Evolution of Spanish Transmedia Teen Series: The Case of RTVE’s
PlayZ
Evolución de las series juveniles transmedia en España: el caso de PlayZ de
RTVE
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nº 42, pp. 307-338
| 307
January-June of 2026
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
How to cite this article:
Valenzuela-Monreal, S.; Lozano Delmar, J. and Araque-Padilla, R. A. (2026). Evolution of Spanish Transmedia Teen Series: e Case of
RTVE’s PlayZ.
Doxa Comunicación
, 42, pp. 307-338.
https://doi.org/10.31921/doxacom.n42a2752
Sara Valenzuela-Monreal.
She is a research assistant in the Department of Communication and Education at the
Universidad Loyola Andalucía, where she has taught Audiovisual Language and Script in the degrees of Audiovisual
Communication and Performing and Cinematographic Arts. She is the beneciary of a University Teacher Training
Contract (FPU). She is a doctoral student in the Inclusive and Sustainable Development Program of the same university.
She is part of the
Marketing for Society
and
LIGAINCOM research groups. Research League in Communication and
Culture. Gender (S), Narrative, Ideology and Visual Studies
(SEJ694). Moreover, she has a master’s degree in lm and
television at the Carlos III University of Madrid and a degree in Communication (with a major in Communication Media)
from the Loyola Andalusia University. In her research, she tries to connect areas related to inclusive and sustainable
development with communication, especially in relation to audiovisual narrative and teen series.
Loyola University Andalusia, Spain
[email protected]
ORCID:0000-0003-0282-8699
Javier Lozano Delmar.
Holds a PhD in Communication from the University of Seville and is an Associate Professor at
Loyola Andalucía University. He teaches courses such as Audiovisual Narrative and Aesthetics and Communication
Technology in the Faculty of Communication and Arts. His research activity focuses on the eld of audiovisual
narrative, with a particular emphasis on the study of television series, active audiences, fandom, transmedia
storytelling in lm and television, and media literacy. He has participated in several European projects focusing on
disinformation and education. Javier is a member of the research group Liga de Investigación en Comunicación y
Cultura: Género(s), Narrativa, Ideología y Estudios Visuales, where he contributes to societal outreach activities and
colloquia on television series.
Loyola University Andalusia, Spain
[email protected]
ORCID:0000-0002-0974-1118
is content is published under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License. International License CC BY-NC 4.0
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Evolution of Spanish Transmedia Teen Series: The Case of RTVE’s PlayZ
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
doxa.comunicación
Rafael A. Araque-Padilla.
He is a Professor of Marketing at the Universidad Loyola Andalucía and holds a PhD from
the University of Córdoba and a master’s degree in marketing and commercial management from ESIC. He is part of
the
Marketing for Society
research group at Loyola Andalucía University and has been the coordinator of the Doctoral
Program in Inclusive and Sustainable Development at this university for seven years. His research focuses on areas such
as macromarketing, social marketing, critical marketing or responsible and transformative consumption. His research
covers topics such as food marketing systems and their impact on the quality of life in the diets of children, impoverished
countries or the environment; social marketing at the Education for Development service; and the inclusion of vulnerable
consumers through marketing systems and their catalytic agents, working with refugees, marginalized neighbourhoods
or impoverished countries. He has published his work in journals such as the
Journal of Consumer Aairs
, International
Review on Public and Nonprot Marketing
,
International Journal of Nonprot and Voluntary Sector Marketing
,
Safety
Science
,
Nutrients
,
Health Communication
,
Environmental Management
,
and Applied Soft Computing
. Additionally, he
participates in development cooperation projects nanced by various public institutions.
Loyola University Andalusia, Spain
[email protected]
ORCID:0000-0002-3729-9240
Recibido: 26/07/2024 - Aceptado: 24/10/2024 - En edición: 29/11/2024 - Publicado: 01/01/2026
Resumen:
En los últimos años se está produciendo un cambio en las formas de consu
-
mo de las series debido, especialmente, a una audiencia joven que dedica
gran parte de su tiempo al uso de las redes sociales y al visionado de con
-
tenidos audiovisuales, pero que no se siente representada en los productos
tradicionales. En este contexto, la televisión pública española (RTVE) ha
manifestado un fuerte compromiso con los más jóvenes, así como su interés
por buscar en las narrativas digitales la solución para atraer a este segmen
-
to. Este artículo nace con el objetivo de estudiar la estrategia transmedia de
las series de PlayZ –canal digital de contenido joven de RTVE– para ana
-
lizar si la televisión pública está respondiendo a la adaptación en formato
y contenido que demanda esta audiencia. Entre los principales resultados
del estudio cabe destacar la idoneidad de los medios y formatos empleados
por la plataforma, así como de la integración de inuencers en el equipo
artístico. Sin embargo, PlayZ, no ha apostado por acciones que fomenten
el contenido generado por el usuario. Además, se puede apreciar una evo
-
lución en la plataforma, donde se ha priorizado su vocación de servicio
público en sus series y su estrategia transmedia.
Palabras clave:
Series de televisión; transmedia; jóvenes; televisión pública; narrativas
digitales.
Received: 26/07/2024 - Accepted: 24/10/2024 - Early access: 29/11/2024 - Published: 01/01/2026
Abstract:
In recent years, the ways in which series are consumed have
changed, mainly because young audiences dedicate a large part
of their time to the use of social networks and to the viewing of
audiovisual content but do not feel represented in traditional
products. In this context, Spanish public television (RTVE) has
shown a strong commitment to young people and an interest in
seeking solutions to attract this segment in digital narratives. is
article aims to examine the transmedia strategy of the PlayZ series
–RTVE’s digital channel of young content– to determine whether
public television responds to adaptations in the format and content
that this audience demands. e main results of the study include
the suitability of the media and formats used by the platform, as
well as the integration of inuencers in the artistic team. However,
PlayZ has not opted for actions that promote user-generated
content. Additionally, the platform has evolved, as its vocation of
public service has been prioritized in its series and its transmedia
strategy.
Keywords:
TV series; young people; transmedia narratives; public television;
digital narratives.
