Emotion: The Commander of the Remote Control? A psychophysiological approach to predict decline in TV ratings

Abstract

Emotional arousal has long been thought vital for maintaining viewers in long-form serial fictions, but the dynamic nature of audience emotional arousal has made it difficult to examine and relate to viewer ratings and channel hopping. This study provides a method for comparing moments of affect with TV ratings during exposure and explores the role of arousal for TV ratings by analyzing the Danish public service fiction series Bankerot (Bankrupt) (2014-2015). The method applied is an innovative mixed-method strategy, combining self-reports, TV ratings and psychophysiological measurements, SCL (Skin Conductance Level). Results indicate a correlation between periods of low emotional arousal and fall in TV ratings, suggesting that viewer engagement is decreased without the presence of emotional peaks, which may cause some viewers to change TV channel. This study was able to find only two considerable declines in ratings, and while this provides limited empirical evidence, it indicates that arousal is likely to play a larger role in maintaining viewer engagement than previously assumed within television studies.

Keywords

• arousal
• psychophysiological measures
• skin conductance
• television
• viewer ratings