Franchising Friday Night Lights

Evaluating the model

The model presented in the previous sections attempts to apply transmedia storytelling to a complex realist television text, taking into account the features that distinguish this particular genre. However, it is difficult to predict how audiences will respond to these kinds of digital extensions. In the interest of examining the effectiveness of the model, the websites were advertised in three online communities that focus on Friday Night Lights.

The posts advertising the sites provided a minimum of context and merely asked for casual feedback. The bulletin boards were then monitored for comments; Any user who posted a comment was contacted and asked to complete a questionnaire designed to measure the model's effectiveness, as it relates to three key points: the websites achieve a high level of verisimilitude; the websites extend the story of the television show in a meaningful way, offering information that enriches the viewing experience; the websites are generally clear, engaging, and easy to use. In addition, several fans of the show were contacted directly and asked to complete the same questionnaire. These subjects were found by searching for personal blog postings about the show and contacting the authors.

When asked what they enjoyed about Friday Night Lights, most respondents referred to the characters and characterization. Several specifically noted realism as a key draw of the show, noting that the two main characters "are probably the most realistic-but-excellent parents on television" and that the show offers a "true-to-life and realistic portrayal of small-town high school life."

Respondents similarly appreciated realism in the digital extensions, reporting that the sites are relatively authentic in look and feel and identifying "little details" as one of the websites' strong points. When asked which sites they found the most interesting, the users kept coming back to the concepts of realism and faithfulness to the realist aesthetic of the show:

• "[I enjoyed] Dillon Panther Football because it made the show/team seem that much more real."
• "I like the dillon chronicle site the most because it really had the feel of a high school newspaper."
• "I liked the fact that there were blogs/articles etc that were really true to the show."

All respondents reported that they enjoyed the experience of interacting with the digital extensions, though one said he had no need to visit the sites again as "they don't [appear to] generate any new content… without the juxtaposition of location and scenes that one gets from a whole episode its not nearly as interesting." The comment speaks to the need to keep sites updated frequently with new and germane information, as well as the necessity of making digital extensions a tightly integrated part of the show's narrative.

The frequency with which the respondents seek out digital extensions of the show reflects Heffernan's observations in her Times article. Only one respondent said she visits any Friday Night Lights websites regularly; the others claimed to visit such sites sporadically, if at all. Their primary reasons for visiting such sites were to view or review episodes, or to seek information about whether or not the show had been canceled. No one specifically reported that they seek additional information about storylines and characters. However, judging by the level of enthusiasm for the content presented in the example sites, that may be because little additional narrative information currently exists. Indeed, respondents showed an especially high level of interest in The Dillon Chronicle – the most content-heavy site – reporting that "it provided additional detail and content beyond the show."

The success of The Dillon Chronicle is instructive in two ways. First, the more tightly focused sites – particularly the MySpace profile – drew less positive comments. With the exception of The Dillon Chronicle, each website focuses on a specific storyline. Respondents were primarily attracted to the one website that related to the show at large. In addition, of all four sites in the model, the Chronicle offers the lowest level of interaction. On the whole, respondents were more interested in learning additional narrative information than they were in interacting with the narrative.

Of course, this test of the model is somewhat limited. The analysis is primarily hampered by the small sample size. Though links to the sites were posted on active fan communities, the websites drew only 148 unique visits in a one-month period (June 25 through August 5). Of the approximately twenty fans contacted, twelve completed questionnaires. This small audience for the websites can be partly attributed to the fact that Friday Night Lights online communities, though active, have been seen a noticeable drop in traffic during the show's hiatus. Reaching fans, therefore, is not an easy task -- one that reinforces the need for well-designed migratory cues embedded in the show itself.

One other large barrier to an effective analysis is the fact that the websites were created by someone with no official ties to the show. It is unclear whether or not this was obvious to respondents. However, when asked if official licensing and branding of the sites by NBC would make them more or less likely to visit them, respondents offered mixed opinions. One said that official licensing meant "I'd know the information in them would be correct" (emphasis mine). Another said that if the sites were created and maintained solely by fans, they would offer "false information and a lack of 'official' news." Even those respondents who said they would be more likely to visit the sites if they were fan-created expressed a desire for more official story information: "spoilers and speculation."

Kiedra Chaney and Raizel Liebler delineate between canon and "fanon," defining the former as "a body of work that establishes its own internal storylines and/or character history, deemed to be 'official' by either the creator or publisher" and noting that fanon, or creative work by unaffiliated fans of the original text, "is seen by many fans as less valuable than canon" (3-4). The respondents desire for "true" information – facts about the story world blessed by the story's creator – suggests that the websites might draw more attention if they were positioned as part of an official Friday Night Lights transmedia narrative.