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1. Introduction
1.1. Digital audiovisual entertainment and young people
One of the great beneciaries of the change in consumer behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic was OTT (
over-the-top
)
services (PwC, 2023). In fact, in Spain, the consumption of audiovisual content is one of the ways in which Spaniards most
often engage with digital technologies (Fundación Telefónica, 2023). Relatedly, the consumption of digital content through
platforms has risen to the detriment of traditional linear television consumption. In fact, traditional television consumption
has decreased among all age groups, especially among young people (11% compared with 2022) and adults aged 25 to 44 years
(12% compared with 2022) (Barlovento Comunicación, 2023). At the same time, 73.4% of internet users in Spain use connected
televisions to consume online content (Fundación Telefónica, 2023).
is is especially interesting for young Spaniards, for whom watching television or series on platforms is the second most
popular leisure activity (INJUVE, 2021). In fact, 56.4% of young people between 15 and 19 years old are subscribed to an
audiovisual content platform, a percentage that corresponded to 52% in 2019 (Ministry of Culture, 2019; 2022), and 89.6% view
online multimedia content, a gure higher than those of the other age groups (Fundación Telefónica, 2023). Digital leisure
platforms “have become identitary references for youth” (INJUVE, 2021: 165).
In this context, networks and platforms are trying to adapt to young audiences (Azurmendi, 2018); these eorts include
teen series, which have experienced a boom in Spain in recent years (Gil-Quintana and Gil -Tevar, 2020). ese series are
characterized by the fact that they tell the story of an adolescent or a group of adolescents during their high school years
and have a strong dramatic cut that, in recent years, is being hybridized to other genres (Masanet and Fedele, 2019). Another
relevant feature of teen series is their transmedia nature (Schanke, 2019), which allows “the development of characters in an
alternative way” and the immersion of the public in the story, using transmedia as a “connector between the stories and their
dissemination on the young audiences […] e way of telling stories changes and is conditioned to the present” (Mateos-Pérez,
2021: 154).
Relatedly, several authors have been rethinking the concept of “television” to very dierent screens and formats (Bengtsson et
al., 2018; Schanke, 2019). Time, space and broadcasters no longer make up the television experience (Vázquez-Herrero et al.,
2019), reaching a “liquid television” (Quintas-Froufe and González-Neira, 2016). Mateos-Pérez (2021), in his studies on
SKAM
Spain
(Movistar +, 2018-2020) and
Merlí
(TV3, 2015-2018), concluded that transmedia stories help “to develop characters in
an alternative way and allow the public a more immersive deep in history […] In these new proposals, the transmedia form
is used as a connector between the stories and their diusion on young audiences […] e way of telling stories changes and
is conditioned to the present”(p.154). Furthermore, Lacalle et al. (2024) highlighted as an example of interactivity in Spain
the teen series
UPA Next
(Atresmedia, 2022-), in which users could access the social proles of the protagonists, as well as
a virtual Academy in the metaverse and the website of the dance school where the series takes place. In this sense, the rst
series created by Instagram Spain –
Close Friends Forever
(Instagram, 2024)– stands out, as it stars the content creator Iker Unzu
(Meta, 2024). However, this work examines these transmedia teen series in the context of public television, as we will discuss
in detail later.
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1.2. Series and transmedia
As Scolari (2019) noted, the introduction, development and expansion of the concept of transmedia (Kinder, 1991; Jenkins,
2006; Scolari, 2013), from the early 1990s to the present, has had its own life cycle. e concept of transmedia narratives was
used to label and name the convergence of media (Jenkins, 2006), and it quickly became a “magic word” with a great impact
in the academic and professional sphere (Scolari, 2019: 71). Jenkins (2003), in his well-known
MIT Technology Review article
,
“christened” the term as follows:
In the ideal form of transmedia storytelling, each medium does what it does best so that a story might be introduced in a lm,
expanded through television, novels, and comics, and its world might be explored and experienced through game play. Each
franchise entry needs to be self-contained enough to enable autonomous consumption (Jenkins, 2003).
Later, the author reected on participation (Jenkins, 2006) and expanded his concept by indicating that transmedia should
be a “
unied and coordinated entertainment experience
” (Jenkins, 2009) referring, among other issues, to the multiplicity of
stories thanks to fans. e following clarication can be obtained from a current edition of a narrative dictionary:
ere are various interpretations of both the origin and the meaning of the term transmedia […] e main characteristic of transmedia
in the eld of communication is dissemination through various media […] e transmedia practice emphasizes the activity of users
and their involvement in the narratives through the media (Vílches, 2021: 730-731).
In a study of the historical journey of the term, Establés and Grijalba de la Calle indicated that transmediality is currently
related mainly to “the breakdown of linearity, with the segmentation of audiences and interaction” (2022: 18).
A clear example of this is the case of the Norwegian teen series
SKAM
(NRK, 2015-2017)
(Bengtsson et al., 2018; Schanke, 2019).
is ction was distributed (in a complementary way) on its website, on Instagram, and on the country’s public television,
NRK, and became a global phenomenon (Schanke, 2019). Additionally, in
SKAM
, Instagram messages, SMS conversations
and YouTube clips were also considered parts of the series that included fragments of the story that could be consumed only
in those formats (Bengtsson et al., 2018). Bengtsson et al. (2018) employed dierent
focus groups
in Norway to evaluate the
success of a series that was able to reward the audience when adolescents invested time and eort in sharing, discussing
and decoding the texts of dierent platforms (Schanke, 2019). e participants highlighted the sensation of reality that was
appreciated by being able to see the series in real time, as well as the exibility and ability to control the viewing oered by
digital platforms and the short duration of the content, fostering discussion in the community and the community. motivation
to update platforms (Bengtsson et al., 2018).
In Spain, numerous studies have analysed transmedia series (Costa and Piñero, 2012; Cascajosa, 2016; Hidalgo-Marí and
Segarra-Saavedra, 2020; Villén and Ruiz del Olmo, 2020), the relationship between transmedia and the viewer, as well as the
active participation of the audience (Torregrosa-Carmona and Rodríguez-Gómez, 2017; Miranda and Figuero, 2016; Rubio
Jordán, 2021), and even the proposal of methodologies and models to analyse the transmedia strategy of television series
(Guerrero-Pico, 2014; Formoso, 2015). To analyse the relationship between transmedia and viewer engagement, we have
worked with methods based on questionnaires or
focus groups
for series followers (Torregrosa-Carmona and Rodríguez-
Gómez, 2017) or in the analysis of user-generated content (UGC), which allows us to explain the role of the
fan
in a transmedia
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series (Miranda and Figuero, 2016). Other investigations have focused on analysing or categorizing the dierent strategies
used to expand the universe of the series (Tur-Viñes and Rodríguez Ferrándiz, 2014; Formoso, 2015; García-Vega and de la
Fuente, 2022).
