An analysis of Rugby Unions fan cultures, and the convergence of culture which will lead to an analysis of trans-media storytelling.

Currently, there is a passing over of old media to new media where users are more interactive with and have the power to produce media content (Jenkins, 2006). Media convergence alludes to the continual flow of content from a media organisation across all platforms, and as consumers are no longer passive, and have became prosumers due to their creation of content (Jenkins, 2004). Platforms such as Twitter and Instagram enable there to be flow of ideas and communication at ease (Jenkins et al,. 2013).  For the international game of Rugby Union, there are a lot over viewer and interaction on social media platforms from fans. However, Amazon Prime have not capitalised on this flow of communication from fan. Ali et al,. (2006) suggests that with large audience streams, having a chat function where fans can communicate and engage with the content to produce a more immersive experience.

With a more immersive experience, it is hoped that engagement it increases within the international Rugby Union community. These fans will react a culture and content which Amazon Prime can use to as an act of production to make the broadcast more attractive for outside viewers (Jenkins et al,. 2013). Therefore, it is important that Amazon Prime, like other streaming services see the people that watch their streams not as views, but as multipliers due to the content that create (Hutchins et al,. 2019; Jenkins et al,. 2013).  Engagement can be broken down into four distinct categories: watching, purchasing primary or secondary products, endorsing, and recommending. To improve Amazon Prime revenue, instead of focusing on the viewers on their social media platforms, they should instead focus on time spent on content, and engagement while using the service (Hutchins et al., 2019). Zhang et al., (2019) suggests that engaging and appealing to the existing subscribers is more profitable for the company as they become multipliers of the product by spreading more of the content out into the public.

Sharing continues content with viewer can build a story which may engage subscribers further. Sport naturally with structures of leagues and competition naturally lends itself to transmedia storytelling, and fans naturally become multipliers as they share content with peers (Petersen-Wagner, 2017). With the medium of digital media, the way in which conversation was shaped, away from tradition media outlets, meant there was a shift in culture to which media companies had to react to keep fans interested in leagues. Coombs (2019) suggests that transmedia storytelling involves engaging consumers across multiple platforms while being united by a central theme. And this way of communicating a message can lend itself towards positive Corporate Social Responsibility as audiences are continually engaged over several platforms. This can be seen by Petersen-Wagner (2020) who analysed Twitter conversations during German football matches and found that these conversations were influenced by official clubs and fan users alike. Showing that if clubs focus on CSR, fans will begin to have conversation surround topic of a particular club CSR’s goals.

References

Ali, S., Mathur, A., & Zhang, H. (2006, August). Measurement of commercial peer-to-peer live video streaming. In Proc. of Workshop in Recent Advances in Peer-to-Peer Streaming (pp. 1-12).

Coombs, T. (2019). Transmedia storytelling: a potentially vital resource for CSR communication. Corporate communications: An international journal.

Jenkins, H. (2004). The cultural logic of media convergence. International journal of cultural studies, 7(1), 33-43.

Jenkins, H. (2006). Fans, bloggers, and gamers: Exploring participatory culture. nyu Press.

Ford, S., Green, J., & Jenkins, H. (2013). Spreadable media: I media tra condivisione, circolazione, partecipazione. Maggioli Editore.

Hutchins, B., Li, B., & Rowe, D. (2019). Over-the-top sport: live streaming services, changing coverage rights markets and the growth of media sport portals. Media, Culture & Society, 41(7), 975-994.

Petersen-Wagner, R. (2017). Cultural consumption through the epistemologies of the South: ‘Humanization in transnational football fan solidarities. Current Sociology, (),

Zhang, G., Ma, L., Zhang, X., Ding, X. Y., & Yang, Y. P. (2019). Understanding social media users’ unfollow intentions: take WeChat subscriptions as an example. Online Information Review.