TV channels in a period of turbulence: content strategies in social media

Abstract

The results of the examination of six Russian TV channels (Channel One, Rossiya 1, NTV, STS, TNT, Friday!) are presented, the peculiarities of their work with social media VKontakte and Odnoklassniki are revealed. An attempt was made to identify the changed digital content strategies of TV channels in turbulent conditions. The effectiveness of TV accounts in social media during four weeks of 2022 and 2023 has been studied. The following parameters were analysed: number of posts, user comments, views and likes. Based on audience and channel activity, the Engagement Rate of users in the published content was determined. The most popular publications among the audience were identified, their formats and thematic focus were reviewed. The return of interest to the Odnoklassniki resource was noted. The tendency of the past years when TV channels duplicated content in their accounts of various social networks was also recorded. During the period of changes in the media landscape and social turbulence, the audience demand for news agenda, on the one hand, and entertainment, or rather “distracting” content, on the other hand, was noted.

Keywords

• tv
• entertainment content
• engagement rate
• user activity
• media consumption
• media landscape