Introduction

The growth in the number of channels, media technologies and electronic devices in the post-analogue era has had an impact on the increasing unpredictability of television reception (^{Wilson, 2011}). Second screens provide viewers an “augmented televisual experience” (^{Sandvikc & Laursen, 2013}) and encourage the execution of numerous “performative functions” destined to perpetuate narrative consistency, coherence and authenticity (^{Atkinson, 2014}). However, despite abundant literature on various aspects of reception such as transmedia processes and fandom, little is known about important issues such as the adoption of new technologies by users. Recent studies lament the fact that a good part of the debate on television and its future focuses on industrial and technological changes “without empirically substantiating the actual adoption of the new possibilities these entail for audiences” (^{Dhoest & Simon, 2016, p. 177}).

The referenced literature highlights that in Spain and in other countries traditional reception and face-to-face conversations elicited by the programmes coexist alongside a growing use of second screens. Reception tends to be complemented by Internet-based resources, while interactions through online chats and social networks are amplified. Studies on multiscreen reception and audience feedback reveal different forms of participation that can help guide us in our understanding of the digital audience.³

^{Fernández-Planells and Figueras Maz (2012)} identify two complementary trends in adolescents and young people: Internet-based reception, which allows them to become part of a community of users, and conventional reception, which allows them to experience a passive pastime. However, despite the large number of social communities related to television programmes, interactions among participants tend to be low (^{Lin, Sung & Chen, 2016}), especially with regards to the “different or alternative uses related to practices that are creative, new or qualitatively distinct from conventional television” (^{Cáceres, Ruiz San Román & Brändle, 2011, p. 32}).

^{Fazeen, Dantu and Guturu (2011)} divide Twitter users into leaders, lurkers, disseminators and close associates, a classification similar to that proposed by ^{Brandtzæg (2012)}, who classifies them as sporadic, lurkers, socializers, debaters and advanced. Lurkers make up most of the members of the community and although silent most of the time, are by no means passive (^{Sun, Rau & Ma, 2014}). Among other positive aspects, lurking enables new members to familiarise themselves with the group’s netiquette before joining the community (^{Javarone, Interdonato & Tafarelli, 2016}). It is, therefore, a form of participation that is compatible with the aim of maintaining and reinforcing existing relationships between a large section of users (^{Haythornwaite, 2001}; ^{Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2007}; ^{Boyd & Ellison, 2007}), which demonstrates the complementarity between ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) and face-to-face communication (^{Bailliencourt, Beauvisage, Granjon & Smoreda, 2011}).

This article presents an investigation on the reception of Spanish television fiction that combines an analysis of offline reception (focus groups and questionnaires) with an analysis of comments on social networks and forums dedicated to the programmes. It is based on the need to integrate the analysis of spontaneous online feedback with an analysis of multiscreen consumption in order to be able to better understand the behaviour of viewers, their interaction with the programmes and the nature of socialisation processes arising as a result of reception. The importance of television for female viewers (^{Buonanno, 2014}; ^{Howard-Williams & Katz, 2013})⁴ and their greater activity on pages dedicated to television fiction compared to men (^{Lacalle, 2013}) has therefore led us to focus on women. This study aims to answer the following questions:

Convergence, multitasking and media migration

The analysis of the reasons for viewers to post messages is a recurrent theme in all analyses of multitasking and media migration. ^{Deller (2011)} highlights that some spectators intersperse their online conversation with comments about their daily routines and personal circumstances, and use Twitter to encourage other users to watch the programme. ^{Giglietto and Selva (2014)} confirm the use of Twitter to express viewers’ personal opinions about the programme ahead of self-reflexive, informative or emotional comments; similar results were obtained by ^{Lacalle (2013)} in the Spanish context. Research has shown that most of the messages are directed at a non-specific, imaginary audience (^{Marwick & boyd, 2010}). However, the exchange of comments and interaction creates a pseudo-experience of “group viewing” (^{Wohn & Na, 2011}). Thus, although viewers do not communicate directly with each other during broadcast, the use of hashtags and the practice of retweeting suggest that at least a section of the audience wants to be part of a wider community.