In Spain, the protagonists of teen series increasingly have proles on social networks that provide the content of any adolescent
of this age (García-Muñoz and Fedele, 2011) and that promote debates and the participatory culture of this segment of the
population (Gil-Quintana and Gil-Tévar, 2020). ese proles have become a new space for investigating the audiovisual
representations of youth (Villén and Ruiz del Olmo, 2020). In fact, “86% of internet users from 12 to 74 years old use social
networks” (IAB, 2024:75). However, the users who spend the most time online are young people from 12 to 34 years old (IAB,
2023). WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube are the most commonly used social networks in Spain, and Telegram,
TikTok , LinkedIn, Instagram and Pinterest are the social networks have continued to grow in 2023 vs. 2022, with TikTok being
the one that has grown the most rapidly (IAB, 2023). Additionally, YouTube is no longer the platform in which the highest
volume of views is consumed, since TikTok has surpassed it, with a growth of 250% between 2020 and 2021 (IAB, 2022);
moreover, 82.4% of young Spaniards are also content creators, especially on Instagram (68.2%) and TikTok (35.5%) (Centro
Reina Sofía and FAD, 2022).
Undoubtedly, these trends highlight signicant changes in the audiovisual consumption of young people. is, added to the
increase in the use of social networks and the perception of this segment of the population that television series adapted to
their habits are not created, has contributed to the fact that Radio Televisión Española (RTVE), as a public service channel, has
proposed the creation of content adapted for and aimed at young audiences.
1.3. Transmedia and public television: RTVE and its commitment to young people through PlayZ
In recent years, national public television has opted to develop transmedia strategies for its television series, which have been
analysed by several authors (Ivars-Nicolás and Zaragoza-Fuster, 2018). In fact, Águila Roja (RTVE, 2009-2016) was one of the
rst Spanish series for which the story was expanded to multiple platforms, and the subject has already been addressed from
an academic perspective (Costa and Piñero, 2012; Guerrero-Pico, 2014). On the other hand, the historical ction
El Ministerio
del Tiempo
has been examined in various studies (Rodríguez-Mateos and Hernández-Pérez, 2015; Cascajosa, 2016; Miranda
and Figuero, 2016; Scolari and Establés, 2017; Torregrosa-Carmona and Rodríguez -Gómez, 2017; Miranda-Galbe et al.,
2021). e series can be classied as a success if it is measured as a product “oriented to the new model of social television”
(Cascajosa, 2016: 63). To examine the relationships of users with their social networks, especially with Twitter, Rodríguez-
Mateos and Hernández-Pérez (2015) analysed their transmedia through the data of the
tweets
that included the most popular
hashtags
during the broadcasts of the episodes. e work of Azurmendi (2018) is also relevant because they took the series
(along with other transmedia products of European public TV in France, Germany and the United Kingdom) as an example of
the work that public televisions are doing to reconnect with their young audiences through the transmedia. According to this
author, transmedia narratives are best received by audiences through entertainment (Azurmendi, 2018). Another case that
merits study is the EiTB series
Go! Azen
(EiTB, 2009-), with works that, through case methodology and interviews, analyse the
impact of its mobile app (Larrondo-Ureta et al., 2020) and others that, from an educommunicative perspective, dene it as a
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pedagogical resource for the young population due to the visibility of their values and diversity in their plots (Junguitu-Angulo
and Osuna-Acedo, 2023).
Like this work, many of these investigations have the common denominator of young people and their consumption. e work
on
Go! Azen
concluded that one of the main challenges in the eld of the media in its role as a public service is that of “adapting
the mentality about television in relation to young people and about the associated processes of audience measurement,
consumption and investment in programs and products”. (Larrondo-Ureta et al., 2020: 2020:1452).
If we focus on RTVE, Law 17/2006, in Article 25, states that the Corporation must pay special attention to children and youth
(BOE, 2006, Art. 25). However, in 2023, Mediaset, Atresmedia and YouTube ranked above RTVE in “aggregate audiovisual
share”, which allows us to compare traditional television channels with platforms (Barlovento, 2023). us, while YouTube had
an aggregate audiovisual share of 11.7% and 37.8% among young people aged 18 to 24, that of RTVE was 11.2% (Barlovento,
2023). In fact, young people between the ages of 16 and 24 are the segment of the population that perceives the least variety in
RTVE’s content and those that consume the least of its channels, with 30.8% of regular viewers compared with 73.5% of viewers
common in people aged 65 or over (CMNC, 2023). is has been a challenge for RTVE, which has been forced to learn about
and adapt to the consumption behaviours of young people, which dier greatly from those of the rest of its audience (Segarra-
Saavedra, 2018). us, one of the main objectives of Spanish public television is to generate native digital content focused on
young audiences through the PlayZ platform (RTVE Commission, 2020).
In addition to RTVE’s interest in attracting young audiences and the rise of transmedia, a third factor should be mentioned;
specically, public television was digitized in the early years of the 21st century as a bid to extend their content through
online strategies (Medina and Ojer, 2010). is was one of the reasons for Law 17/2006, of June 5, on state-owned radio and
television, which was “inevitable in a context of technological development” (BOE, 2006, Preamble). In 2008, when RTVE
began to innovate in its digital media in a competitive way, drawing inspiration from other public television networks such as
the BBC (Medina and Ojer, 2010). In this context, the
RTVE Lab
was born in 2011 as a media laboratory, that is, a project with
the function of researching, experimenting with and developing technological innovations with the aim of being up-to-date
with new ways of telling stories at the rhythm of the dierent media (Subires, 2019).
