attempted to contact (without success up to the moment when this article is completed) with Brazilian TV broadcasters that provide second screen apps to conduct a deepest research (beyond the observation of the content aired on TV and made available on the app).

Regardless the success of such contacts with broadcasters, it is expected that, in the light of the analyses presented in this article, it will be conceptually possible to address how the commercial breaks and the ads on the app (and even the ads presented in multiple screens) could be articulated to meet the three key social actors affected by the ongoing (and unavoidable) reconfigurations in the complex Brazilian televisual cultural system. After all, this articulation seems fundamental to the TV audience migration from a TV viewer tuned on the TV channels to an effectively connected one.

• 1
  In the case of the United States’ television, an interview that was conducted in 2011 informed that 86% of that group used a mobile device while watching TV and 23% of them used the gadget to get additional information regarding the content they watched on TV. Also 70% of the interviewed said they used their tablet more often in front of the TV set (PROULX; SHEPATIN, 2012, p.87). In Brazil, data presented in PNAD report (related to the year of 2013, made available in 2015) identified “for the very first time […] the home access to the Internet using […] mobile phone, tablet, television and other electronic devices” (PNAD, 2015 – Our translation). Such report informed the “percentage of domiciles that used the Internet according to the kind of devices: mobile cell phone or tablet (57.3% or 17,9 million), mobile cell phone (53.6% or 16,8 million), tablet (17.2% or 5,4 million), television (2.7% or 832 thousand) and other gadgets (0.7% or 210 thousand)” (PNAD, 2015 – Our translation). These data, when associated with the information that (i) the viewers that watched more “TV with [while surfing on] the Internet are the young ones, mainly those between 20 and 24 years old, [that (ii)] the teenagers between 15 and 19 years old are those who post most comments regarding television on the Internet […] [, and (iii)] among adults, such habit is noticed mainly between women – particularly those that belong to AB’s economic classes (the highest economic classes)” (NO BRASIL, 2013), contributes to map (at least preliminarily) the scenario of adaptation in the way of watching TV regarding the Brazilian audience. It is worth noting that the presented update of PNAD report with data related to the year of 2015 (made available in 2016) pointed that “it was considered only the usage of the Internet done by the individual using a desktop or a mobile computer (laptop, notebook, palmtop, pocket PC, handheld). It was not covered the access to the Internet using other devices (mobile cell phone, cable or satellite TV, game console)” (PNAD, 2016 – Our translation). However, in that update of the PNAD report it was indicated that the “proportions of households with a microcomputer (46.2%) and microcomputers with Internet access (40.5%) presented decreases of 2.3% and 1.6%. [...] This is due to the increase of access using other devices” (PNAD, 2016 – Our translation). Thus, it is possible to infer that such increase is potentially associated with the usage of smartphone and tablet devices. The update of data in future reports will potentially allow the further development of the analysis.
• 2
  While in the past the chats associated with the aired content (that occurred during TV shows’ broadcast) were typically restricted to the living room (the room of the residences where it was typically installed the TV set), the Internet and the digital social networks in some sense has expanded the reach of such conversations.
• 3
  In Brazilian TV it is possible to mention the cases of the Hannibal series – aired on AXN channel (MACHADO FILHO, 2013) – and the series The S.O.F.I.A. Project – produced and broadcasted on Unesp/Bauru TV (OLIVEIRA; CARDOSO; COQUEMALA, 2016).
• 4
  There was an occurrence of such content made available by a public TV using a proprietary app in Brazil; in this case, while the journalist content was aired on TV, the viewer was able to access, in his/her mobile gadget, complementary information supplied by the Cultura TV channel based in São Paulo (MARQUIONI, 2016, p.121-129).
• 5
  In this paper, it is adopted the statement presented by James Blake that “‘Second screen’ is best understood not as an object or a media device, but as an experience” (2017, p.1; emphasis in the original text).
• 6
  According to James Blake it is considered here that the “concept of ‘second screen’ is the story of a marriage of convenience between two [...] platforms [...]: television and mobile devices” (2017, p.1); more specifically devices connected to the Internet.
• 7
  To understand the TV experience’s definition adopted in this paper, see Marquioni (2016, p.77-99).
• 8
  “Sometimes it is hard to say what on TV is not advertising. [...] The ordinary TV viewer tends to consider the commercials as a necessary evil – at least it is what he/she says. Fifteen minutes of ‘ads’ each hour is a tolerable bothering, since such ads make it possible to he/she watches his/her favorite TV shows. However, he/she does not notice that the opposite would be quite truer: all television programming is produced due to advertising” (PIGNATARI, 1984, p.29 – Our translation). See also Williams (2005, p.24).
• 9
  The “audiences are not seen as a category to be understood, but as a commodity to be sold to advertisers” (CASEY et al, 2002, p.13). In fact, increasing audience ratings “is more than a prestige issue to broadcasters, since such ratings define the price periodically sold to the advertising agencies” (PIGNATARI, 1984, p.31 – Our translation).
