Prom Queen is a new soap being produced for distribution primarily via MySpace. It is a short form soap (each episode is only about 1 minute long) that will screen for 80 episodes. Of course, its presence on MySpace allows for a significant amount of online fan culture and social networking around the show.
This show presents media educators with a unique opportunity to explore the key concepts of media technologies, institutions and audiences through the unique case study of an emerging form. This is a new type of "television" that is using an old format to help develop new audiences. The benefits for the media institutions responsible for developing and distributing the show are potentially enormous, given the global reach, and relatively low cost, of distribution via MySpace.
A number of critical questions could be explored in relation to Prom Queen:
- How does the internet, particularly online video, change the nature of what television might be, who can access it, and how they will experience it?
- What are the implications for traditional television? Will there come a time when all television is viewed via the internet? (Check out Apple TV - which sends video downloaded from the web to your television). What will this mean in terms of distribution? Will local television companies become obsolete as consumers download shows directly from overseas?
- How will audiences change if television is viewed online rather than via broadcast? Will they become hugely fragmented as small niche audiences seek out specialised shows, or will some shows remain broadly popular. What are the implications for advertising?
- Will anyone be able to make a show, distribute online, and have it become a hit? Or will the big companies continue to dominate?
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