PlayZ was originally developed as a free platform and then was expanded through social networks, focused on an audience
of people between 13 and 24 years old; an individual in this age group watches little conventional television but is a “great
consumer of audiovisual content outside of traditional distribution channels” (González Saavedra, 2020: 8). However, the
audience of PlayZ is not clearly stated, and some content is consumed by people over 35 years old (Casado et al., 2023). In fact,
knowledge of the PlayZ platform is 25.6%, and although young people know about it more than adults aged 30 to 35 years old
do, this segment of the population consumes it more (Eguzkitza-Mestraitua et al., 2023a). Similarly, Eguzkitza-Mestraitua et
al. (2023a) reported that 24.4% of young people feel little reected in the contents of PlayZ, while 20.6% somewhat and 21.6%
highly reected (the remaining 33% N/A).
PlayZ provides a combination of programs developed by
inuencers
,
webdocs
, teen series with the language, format and
themes typically consumed by the youngest audience and the incorporation of
inuencers
in distributions (Segarra-Saavedra,
2018); thus, an exchange of the public between social networks and the platform is established (Rodríguez-Martelo and
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Maroto, 2022). e appearance of
inuencers
in the content of PlayZ generates interest and a feeling of belonging among young
people, causing this audience to feel attracted to the platform and want to interact through their social networks (Maroto
and Rodríguez-Martelo, 2019). In fact, after friends, family and acquaintances,
inuencers
have the social proles that social
network users follow the most: 53% follow someone, a gure that increases to 78% in young people between 12 and 17 years
old (IAB, 2022).
e series created by PlayZ tend to be carried out by young people, who frequently use their mobile phones, and address
themes typical of this age (Eguzkitza-Mestraitua et al., 2023a). Additionally, PlayZ series are broadcast on the platform but
follow a liquid distribution strategy, as the episodes can also be viewed in full on YouTube (García et al., 2021). However,
although Playz’s strategy is aimed at creating original youth content, on YouTube, it increasingly has less weight than original
ction does, and a greater balance with nonction is being established (García et al., 2021).
In short, the line that separates screens and content seems to be more blurred than ever (Hidalgo-Marí and Segarra-Saavedra,
2020), so characters have to explore the limits between reality and ction. A series is increasingly eeting in our conversations
and, even in our memory (Neira, 2020), and the need to keep an engaged and participative audience can nd a solution in
a transmedia strategy that generates characters with whom the viewer can be identied and that they are part of a story that
extends beyond traditional television (Villén and Ruiz del Olmo, 2020).
is study explores the transmedia strategies used in PlayZ’s teen ction series to determine whether public television
responds to adaptations in the format and content demanded by the youngest. From this, we derive the general objective of
the research GO (General Objective): to study how public television responds to changes in the consumption of young people
through its ction series.
Some studies have focused on isolated PlayZ series (Hidalgo-Marí and Segarra-Saavedra, 2020; Vázquez-Herrero, et al., 2019);
others have focused on the platform’s strategy beyond its ctional content (Eguzkitza-Mestraitua et al., 2023a; García et al.,
2021). However, few studies have investigated X-rays of ctional channel production since its inception (Eguzkitza-Mestraitua
et al., 2023b). us, with the idea of continuing to expand the study of this platform, the following specic objectives are
proposed:
SO1: Identify the characteristic features of the transmedia strategy of PlayZ’s teen series.
SO2: Detect and analyse the trends in the evolution of the transmedia content of the selected PlayZ teen series.
2. Methodology
To meet these objectives, we utilized a qualitative methodology, which was based on an analysis of the structure of transmedia
narratives, following the proposal of García and Heredero (2015). e common thread of this proposal is the narrative universe
of a series to identify the dierent elements that compose it (in the dierent media) and the relationship that is created between
them. In this model, dierent phases are established to analyse the structure of transmedia narratives. First, the macrohistory
(narrative base of transmedia) and its extensions must be identied and analysed, understood as the rest of the pieces that
are part of the universe of ction (Ivars-Nicolás and Zaragoza-Fuster, 2018). Afterwards, the entire transmedia universe is
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mapped, and a chronological line is dened with the ctional contents that follow the temporal space of the narrative diegesis
of the series.
García and Heredero (2015) propose the following elements to consider in the mapping of a transmedia universe: (1)
identication of the extension; (2) the medium in which it is disseminated; (3) the target audiences and role of those audiences,
detailed in Annex 1 according to the classication of Hernández and Grandío (2011) and Guerrero-Pico (2014); (4) the parts
into which each extension is divided; (5) the narrative elements that participate in the extension (intervening characters, space
and time); (6) the function of extension in history; and (7) the ocial content/user-generated content (UGC).
e model proposed by García and Heredero (2015) was modied in the following ways:
–
In this analysis, in addition to the diegetic contents, the nonctional contents of the series were incorporated, as has been
done in other transmedia analyses, such as
La Peste
(Hernández, 2019).
–
is means that although the chronology of the ctional elements is analysed, a temporal graph is not included since the
nondiegetic elements cannot be incorporated.
–
In addition to the medium, the format in which the expansion is carried out was included in the analysis, as already suggested
by other studies on transmedia (Ivars-Nicolás and Zaragoza-Fuster, 2018; Eguzkitza-Mestraitua et al., 2023b)
–
In the classication of audience roles (Annex 1), playful role/player was added (Guerrero-Pico, 2014).
–
e interactions in transmedia social proles are also indicated in the model. Hidalgo-Marí and Segarra-Saavedra (2020)
examined audiences and interactions in social proles by analysing the date, type of publication, content, number of views
generated, number of reactions, number of comments and number of times the content is shared. Moreover, the interactions
received in each of the social proles of the strategy are analysed on the basis of the following data: number of followers,
number of publications and average number of likes.
–
To analyse the functions of the extension of macrohistory (point 6 of the mapping), we worked on the classication of Ivars-Ni
-
colás and Zaragoza-Fuster (2018) from the
touchpoints
of Askwith (2007), which has already been used in other analyses of
ction transmedia (Pardo-Larrosa and Martínez-Cano, 2020; Eguzkitza-Mestraitua et al., 2023b). is classication is sum
-
marized in Annex 2.
e nal analysis template that will be followed in the study is presented below (Table 1).
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Table 1. Template used for the analysis of the transmedia series
References
EXTENSION IDENTIFICATIONExtension of the transmedia universe that is being analysed.García y Heredero (2015)
MEDIUM/SUPPORT and FORMAT
Determination of support or medium in which said content
is developed (social network, platform, support,
oine
action) and the format in which it is carried out.
