The book investigates the new forms of empowered agency possessed by national audiences with reference to two particular television texts: Game of Thrones and Mad Men. The two popular American TV shows are highly successful products of the convergence era, characterized by trans-media storytelling as a strategy and the interconnection of audiences’ multiple practices of reception and fruition. The book argues how the analysis of audience engagement with trans-media texts will disclose important information about the various ways people organize their lives around media and how these activities help them to make sense of the world they live in.

Television as a traditional medium has been changing for a number of years due to the growing proliferation of platforms through which multiple forms of media are deeply interconnected. In this multi-modal environment rich in on-demand content, audiences align with and take advantage of the options created for them by media companies. They operate as active users by processing various media texts at the same time and exercising control over their viewing schedules, and by integrating media content into their lives according to new patterns of consumption. The objective of this PhD project is to investigate this new form of agency possessed by audiences with reference to two television texts: Mad Men (AMC, 2007 - 2015) and Game of Thrones (HBO, 2011 - present). The two selected American TV shows are typical products of the “convergence era” (Jenkins 2008), which is characterized by trans-media storytelling as a strategy employed by media conglomerates with the aim being to generate emotional investment in, and ongoing engagement with, media texts. The research is structured as a comparative study between two countries: Italy and New Zealand. Comparative research has been used by scholars as a valid way to investigate audience practices. However, there is still a dearth of international, cross-cultural comparisons. In selecting and comparing two nations that are outside the dominant media market of production (the US) but where these shows have nonetheless had considerable impact, my study aims to explore the specificities of audiences’ behaviors and habits in relation to their cultural context. To gather data for my analysis, I employed both online surveys and focus groups. The surveys were aimed at gathering information from a large sample about fan consumption practices and enabling the comparison of variables in this study. The findings from the focus groups form the bulk of the research analysis and provide significant insights about the particular traits and attitudes exhibited by national audiences in their engagement with international programs that are exemplary for the age of media convergence.

The Internet and digital media have become conduits and locales where millions of Chinese share information and engage in creative expression and social participation. This book takes a cutting-edge look at the impacts and implications of an increasingly networked China. Eleven chapters cover the terrain of a complex social and political environment, revealing how modern China deals with digital media and issues of censorship, online activism, civic life, and global networks. The authors in this collection come from diverse geographical backgrounds and employ methods including ethnography, interview, survey, and digital trace data to reveal the networks that provide the critical components for civic engagement in Chinese society. The Chinese state is a changing, multi-faceted entity, as is the Chinese public that interacts with the new landscape of digital media in adaptive and novel ways. Networked China: Global Dynamics of Digital Media and Civic Engagement situates Chinese internet in its complex, generational context to provide a full and dynamic understanding of contemporary digital media use in China. This volume gives readers new agendas for this study and creates vital new signposts on the way for future research. .

The Media Convergence Handbook sheds new light on the complexity of media convergence and the related business challenges. Approaching the topic from a managerial, technological as well as end-consumer perspective, it acts as a reference book and educational resource in the field. Media convergence at business level may imply transforming business models and using multiplatform content production and distribution tools. However, it is shown that the implementation of convergence strategies can only succeed when expectations and aspirations of every actor involved are taken into account. Media consumers, content producers and managers face different challenges in the process of media convergence. Volume II of the Media Convergence Handbook tackles these challenges by discussing media business models, production, and users' experience and perspectives from a technological convergence viewpoint.

Since the advent of digitization, the conceptual confusion surrounding the semantic galaxy that comprises the media and journalism universes has increased. Journalism across several media platforms provides rapidly expanding content and audience engagement that assist in enhancing the journalistic experience. Exploring Transmedia Journalism in the Digital Age provides emerging research on multimedia journalism across various platforms and formats using digital technologies. While highlighting topics, such as immersive journalism, nonfictional narratives, and design practice, this book explores the theoretical and critical approaches to journalism through the lens of various technologies and media platforms. This book is an important resource for scholars, graduate and undergraduate students, and media professionals seeking current research on media expansion and participatory journalism.

New media technologies impact cinema well beyond the screen. This volume speculates about the changes in modes of accessing, distributing, storing and promoting moving images and how they might affect cinematographic experience, economy and historiography.

This handbook combines the perspectives of communication studies, economics and management, and psychology in order to provide a comprehensive economic view on personal and mass communication. It is divided into six parts that comprise: 1. an overarching introduction that defines the field and provides a brief overview of its history (1 chapter) 2. the most commonly used theoretic frameworks for the analysis of communication economics and management (4 chapters) 3. the peculiarities of the quantitative and qualitative methods and data used in the field (3 chapters) 4. key issues of the field such as the economics of language, labor in creative industries, media concentration, branding etc. (10 chapters) 5. descriptions of the development, trends and peculiarities of the field in different parts of the world, written by scholars from the respective region (10 chapters) 6. reflections on future directions for the field, both from a managerial and from an economics perspective (1 chapter). The authors of the individual chapters represent different academic disciplines, research traditions, and geographic backgrounds. The reader will thus gain multifaceted insights into the management and economics of communication.