This visualization was designed to reflect the scale of audience impact across the Localore initiative, which comprises unique multimedia productions mounted by talent at 10 different stations. (Click on the image to see a larger version.)
From the start, various forms of media created for each project were designed to be part of an integrated whole. Each local initiative in turn fed into the national cross-platform production. By contrast, most public media are produced discretely for one platform and later migrate to another. For example, a radio feature is posted on a website, film segments are distributed via YouTube and a radio program is streamed through a mobile app.
Throughout the project, we worked to document and provide “apples to apples” comparisons of reach, engagement and user contribution across platforms, at least as close as we could make them. We turned to leading researchers Scott Williams, Craig Oliver and David Giovannoni who helped vet our formulas, analysis and presentation throughout.
At a time when the proliferation of media platforms provides little conformity for assessing the impact of mixed distribution and participatory production, we strove to provide a holistic perspective — the “full spectrum” — of how multiple platforms can work as an integrated whole.
It’s important to note that the 28.2 million total impressions do not represent unique visitors. Instead they represent discrete “touches,” moments when users encountered or interacted with the production.
We were not able to capture crossover of audiences across different platforms. It’s safe to assume that some percentage of those engaged in Localore experienced it on more than one occasion and, perhaps, on more than one platform.