García and Heredero (2015);
Ivars-Nicolás y Zaragoza-Fuster
(2018); Eguzkitza-Mestraitua et
al. (2023b)
INTERACTIONS RECEIVED
In the extensions in social proles:
- Number of followers.
- Number of publications.
- Average “likes” on Instagram.
Hidalgo-Marí y Segarra-
Saavedra (2020)
TARGET AUDIENCE AND ROLE
–
Observer role.
–
Diusing role.
–
Discursive role.
–
Creative role.
–
Playful role.
Developed in Annex 1.
PARTS INTO WHICH THE EXTENSION
IS DIVIDED
Ways in which the extension is divided (episodes, number
of social media proles).
García y Heredero (2015)
NARRATIVE ASPECTS
–
Characters
–
Space
–
Time.
García y Heredero (2015)
ROLE OF EXTENSION IN HISTORY
–
Expanded access.
–
Adapted content.
–
Expanded content.
–
Brand products.
–
Related activities.
–
Social interaction.
–
Interactivity.
Developed in Annex 2.
OFFICIAL CONTENT/UGC
Determination of whether the analysed content is
developed by the chain/platform or if it is UGC.
García y Heredero (2015)
Source: own elaboration based on the contributions of Guerrero-Pico (2014), García and Heredero (2015),
Ivars-Nicolás and Zaragoza-Fuster (2018) and Villén and Ruiz del Olmo (2020)
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In the gures presented in the results, the categories of the variables “user role”, “role in history” and “ocial content/UGC”
are detailed in the following legend:
Figure 1. Legends prepared for the maps of the transmedia strategies
Source: own elaboration on the basis of the contributions of Guerrero-Pico (2014), García and Heredero (2015)
and Ivars-Nicolás and Zaragoza-Fuster (2018)
To select the sample, we examined the production of the PlayZ ction series (categorized by the platform as “series de PlayZ”),
considering that other works have already focused monographically on series in isolation, with great attention to the rst series,
Si fueras tú
. For this reason, we decided to choose a sample that covered the PlayZ teen series released from the platform’s birth
(2017) to the year of the last release (2022), choosing one for each year of broadcast.
Because we wanted to analyse the progression in transmedia content aimed at young people, we established the following
inclusion criteria: (1) they were teen series; (2) they were original PlayZ series; and (3) they had a transmedia strategy.
e following series were selected (their plots are detailed in Annex 3):
–
Si fueras tú
(2017).
–
Bajo la red
(2018-2019).
–
Boca Norte
(2019).
–
Riders
(2021).
–
Ser o no ser
(2022-).
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
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3. Results
e main results obtained for each of the series analysed are presented below.
3.1. Si fueras tú (2017)
e macrohistory of
Si fueras tú
consists of 8 episodes. is series is characterized by the fact that the public’s decisions aected
this macrostory: after the broadcast of each episode, the audience could vote on which of two options Alba (the protagonist)
would choose.
To carry out this transmedia strategy, ve social networks, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and WhatsApp, as well
as the series’ own website, which functioned as a starting point for viewer participation, were used (Vázquez-Herrero et al.,
2019; Hidalgo-Marí and Segarra-Saavedra, 2020). Five days before the premiere, this platform published a video tutorial for
following the transmedia strategy.
us, every week, a new chapter was streamed on Facebook and on the PlayZ platform. After this, Alba published a video on
Facebook asking how to act when faced with a problem, and users voted through the use of emoticons. e response rate on
the prole was high, through votes, comments and shares, within a short time frame, especially since users only had 24 hours
to vote (Hidalgo-Marí and Segarra-Saavedra, 2020). In the second chapter, voting was also allowed through Instagram, which
caused participation on Facebook to fall below 15% (Vázquez-Herrero et al., 2019).
Image 1. Publications of the Instagram and Facebook proles of
Si fueras tú
Source: @sifuerastuplayz/Facebook prole “
Si fueras tú-Playz
”
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
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ese social proles incorporated expansive content from the narrative universe, such as police les related to the case of
disappearance being investigated in the series. On Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, content outside the diegesis, such as
trailers or live virtual encounters, was also incorporated to promote the series, which is especially relevant because of the
impact on the social networks of protagonists (Vázquez-Herrero et al., 2019). In some of these video encounters, actors from
other PlayZ series or RTVE productions joined and talked about
Si fueras tú
and other content related to the chain. An example
of this is the video meeting of Óscar Casas (one of the protagonists of the series, which currently has 3.2 million followers on
Instagram) and Mario Casas (an actor already recognized in 2018, currently with more than 7 million followers).
Contests were also held, such as promoting public participation in the lming of the series. e promotion strategy of this
contest was through the characters themselves, who uploaded videos to the Instagram prole warning that Nerea (the organizer
of a Halloween party) had allowed them to invite more people and that the link to join could be found in the account bio.
Furthermore, Alba’s character has her own Instagram prole (
@albaruizalonso
), which contains expansive information about
the series, such as photographs she has received related to the disappearance or messages from her friend Marta. Alba’s
account began to publish images almost a month before the start of the series, prior to the macrohistory, although it was
updated simultaneously.
e proles of the series and the protagonist were ocially created by RTVE, so users could intervene by adding
likes
and
comments but could not participate creatively in the generation of story expansions. Actions related to interactivity have had
the greatest social impact on these proles, specically, Alba’s live performances after each episode and the votes to decide
what happened in the series (Vázquez-Herrero et al., 2019).
Additionally, a WhatsApp chat in which one could interact with Alba was created. However, communication in this social
network (in which 8,900 followers participated) was unidirectional and did not achieve the level of conversation that was
intended (Vázquez-Herrero et al., 2019; Hidalgo-Marí and Segarra-Saavedra, 2020).
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Image 2. Publications of the Instagram prole of
Si fueras tú
Source: @sifuerastuplayz/@albaruizalonso
Finally, after the premiere of all the chapters,
Si fueras tú
was released in lm format, as would happen with most of the PlayZ
series. All these contents (series and lm) were also published on the PlayZ YouTube channel, as were the video encounters
with the actors. Notably, in some of these video encounters, followers were asked to send their comments or theories (UGC)
so that they were commented upon by the actors (Vázquez-Herrero et al., 2019).
