“You’re fired!”
“Make it work!”
“McDreamy and McSteamy”
These are quotes and characters, all from various hit TV shows, such as Donald Trump’s The Apprentice, Project Runway, Jersey Shore, Grey’s Anatomy etc. What they have in common is being able to connect with viewers beyond just the hour-long episode and become integrated into viewers’ lifestyle. For example, there is a reason that people have “Glee” and “American Idol” watching parties with their friends and families every week, and that teenagers have started using the slang from TV shows like Jersey Shore and Keeping up with the Kardashians. For unidentifiable and intangible reasons, certain shows have the ability to transcend the boundary of the television screen, and really captivate viewers.
For my research study, I am interested in forming a case study about the TV show “Project Runway,” and exploring some of the issues it is having since being moved from Bravo to Lifetime. While Lifetime has promised to keep the show exactly the same, ratings have decreased and the once extremely popular TV show has lost the high viewing rate and praise that it once enjoyed. Some of the things that I am interested are: What factors have caused the show to go downhill? Further, are there internal issues that can explain the general negative criticism (and even worse, apathy) regarding the show recently? Lastly, I want to learn what the show’s “it factors” were that made it such a success in the first place? How does television create a positive viewing experience?
For television, there are complicated issues when it comes to creating the most valuable customer experience, in the sense of keeping the viewer tuning in week after week. While they must constantly evolve to stay “exciting” in viewer’s minds, they also must not lose sight of the core “it factor” that made people like it in the first place. Basically, TV shows face the task of balancing new and old concepts at the same time to keep them addictive and interesting. Without making changes, TV shows face the threat of being labeled as fads, and their advertising dollars and high ratings are transient. While almost everyone remembers watching “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” on ABC for a short period of time, people quickly became bored and moved on to other programs.
The reason that I chose Project Runway is because I want to learn about how television creates an “experience” for the viewer. While I could explore consumer goods or services, I think that the entertainment industry is different all together, as there is no traditional “consumer” and there is a distinct viewing experience. The entertainment industry is one of most competitive, and I would like to gain an understanding of what it takes to succeed in such a cut-throat environment. Combined with my interest in fashion, I feel as if Project Runway is a logical choice to center my case study around. After doing a bit of research online and reading entertainment blogs, the show definitely seems to have central issues focused around the fact of the “merry go round” of judges every week. The show lacks stability without its "dream team" of judges: Michael Kors and Nina Garcia. To add to the problem, the show is being filmed in LA instead of New York after being moved to Lifetime. The vibrant New York location was extremely important to the show’s success, and any regular Project Runway viewer & fashionista can tell you that LA is not quite of the same caliber as New York fashion wise. Some of the research that I have done is below:
Articles
Ack! I had all of my comments done and didn't post before I clicked a link above. Crud... let's see if I can recreate this. First, you may or may not know that I am a HUGE fan of PR! I don't exactly host watch parties but a few friends and I email and text about every episode. Also, I think you might be a season behind with your description. I believe that they have completed and aired a second season on Lifetime that was back in NYC and even included MK & NG at every runway - check to see if I am right about that. I think it is important to include an acknowledgement and maybe analysis to things that are external to the show - e.g., moving off a Lifetime may have caused viewers to lose sight of it, especially if the lead-ins and lead-outs were either not good or not congruent, as they were on Bravo. Also, I wonder if the move to Lifetime just happen to coincide with a natural drop in interest based on the show's lifecycle (which also might explain what happened to American Idol a couple of seasons ago). So, just be sure to include a nod to those as well. Otherwise, be sure to keep a strong like to the ideas of exploring insights about customers (viewers) and designing an experience to connect with those insights. Let me know if you want to chat along the way.
ReplyDeleteOne point of concern, Racha: the articles you reference are not very substantial. That might be ok, but you will probably need to find a lot more smaller articles to round a well developed paper. We can talk more about this in-person.
ReplyDeleteSorry - one more point of concern is the length. It's a little less than the minimum guideline and I am really trying to push you all to explore your topics more fully. Ok... I think that's it...
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