Engaging Audiences Through Multi-Platform Television: Danger-5 and the Diamond Girls

Abstract

This paper examines the production processes of an Australian television drama, focusing on webisodes produced as part of a multi-platform program Danger 5. This program was broadcast on the Special Broadcast Service (SBS), Australia, in two series (2012 and 2015). Levine’s (2007) modes of production are applied to the creation of the webisodes. Through set visits and nine interviews with key creative staff, this study examines how cultural factors shaped these ancillary texts. The SBS’s chartered purpose to use innovation to reach audiences was a key factor in the creation of these webisodes. The findings from this project include that the environment, routines, and practices in the creation of the webisodes were very similar to the broadcast Danger 5 program. However, this paper will demonstrate that shaping story for the webisodes and the efforts to reach an online audience meant that content changes were made. The more immediate feedback and clearer ability to measure audiences using social media were the reasons for a change in emphasis toward this form of online engagement during production in the program’s second season.