Image 3. Screenshot of a video meeting in which UGC is promoted
Source: YouTube prole @playz
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Figure 2. Summary map of the transmedia of
Si fueras tú
Source: own elaboration based on the contributions of Guerrero-Pico (2014), García and Heredero (2015),
Ivars-Nicolás and Zaragoza-Fuster (2018) and Villén and Ruiz del Olmo (2020)
3.2. Bajo la red (2018-2019)
RTVE (2019) presented the
Bajo la Red
series as a “transmedia series” and, before its broadcast, published a video tutorial on
how to follow the series on dierent platforms. is macrohistory (the series) involves transmedia expansions disseminated
through Instagram. Attractive
inuencers
were incorporated into this segment of the population to interpret some of the
protagonists (among them, Angy Fernández with 361,000 followers on Instagram and Manuel Huedo with 396,000).
Instagram proles were created for each of the ve main characters (currently not available, an example from the tutorial
is included in Image 4), in which they began to spread
stories
and publications before the rst chapter of the series was
broadcast. In these networks, it was possible to observe whether the objectives of the boys were being fullled with the help
of the Achiever. is meant that, in the chronological line of the narrative universe, the macrohistory and the expansion were
broadcast simultaneously (although they started days before on Instagram); thus, after the broadcast of the rst chapter of the
series, we could see the continuation of the characters on Instagram.
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Image 4. Publications of the Instagram prole of
Bajo La Red
Source: @bajolaredplayz and PlayZ YouTube Prole
In addition to the narrative content,
Bajo la Red
has an Instagram prole (@bajolaredplayz), which was also replicated
on Twitter and Facebook. ese social networks (in the case of Instagram through
posts
and
stories
) promoted the series,
published images of the shoot and reported on its transmedia strategy. Users’ reactions were shared on Twitter, promoting a
discursive role.
Image 5. Reactions at the end of season 1 of
Bajo la Red
Source: Twitter
e creation of a
fan
account (@fcbajolared) that operated between August and October 2018 and shared the content created
by the ocial prole (not UGC), should be noted. is prole invited a WhatsApp group to talk about the series; however, it is
currently in disuse and includes only one user.
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On the other hand, an event was organized for
fans
in Madrid to which the actors attended, a concert was held by the group
that interprets the title song, and episode four of the rst season of the series was seen exclusively. Conducting the contests on
social networks (through comments and mentions, again promoting a discursive role) gave people the opportunity to meet the
protagonists of the series in said event.
e soundtrack of
Bajo la Red
can be found on Spotify, in the albums “Bajo la Red (Original Music from the RTVE Series)” and
“Bajo la Red (2nd Season) (Original Music from the RTVE Series)”. e YouTube prole included the video clip of the original
song of the series, as well as reactions of the actors to the viewing of the chapters, content adapted as compilations of scenes
and the lms originating from the episodes of the rst and second seasons.
With the premiere of its second season, an additional episode was broadcast as a
spin-o
entitled “Gabriel’s Awakening”. A new
character –Julia– was introduced in the rst episode as an actress of the
inuencer
Marina Yers (RTVE, 2018). In this episode,
the motivations of one of the main characters of season 2 (Gabriel) were explained, allowing the viewer to improve their
understanding of the end of the series.
Figure 3. Summary map of
Bajo la red
transmedia
Source: own elaboration based on the contributions of Guerrero-Pico (2014), García and Heredero (2015),
Ivars-Nicolás and Zaragoza-Fuster (2018) and Villén and Ruiz del Olmo (2020)
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3.3. Boca Norte (2019)
Extensions of this macrohistory (the series) have been identied through four media: Instagram, Spotify, Facebook and
Twitter; however, great eorts to deepen the ctional content were made on the rst two platforms.
PlayZ decided to create the Instagram proles of the eight protagonists (Annex 4). e platform once again employed actors
known to this audience, such as David Solans, previously in the successful teen series
Merlí
(TV3, 2015-2018), or Guillermo
Campra, an actor from Águila Roja and
Bajo la Red
. In these proles,
stories
and publications that were related to the series were
uploaded, allowing some interaction with the user (discursive role). However, no new stories that are part of the narrative were
generated. e photographs of the characters are the publications that obtain the highest average number of
likes
, especially
in the case of Dani (David Solans).
Image 6. Publications of the characters of
Boca Norte
Source: PlayZ
e social proles of the series were also created on Instagram, Facebook (Boca Norte-PlayZ) and Twitter (@bocanorte_playz).
e Instagram account was especially used (through
posts
and
stories
) to publish images of lming,
making of
and promotional
photographs of events, such as the
premiere
of the series, in which people popular with this audience were invited as former
contestants of the
reality
Operation Triumph
.
Finally, the series featured dierent nationally recognized trap artists to create songs that appear in ction. However, these
songs are not presented in their entirety in
Boca Norte,
so the Spotify album expands the information provided in the series.
Trap
is one of the most consumed genres among young audiences, so we see that all the contents of
Boca Norte
are focused on
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the same audience. However, in this part of the transmedia, the user has a merely diusing role: he can only listen to the music
oered on the platform and share it.
Figure 4. Summary map of
Boca Norte
transmedia
Source: own elaboration based on the contributions of Guerrero-Pico (2014), García and Heredero (2015),
Ivars-Nicolás and Zaragoza-Fuster (2018) and Villén and Ruiz del Olmo (2020)
3.4. Riders (2021)
e macrohistory of
Riders
is the teen series of the PlayZ platform. is ction was part of a transmedia project that “aims to
bring you closer to the situation of the
riders
and that you live it for a day” (RTVE, 2021) through the episodes of the series,
gamication and an interactive documentary (available at RTVE Lab). ese contents full an informative, nonnarrative task;
that is, they are not part of the ctional universe of the series but rather delve into a reality that tries to reect this strategy.
In the game
Rider for a day
, users can learn about the experience of a home delivery person by controlling an application
similar to that of these workers. In the game itself, data that explain the situation of this sector are provided, so while users play
(playful role), they learn more about the situation of the
riders
.
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Image 7. Frame of the documentary and image of the video game
Source: RTVE Lab
For its part, the documentary explains the debate around the so-called “Rider Law”, the regulation of the workers at that time
and what was intended to be modied. In this action, users have an observer role, which allows them to learn more about the
real situation that the protagonists face in the series.
e three products (series, documentary and game) lead back to the other contents, shaping a complete experience through
the transmedia strategy.
