It’s Showtime!: Audience Reception of Advocacies Presented through Production Numbers in ABS-CBN’s Variety Program Showtime

It’s Showtime!: Audience Reception of Advocacies Presented through Production Numbers in ABS-CBN’s Variety Program Showtime

ABSTRACT

Cariño, A.F. (2011). It’s Showtime!: Audience Reception of Advocacies Presented through Production Numbers in ABS-CBN’s Variety Program Showtime. Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication.

This study focused on the audience’s reception of advocacies presented in production numbers in the television variety program Showtime. The research framework was an integration of the Communication Accommodation Theory, the Elaboration Likelihood Model, and the Medium Theory. Utilizing a quantitative-qualitative research approach, the researcher employed textual analysis on three production numbers with embedded advocacies, conducted surveys on 200 Filipino Showtime viewers, and facilitated focus interviews with six of the 200 survey respondents. The researcher determined the variables of production elements used to present an advocacy, audience exposure to Showtime, level of knowledge toward Showtime, and audience reception of advocacies presented in production numbers in Showtime. The study found out that Filipino Showtime viewers were highly exposed and knowledgeable about Showtime and advocacy-embedded production numbers within the television program. Production numbers in Showtime made use of different production elements (visual and aural) to accommodate advocacy messages within performances. The presence of these production elements affected how the audience reacted to the advocacies. Ultimately, the study revealed that the Filipino Showtime viewers have a momentary positive reception toward advocacies embedded in Showtime production numbers.