Transmedia Critical| Audience Reception of Cross- and Transmedia TV Drama in the Age of Convergence

Abstract

Using a mixed-method approach, with TV diaries, in-depth interviews, and focus groups, this study of the audience reception of cross- and transmedia extensions to TV drama finds that most people consume only marketing-driven cross-media extensions and are not looking for a strong engagement with a fictional storyworld through transmedia extensions. The lack of enthusiasm for cross- and transmedia extensions might be explained by the mismatch between the expected viewing motivations of the producers of TV drama and the viewing motivations of the people watching. The TV producers seek an audience looking for immersion in a multiplatform narrative story, but the audience is mainly interested in being entertained by TV episodes.