Lately, I did an audience study on a science format. The study was conducted using an online focus group. But first group participants had to watch the tv-programme and during the screening I made an overlay with simple questions like “is the science explained in an understandable manner” and “is the tv-programme exciting right now” etc. Questions which only could be answered by pressing yes or no and would dim the video but not stopping it. The sound would continue, as well. This forced an almost instant reaction to the question, so the video would appear clear again.

The video player was simply embedded into a question in the online focus group

Let us dwell a moment with this way of asking a question. In total 27 participated in the online focus group. One person had an internet connection which was not suitable for online video viewing and thus had to watch the tv-programme at work in advance. Another one had difficulties with video and audio break up during the screening and was told to use the version available at the official video player. For testing purpose I used an 3rd party streaming service which had the ability to prompt questions live overlaying the video feed.

In the evaluation following this test, I asked the participants how they liked having questions prompting over the tv-programme. 2 out of 27 did not like it mainly because it stole focus from the tv-programme when dimming out the video. They suggested that the questions only appeared in a box on the screen. I completely agree, but this software was unable to do so. Two other participants were indifferent but the rest actually stated that believed it was a good idea. And none did really complain about being asked questions during the screening. In my view it is probably because they know in advance that this screening session is conducted to learn about their views and opinions.

In total ten questions were asked during the tv-programme and one question just before and one question just after. The first question was intended to verify if they could answer a question on their screen and furthermore a way for me to get my participants familiarized with the concept. The last question was about the quality of streaming so I would know if the screening had been a decent experience client side. Before the science tv-programme started I made a short video introduction explaining the purpose of the test and what I expected from group members – just as I normally would do before beginning a conventional focus group. After the credits I returned to their screen asking them to begin answering the questions in the online focus group and reminding them that they should explain their views as detailed as possible.

I had prepared the questions in advance (notepad) and made a copy paste into the video console prompting them on participants' screen.

So basically I had to types of data. Questions answered during screening and the participants view on different aspects of the tv-programme afterward. The test showed they were quite skeptical to the premise of the tv-programme and did feel it lacked a more in-depth explanation of the science once in a while. This type of data was gathered using the online focus group. The questions asked during the screening showed something else. It showed that the participants were good entertained during most of the show. But became a bit more skeptical towards the tv-programme in the end.

The data shows that during the screening the participants were entertained and found the tv-programme both exciting and educational. Towards the end there were some problems but these problems completely overshadows when they start to discuss the tv-programme in the online focus group. There are techniques to combat negative discourses when moderating online focus groups, but by using data from the screening it became easier to analyze and understand the negative reaction to the tv-programme in the right way. The data from during screening are also important to understand how the participants are engaged and entertained during the tv-programme. This is knowledge that is quite hard to capture very specific in focus groups.

The beautiful thing here is that a system like this is very scalable. I have used it for qualitative research but it could just as well be part of a quantitative research setup. You might just replace the online focus group with a survey afterwards. And you are able to screen content to anyone with a broadband connection thus reducing travel expenses and time consuming studies to different locations if you need participants from various part of the country, region or world. You can set up a research project from your office that is able to narrow down if specific tv-programme elements are working within various demographic groups or even different markets.

Of course there are limitations. It is quite obvious that the participant needs a broadband internet connection which might limit this research methods validity in certain countries. In Denmark this is not that much of an issue anymore. Most danes have access to broadband internet. Secondly the digital divide. Even though you might have access to broadband internet it does not mean that you are able to use video. Your computer might not be configured correctly. But you can always screen out participants by showing a short video sequence during the recruitment phase and ask whether or not they are able to see it. Of course, watching a video on your computer screen is not the same experience as watching the same tv-programme on a regular tv-screen. But you can also argue that watching a tv-programme together with 10 people you have never met before being a part of a focus group is not a natural reception situation either. Understanding the reception context when interpreting data has always been a part of an audience researcher’s job description. I would argue, that this is especially something to pay close attention to when it comes to longer formats and tv-programmes that have a high production value and this should be regarded as a vital part of the tv-experience. One last thing, the concept of interrupting participants with questions might prove to distract some too much and might cause them to be displeased with the test itself. But this first study I have done shows it is quite few and besides you could ask in the end if the questions spoiled the tv-programme too much and use this knowledge in your data analysis.

If you have any comments, suggestions or questions to this please mail me: jlwieland@gmail.com

(From Nordvisions/2010 annual report pp. 96)

When television drama is at its best viewers are very much emotionally engaged. They identify with the characters and practically share their experiences. To reveal when viewers experience high or low levels of emotional engagement is therefore very important if we are to understand their overall impression of a drama series. A research collaboration involving YLE, SVT, NRK and DR in 2010 focused on ways of becoming better at revealing the emotional engagement of viewers in test groups.

Media Research Departments from the Nordic public service broadcasters were awarded resources from the NV Fund for a development project to develop the meth- ods normally used when testing television drama.

Testing TV drama is usually done in focus groups, where specially selected indi- viduals are interviewed about their experience of the broadcast. While the interview technique is very well developed it may still have its limitations, as there are many people who find it difficult to verbalize their emotional experiences. That is precisely why it is often difficult to uncover emotional involvement in a research context.

The focal point of the project was to find a solution to this problem. At a workshop at SVT in Stockholm, the project group agreed to combine test equipment from SVT with some new interview techniques, and then test these ideas. Using Mentometers, which are small remote control units, the test participants in the focus groups register their emotional experience while watching an episode of a drama series. It gives the researcher an idea of where viewers experience a high degree of emotional involvement. By rewatching the scenes which register most clearly overall, you can get the test participants to tell you exactly how they experience high emotional involvement.

The workshop was a great success. The method proved very useful, and by comparing the test results it was clear that the method also provided new insight compared to more traditional testing methods. The final phase of the project is the development of its own customized system to record test participants’ experiences during screening to the benefit of all the partners in the project. Development is being carried out at NRK and will end in March 2011.

The project was funded by Nordvision. Project participants were from the Audience Research Departments in YLE, SVT, NRK and DR.

JESS3 x ESPN – TV Ratings 101 Behind The Scenes from JESS3 on Vimeo.