No social proles were created for this series (the content is centralized in the PlayZ networks). However, a playlist was created
on YouTube (which PlayZ makes with most of its original content), so viewers can watch the episodes, the lm, interviews
with the actors and a video with all the cameos of
inuencers
in the series, such as Pantomima Full (533,000 followers on
Instagram), Victoria Martín (387,000 followers) or former contestants of
Operación Triunfo
. e
PlayZ
TikTok prole also
includes scenes from
Riders
, as well as excerpts with
inuencers
and comic videos adapted to the platform.
Figure 5.
Riders
transmedia summary map
Source: own elaboration based on the contributions of Guerrero-Pico (2014), García and Heredero (2015),
Ivars-Nicolás and Zaragoza-Fuster (2018) and Villén and Ruiz del Olmo (2020)
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3.5. Ser o no ser (2022-)
e series
Ser o no ser to be
(macrohistory) seeks to address “without prejudice a highly topical issue and sheds [r] light on
the experiences of a group unknown to many or misunderstood by others” (RTVE, 2022). In fact, to build the scripts for this
story starring a transgender adolescent in his transition process, an educator and a sociologist collaborated (RTVE, 2022). e
rst season was awarded the best ction in the ODA (Observatory of Audiovisual Diversity) 2022 and a special mention in the
Students Jury Special Prize
in Prix Italia 2022, and it was nominated for the best Spanish-speaking series in the GLAAD (
Gay
and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
) Awards 2022 (RTVE, 2023).
is his rst season, he did not bet on a transmedia strategy. However, in the second, the documentary “Ander Puig. e dream
of being an actor”, referred to the life of the actor who starred in the series. is documentary did not seek to expand diegesis
but rather to inform and deepen the reality of a transgender person, thus maintaining the same objective as macrohistory.
us, the viewer has an observing role.
is 12-minute documentary was released a week before the second season on the RTVE platform and on YouTube (currently,
it has 2.5K views in this medium). Additionally, in 2022 (with the premiere of the rst season), “El videoblog de Ander Puig”
was broadcast on PlayZ’s YouTube prole, an interview with the actor in which he talks about his adolescence, his similarities
and dierences with the character what (Joel) plays and how he faced his transition process.
In this series, the contents are once again published in the ocial proles of PlayZ. A YouTube playlist was also included with
interviews with actors, outtakes, highlights from ction, trailers and a
making of
titled “Detrás del escenario ”. In the TikTok
prole of
PlayZ
, scenes from ction and challenges such as
“random
questions from PlayZ” or fragments of interviews with the
actors (especially from the mentioned documentary) can be found. In these TikTok contents, hashtags related to concerns of
this population are used, such as #transvisibility, #LGBTI or #health.
Figure 6. Summary map of the transmedia of
Ser o no ser
Source: own elaboration based on the contributions of Guerrero-Pico (2014), García and Heredero (2015),
Ivars-Nicolás and Zaragoza-Fuster (2018) and Villén and Ruiz del Olmo (2020)
<p>[Enlace de URL / hc (has AS)]</p>
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4. Discussion
In this study, we aimed to study how public television responds to changes in the forms of consumption of young people
through its ction series. To do this, we analysed the structure of the transmedia narratives of a sample of PlayZ teen series
from its origin (2017) to its last released teen ction series:
Ser o no ser
(2022-2023).
In relation to OE1, RTVE’s commitment to creating content aimed at a young audience seems to be reinforced by the choice
of the media they use in the transmedia of their series. Specically, RTVE mainly uses Instagram to distribute their content
(social proles have been created for the protagonists of 3 of the 5 series analysed). is medium also tends to be used in the
transmedia strategies of Spanish and European teen series such as
SKAM
or
UPA Next
(Schanke, 2019; Gil-Quitana and Gil-
Tévar, 2020; Villén and Ruiz del Olmo, 2020; Lacalle et al., 2024). ese series (and the diegetic social proles that are created)
feature highly successful actors and
inuencers
among the youth audience, conrming the importance of these content
creators for PlayZ because of their ability to attract this audience to ctional content and its transmedia strategy (Maroto
and Rodríguez-Martelo, 2019). is also highlights the platform’s commitment to using dierent formats, such as the songs
published on Spotify for
Boca Norte
, which appear incompletely in the series and are part of its plot, or the
Riders
video game.
However, in relation to the characters of
Boca Norte
,
their proles do not exceed 250 followers or 300
likes
, with the exception
of the portrait photos of Dani (David Solans), which reach approximately 350. Transmedia stories must deepen and develop
characters and stories in an alternative way (Mateos-Pérez, 2021). In the social proles of the characters of PlayZ, adapted
and expanded content is combined, but little additional information is incorporated into the plots of the series. is makes it
dicult for viewers to engage, as it reduces the reward with new content (Schanke, 2019). However, there are exceptions, such
as the clues on Instagram regarding the disappearance in the series
Si fueras tú
. On the other hand, short videos and
stories
work very well among this segment of the population (Bengtsson et al., 2018). Considering the eorts of PlayZ to adapt to the
youth audience and digital formats (Medina and Ojer, 2010; RTVE Commission, 2020) and the rise of mobile consumption
among young people (Fundación Telefónica, 2023), it could be useful to expand this content (as has begun to be done in a
promotional way) to shorter videos and on platforms such as TikTok , which are so successful among this audience (IAB, 2022).
Along these lines, the way to incorporate macrohistory or its plots into social networks could continue to be explored, as
SKAM
did (Bengtsson et al., 2018) or in the series produced by Instagram Spain (Meta, 2024).
Another characteristic of PlayZ is the publication of the episodes of its series on the platform and YouTube (García et al., 2021),
one of the social networks most used by the Spanish population (IAB, 2023). is network is also used to incorporate expanded
access to the nal lm made from the series (formed by the sum of the episodes of a season) and additional audiovisual
content through playlists, with the original content having increasing weight. nonction (García et al., 2021). On the other
hand, the scarce use of WhatsApp, the social network most commonly used by young people in Spain (IAB, 2024), should be
noted, as PlayZ did not achieve the level of conversation expected in
If you were
(Vázquez-Herrero et al., 2019; Hidalgo-Marí
and Segarra-Saavedra, 2020); however, this network has been used in other successful transmedia strategies of RTVE, such as
that of
El Ministerio del Tiempo
(Torregrosa-Carmona and Rodríguez-Gómez, 2017).