A large number of recent analyses have attempted to understand the relationships between television genres and viewers based on the theory of uses and gratifications (^{Barton, 2013}; ^{Brown, Jiang & Leung, 2012}; ^{Lee & Taylor, 2014}; Lauricella, Douai & Zaidi, 2012; ^{Papacharissi & Mendelson, 2007}; ^{Rubin, Haridakis & Eyal, 2003}). A number of authors relate reception with the characteristics of the viewers (^{Aubrey et al., 2012}), while others reflect on the use of second screens and social media (^{Giglietto & Selva, 2014}; ^{Raacke & Bonds-Raacke, 2008}; ^{Park, Kee & Valenzuela, 2009}; ^{Wohn & Na, 2011}) or study the characteristics and motivations of multitasking (^{Hwang, Kim & Jeong, 2014}) or media migration (^{Shade, Kornfield & Oliver, 2015}).

In Spain, interest in the processes of reception of digital natives has led to a notable increase in the literature on television consumption. Thus, over the last decade studies on audience behaviour, in particular that of young viewers, has focused on investigating preferences and motivations, the most common devices and reception habits.

The studies on preferences and motivations demonstrate that viewers perceive television reception as an entertaining form of leisure (^{Flores Ruiz & Humanes Humanes, 2014}; ^{Iglesias García & González Díaz, 2012}; ^{López Vidales, González Aldea & Medina de la Viña, 2011}) that allows them to escape their daily worries (^{Berné Manero, García-Uceda & Orive Serrano, 2011}; ^{Lacalle, 2013} and ²⁰¹⁵).

Despite the growth in second screens, the television set is still the preferred medium (^{Berné Manero, García-Uceda & Orive Serrano, 2011}), which is a generalised trend both in older and younger audiences (^{Cáceres et al., 2011}; ^{Flores Ruiz & Humanes Humanes, 2014}; ^{González Aldea & López Vidales, 2011}; ^{López-Vidales & Gómez Rubio, 2014}). Therefore, eating habits and surfing the Internet figure among the main activities carried out while watching television fiction (^{Berné Manero, García-Uceda & Orive Serrano, 2011}), along with activity in forums and online chats, messaging, social networks or other activities conducted on second screens (^{Flores Ruiz & Humanes Humanes, 2014}). Viewing through mobile phones, however, has yet to become widespread in Spain (^{González Aldea & López Vidales, 2011}) and television apps are used preferably to interact with the programme being watched on the television set (^{Ortega, González Ispierto & Pérez Peláez, 2015}).

Finally, the incidence of individual television consumption (^{Berné Manero, García-Uceda & Orive Serrano, 2011}) or “unit consumption” is reaffirmed (^{Marta-Lazo & Gabelas-Barroso, 2013}), although young viewers prefer watching in company as long as it is compatible with their preferences (^{López-Vidales & Gómez Rubio, 2014}). The home is, therefore, still perceived to be the usual place for television reception (^{López Vidales et al., 2011}) and conversations about programmes are another of the favourite activities carried out during reception by both adults (^{Medrano, Airbe & Palacios, 2010}) and young viewers (^{Bringué & Sádaba, 2009}; ^{Lacalle, 2015}).

Methods

An increasing number of studies aim to respond to the need to integrate investigations into both offline and online reception (^{Livingstone, 2004}) through a combination of reception analysis methods (focus groups, interviews, questionnaires, etc.) and virtual ethnography (^{Dirksen, Huizing & Smit, 2010}; ^{Hine, 2015}) aimed at transcending the division between quantitative and qualitative perspectives (^{Mathieu et al., 2016}). With this in mind, the methodology used in this study combines group discussions and questionnaires with the analysis of feedback in social networks and forums dedicated to Spanish television fiction.

Results

Discussion

Despite the steady increase in the consumption of fiction through the Internet, this study reveals that the television set continues to be the female interviewees’ preferred device, although there is a trend towards the simultaneous use of second screens, in particular the mobile phone. It reveals, therefore, the complementarity between devices, which increases the watching of television fiction as a result of the greater ubiquity of reception and the possibility of interacting with a large number of users in order to comment on the programmes.

