Social television: the apparent empowerment of the viewer

This research work deals with the rise of social television and the upheaval it has caused in the power relations between the television medium and its audience. By creating digital devices, each more creative than the last, and spaces exclusively intended for communities of fans, television channels have demonstrated that with the rise of social television, they have indeed put themselves at the service of viewers. However, as the social audience cannot be accurately measured, it cannot, for the moment, represent a major source of revenue for television channels. In fact, they would have created all these devices and community spaces with the aim of asking their fans to build part of their marketing strategy, thus ensuring the success of their communication campaign. The empowerment of the viewer is therefore for the moment only an appearance, intended by the channels, so that they are free to use their fans in the construction of ever more effective marketing strategies.