"Audiences are no longer just consumers of texts, but producers too"

"Audiences are no longer just consumers of texts, but producers too" - To what extent is this true of the media products in your case study?
"Audiences are no longer just consumers of texts, but producers too"
How does the audience of the Simpsons also become the producer?
My case study is based on three animated sitcoms, my three media texts are; The Simpsons; Family Guy and Futurama. All three of my texts work across all three media platforms how ever there main media platform are broadcast and E-media. The Simpsons also have comics and now available to stream online as well, However Futurama and Family guy don’t really operate across print.
One way in which my three media texts allow me to agree with this statement is the increase of fan pages and forums which allow the fans to get there opinion across to the producers. This allows the producers of the sitcoms which type of humour, characters’ and themes the audience prefer. They also can get a better idea of their target market and what they like to see. This allows the audience to have an influence on the producer and product.
An example of this The Simpsons movie, The Simpsons has been on air since 1989 each episode lasting around 22 minutes. However the increases of fans making unofficial trailers on websites such as youtube increased and were noticed by producers. The viewings of The Simpsons increased over the years over the years, Appealing to a wider range of ages and also being more available on the internet meant there was less restrictions so The Simpsons was available to watch 24 hours a day resulting in a larger fan base so the people wanting to watch the movie as people who enjoyed a 22 minutes episode would most defiantly enjoy a 60+ minutes. This lead to a movie being released which grossed $75,000,000. However when the movie was released fans were disappointed as it was not quite what they expected, somewhere disappointed that there was not much of a story line whilst others said that there was not enough humour for a movie and over all disappointed. This again made fans make their own mini clips, trailers and scenes and even made scenes with Simpson’s characters and voice over are from movies such as inception.
Another new and popular way of the audience getting their view acknowledged is by using youtube, Fans of the sitcoms upload videos of themselves expressing their views and commenting on what they liked about the sitcoms or what they disagree. This can lead to producers providing consumers with what they want therefore altering the end product and becoming producers.
One way the Simpsons allowed the consumer to also be a producer is to allow one lucky contestant the chance to create a character which will be featured in the show. This contest can be applied for over the internet however the final product will be broadcasted on television. The contestant was from Los Angeles named Peggy Black. The character created Ricardo Bomba will be featured in The Simpsons episode; million dollar baby. She also got the chance to work alongside producers in Los Angeles. This competition took place in 2009 over the internet.
Another way audiences can become producers is by writing to producers or even the FCC (federal communications commission). This means that certain types of humour or material which may be found offensive won’t be allowed or could be taken off air. E.g. people complaining The Simpsons make the army seem pointless and discourage made producers take the episode of air. This made producers edit the product which would not be found offensive therefore making the consumer the producer. This lead to the end product not only being made by the producer Matt Groening but altered by the audience to their needs therefore also being a producer of the text.
Also the fact that The Simpsons have worn the same clothing since it first went on air has made consumers take matters into their own hand and change features of characters and even make Simpsons hybrids in which animated cartoons have the features of The Simpsons.
This has also happened with my other two texts which I am studying, South Park and Futurama. Audiences have even created pictures with characters from both sitcoms which are produced by the same producer Matt Groening, The Simpsons and Futurama. Fans merged characters from the two sitcoms together, not only producing a new text but also making the producers of The Simpsons and Futurama pick up on the fact that people wanted to see characters from both sitcoms in the same frame. This made Matt Groening create an episode in which bender from Futurama is seen in the car of the Simpsons driving through a tunnel. This is another example of how the audience influence the producer and also become producers.
Even though Futurama does have its own official website (www.ilovebender.com), its more promotional than interactive meaning fans aren’t able to engage with the website or spend time learning, looking or discussing their favourite sitcoms. Also all over the website Futurama things are being promoted, even though that’s one of the objectives of a website that’s not what all fans would want as the websites seem more convincing to make you purchase things than engaging or interactive. This led to fans making their own websites such as http://www.gotfuturama.com/ . This website has everything any fan would want forums, games, fan art and even Futurama mouse cursors! Fans have also drawn art work on things such as Microsoft paint and even by hand and uploaded it on the website, something that you couldn’t do on the official website. It also allows the interaction of other Futurama fans across the world. Also fan created websites allows other people to view episodes of the Futurama.
Similarly the lack of things to do on the official website for South park (www.southparkstudios.com) fans have made their own websites such as www.allsp.com to stream south park episodes. However the increase of fans asking for South Park clips to be viewable on Facebook pages and twitter has made producers of south park put clips of South Park up on their official website.
In conclusion to my essay I end by saying that consumers off text have a very big influence on the producers. And as social networking sites and other ways of getting your view across to a large audience such as youtube increase the strength of the consumer will increase resulting in more consumers being producers.