• 10
  It is worth noting that in this paper the Internet is considered more as an information system than as a medium: “An information system is not always a medium […] [and] there are no medium without an a priori representation of an audience. This fundamental characteristic of the mediatized communication makes it possible to understand the reason why a lot of activities on the Internet do not depend on a media logic. Indeed, one of the conditions of its success is that [the Internet] is a network with no predefined audience” (WOLTON, 2003, p.95-97 – Our translation).
• 11
  It seems possible to infer the existence of a general indication considering that the variation in audience ratings’ percentage makes it is possible to observe the switch between channels.
• 12
  It is important to notice that even in the case when the viewer uses the app he/she may not watch the ads. This is something that can be observed also from the beginnings of Internet advertising – which also led to the need to re-evaluate the way ads are measured on the Internet: “If people weren’t paying attention to ads, if they could avoid them, if they were clicking away from them in microseconds, if there were no structural way to make people pay attention, then their value would go down” (WOLFF, 2015, p.49). However, it is considered that this second risk tends to be reduced, depending on how the presentation of the ads between screens is combined. In this context, the creativity in presenting the ads on the second screen device seems to be a key factor – including when (it would be the best moment) to present the advertisings.
• 13
  The Brazilian digital television did not enable (as promised) effective interactivity directly via TV set. Nor it did enable interactivity considering the TV experience as adopted in this article: although there was the case presented in the book Brasil 4D in the year 2013 (quoted in the references of this paper) – and despite the social relevance of such initiative –, the interactivity addressed in Brasil 4D involved transforming the TV set into a computer (that was, strictly speaking, the use of interactive digital TV in a computer experience – or in an Internet experience – but not in a TV experience). The interactivity actions performed during second screen experience seem to equate this kind of experiential anomaly (or even these actions regarding second screen experience provide a kind of interactivity not effectively offered) in Brazilian interactive digital TV (in the sense that it becomes possible to the audiences to interact with the television content – in a TV experience – while watching TV, although it gets necessary to use another screen, a different one in relation to the digital television itself in order to materialize the interactive action).
• 14
  In this paper, it is considered that the reading contracts are the result of the articulation between the “cultural form” (WILLIAMS, 2005, p.39-76) of each TV show and its televisual genre. See Marquioni (2016, p.31-66).
• 15
  A project life cycle is “the series of phases that a project passes through from its initiation to its closure. The phases are generally sequential, and their names and numbers are determined by the management and control needs of the organization or organizations involved in the project, the nature of the project itself, and its area of application” (PMBOK, 2013, p.38).
• 16
  The processes considered in the research regarding these themes were defined by the PMI – Project Management Institute (PMBOK, 2013).
• 17
  It is possible to find papers in the proceedings of Intercom Nacional (in the years of 2016 and 2017); also in the proceedings of 14th CONTECSI (International Conference on Information Systems and Technology Management), and in IAMCR’s 2017 Working Group Media Production Analysis.
• 18
  SuperStar is the name attributed in Brazil to the reality show franchise Rising Star, whose format was defined and is commercialized by Keshet TV (RISING STAR, 2015), from Israel.
• 19
  It is possible to mention invitations to audience sending letters (since 1980s in Globo’s TV shows); also voting options in programs (an example from 1990’s is the Você decide TV show) and in reality shows (MARQUIONI, 2016, p.115-119).
• 20
  In technical terms (for a software product), a “state is a moment in the life of an object when such object satisfies some condition or performs some activity” (BEZERRA, 2007, p.288 – Our translation).
• 21
  “[A]nalyzing the transitions between states of the objects in a software system makes is possible to predict all the possible operations depending on the events that may occur” (BEZERRA, 2007, p.287).
• 22
  It should be noticed that the state 10, referring to Figure 05, is also started when the program is suspended temporarily not only due to commercial breaks (in the case of the episode from which the images presented in this paper were captured, there were various interruptions during the SuperStar broadcast – since the TV show is aired live – requested by Globo Network Department of Journalism due to president Dilma Rousseff impeachment process coverage).
• 23
  Available at: <http://api.rtp.scrnz.com/front/mt-webview/?
• 24
  In the third season of the Brazilian edition of the franchise, there were three main sponsors: the Tic-Tac drops, the Carrefour hypermarket and the Veja Multiuso degreaser.

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Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  Sep-Dec 2017

History

• Received
  19 Dec 2016
• Accepted
  07 July 2017