Faced with the optimism of some academics (^{Jenkins, 2006}; ^{Jenkins & Deuze, 2008}), the results of the offline analysis reveal that transmedia extensions of fiction to the Internet are minor compared to the programme itself (^{Evans, 2008}). Thus, the activity of the female interviewees focuses on the search for information, while all those actions that imply production and creation by the audience itself are still in the minority. In the same vein, the contrast between the extensive number of analysed comments aimed at an “unspecified imaginary audience” (^{Marwick & boyd, 2010}) and the low percentage of messages that form part of a conversation suggest that the activities on social media networks point more to viewers disseminating their information about the programme than connecting with the rest of the audience, a finding that is corroborated by other researchers (^{Lin, Sung & Chen, 2016}) who question the socialising potential of Web 2.0, at least in the field of transmedia relations between television and the Internet. On the other hand, although a small number of comments directed a promoting an action (principally mobilisation to prevent the cancellation of a programme) were identified, these types of demands do not represent the politicised, activist character of cult fandom (^{Lopez, 2011}).

Complementary to the virtual interactions, the offline analysis demonstrates that face-to-face debate continues to be a very common practice. Despite the increasingly individual consumption of television fiction in Spain, this study shows that most of the female interviewees discuss programmes with others, although with notable age-determined differences. Therefore, although it is certain that individual consumption is accentuated from the age of 22 onwards, television consumption by preadolescents and adolescents occurs mainly along with the rest of the family (^{López-Vidales & Gómez Rubio, 2014}), which favours discussion not only as a migratory or post-episode activity but also during reception and highlights that family reception cannot be classified in any way as obsolete.

In short, it seems that “we are witnessing an increasingly individual, and at the same time social, consumption of television” (^{González Neira & Quintas Froufe, 2014, p. 106}). On the one hand, the increase in second screens and the trend towards increasingly individual consumption has reduced the conversation that arises from shared reception, although it has led to an increase in virtual contact. At the same time, the broadcast of most Spanish-produced fiction at prime time fosters family reception. In this regard, the potential that ^{Bandura (1986, p. 55)} attributes to the television set could be extrapolated to multiscreen reception, since it allows users “to transcend the bounds of their immediate social life”.

Conclusions

The analysis carried out here reveals aspects of media reception both in terms of technological objects and symbolic messages, as pointed out by ^{Livingstone (2004)} in reference to ^{Silverstone (1994)}. Hence the dual aspect of today’s television viewer: consumer-spectator and/or producer-consumer (prosumer). This study highlights the integration between the television set, which is still the preferred device for watching Spanish television fiction, and more modern devices (Q.1) and reveals the increasing specialisation of television consumption in terms of the medium (Q.2). Similarly, it provides evidence of the integrating role of knowledge (in this case on Spanish television fiction) associated with multiscreen reception, since a large part of the activity registered on devices connected to the Internet involves searching for complementary information.

In general terms, the results support the role of second screens in socialisation processes (Q.3), evidenced in the numerous references to the superficial intimacy and generalised cordiality of the interactions. Nevertheless, there are a number of reservations regarding the low level of active reception in the consolidation of a feeling of community, raised in the fourth question, probably due to the large number of lurkers and the assimilation of the computer by some users with passive entertainment, as occurs with television (^{Ling & Thrane, 2002}). Nor are there any relevant indications that point to the construction/claim of a female identity (Q.5) beyond the frequent specification of gender.

The combination of methods used has enabled us to confirm the consistency between the responses to the questionnaire and the expressions of the participants in the discussion groups, on the one hand, and the content of the comments analysed on the other. Moreover, the offline analysis has provided us with an appropriate context to explore the interventions on webpages dedicated to the programmes. It is, therefore, an innovative approach, in that it does not focus on cult fans (cult fandom), whose limitations could represent the starting point for future developments. Firstly, a greater number of studies, in the terms proposed, would be required in order to understand both the use of new technologies by the audience and their impact on the processes of socialisation and social identity construction, magnified perhaps by optimism that characterises much of the research on Web 2.0. Secondly, the inability to determine the age of the authors of spontaneous comments would require the incorporation of techniques such as online questionnaires or the intervention of researchers in the forums dedicated to the programmes. Nevertheless, faced with the anonymity provided by the Internet and the illusion of spontaneity generated by the interventions, we should not lose sight of the fact that, faced with the empirical subject of offline reception -constructed as a spectator by the analyst-, the imagined subject of online reception is, above all, a cultural object that is the product of a much more radical self-representation.