All of the teen series are promoted on both the PlayZ platform and their social proles, as well as their transmedia strategies, are
explained through an instruction manual. us, the sensation of experience at dierent moments, formats and platforms that
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a transmedia series provides, in which the viewer has control in its form of consumption, is promoted (Bengtsson et al., 2018).
Although, until 2020, two-thirds of the PlayZ series had their own social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
(Eguzkitza-Mestraitua et al., 2023b), in the last PlayZ projects analysed, the contents of the Teen series were centralized in
the platform networks. Along these lines, the amount of transmedia content per series has been reduced, and they are more
focused on promoting it or deepening the issues they address than working on narrative aspects and, thus, expanding the
ctional universe.
In this sense, the trends of these transmedia strategies (OG2) of the selected series have evolved both in format and content,
which is reminiscent of the changes to the series on the platform (macro stories). us, while several of PlayZ’s rst transmedia
teen series (such as those analysed, including
Si fueras tú
and
Bajo la red
) combined the teen genre with the
thriller
such that
transmedia was closely related to solving the case and exploring the characters through expanded and interactive content,
the latest series on the platform address topics that concern its audience through related activities. In this sense, Jenkins
(2005) explained narratives that are incorporated into video games, many of which come from the
thriller
because looking
for evidence and exploring spaces can attract the viewer but that the melodrama gives other rewards that have not yet been
explored.
is is related to the idea of Junguitu-Angulo and Osuna-Acedo (2023) that public television can be a pedagogical resource for
the young population. In series such as
Riders
, PlayZ includes, as a characteristic of its production style, its function of public
service through formats focused on a young audience and issues that concern this population (job insecurity). Social factors
(such as the work situation), together with intrapersonal factors and the transmedia experience, can motivate the appearance
of
fandom
in a series (Sundet and Petersen, 2021). is may provoke a greater feeling of representation on the part of the young
population, where only 21.6% were highly reected with the contents of PlayZ (Eguzkitza-Mestraitua et al., 2023a). is social
involvement of the public platform has been seen from the beginning, for example, with the treatment of
bullying
that underlies
Si fueras tú
or the incorporation of a soundtrack of female
trap
artists in
Boca Norte
(in this case, through transmedia).
Relatedly, the roles of users have shifted: in the rst series analysed by PlayZ, a discursive role was promoted through a creator,
which encouraged users to follow the clues of the case with adapted content. Additionally, interactivity and social interaction
with the user were relevant when the transmedia strategy was created. In these series, the intention of the platform in which
users create original content (UGC) is appreciated. A clear example is
Si fueras tú
, in which, through video encounters on
YouTube, followers were encouraged to share theories about what was happening in the series. Although the
thriller
genre
makes it easier for
fans
to share their discoveries about the story, encounters on YouTube, or even on Twitch, two of the social
networks in which Spaniards spend the most time (IAB, 2024), they could be of interest to seek user participation in new drama
series from PlayZ.
Similarly, in series such as
Boca Norte
, which focused on the relationships between the characters, the role of the user was more
discursive or disseminating, and its transmedia strategy aims to learn more about its protagonists through content adapted
or expanded from macrohistory. In
Riders
or
Ser o no ser
, there is a greater presence of the observer and playful roles, which
allows us to delve into reality through activities related to a more informative than narrative nature, designing transmedia
strategies with a predominance of nondiegetic actions.
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5. Conclusions
Transmedia narratives are becoming a solution for series that need to connect with an audience that consumes a large amount
of audiovisual content (Villén and Ruiz del Olmo, 2020) but does not feel represented by traditional television and its forms of
consumption (Navarro and Vázquez, 2020). At this time of adaptation, when conventional channels are suering (Neira, 2020),
it is relevant to study the role of public television such as RTVE, which is committed to this segment of the population (BOE,
2006, Art. 25).
In conclusion, Spanish public television seeks to respond to changes in the forms of consumption of young people through
its series of originals and its transmedia strategy. is coincides with the trend of other European public televisions and their
transmedia strategies, which demonstrate an eort to connect with this audience through the integration of new narratives
(Azurmendi, 2018). e latest PlayZ series combines ctional narratives with informative and nonction records, as has been
done previously with transmedia eorts in Spain, such as
La Peste
(Hernández, 2019).
us, in the case of
Riders
, we would
not even speak of a “transmedia series” but of “experience” (RTVE, 2021), which, with a markedly informative and awareness-
raising nature, reects reality. e transmedia of the teen series analysed shows a change in the trend of PlayZ in recent years,
with more reduced strategies, but which seek to reach the young audience through the deepening of issues present in the
public debate, as well as formats and media. that this population consumes. One of the main challenges of the platform will be
to continue adapting to an audience in the continuous evolution of its consumption habits and in which the viewing of short
videos predominates (Bengtsson et al., 2018).
In short, this analysis of the transmedia structure of PlayZ’s teen ction products provides a clear picture of these series with
an identity that is characterized by (1) a majority use of Instagram and YouTube (where they are broadcast, in addition to the
ocial platform, the episodes); (2) little depth in the dramatic plots in the expanded contents; (3) bet on innovative media
and formats such as video games or original Spotify songs; (4) a pedagogical orientation (through the instruction manual) that
conrms the interest of the platform for the young audience to discover and consume these strategies; (5) little promotion
of participation through the UGC; and (6) predominance of the observer and discursive role (although with cases of interest
related to the playful and creative role). On the other hand, the importance of
inuencers
in PlayZ’s teen series is worth
highlighting, as we could conceive of them as a way to bring the narrative closer to the reality of the users. is occurs with
the social proles of the characters (played by
inuencers
), in which we see publications or
stories
of the protagonists at the
time and place in which the series takes place (narrative universe), or with the documentary about the protagonist of
Ser o no
ser
, in which the topics covered in ction (diegetic content) are explored through the real experience of the protagonist actor
(nondiegetic content).
Notably, a limitation of this study is the lack of quantitative data to make a direct comparison of the contents and their weights
in the strategy, which is a topic of great interest for future research. In addition to measuring the impact in a quantitative way,
to deepen the reception of the audience, qualitative interviews with users of the platform could be carried out. On the other
hand, in future studies, original series from other public television stations in dierent countries or from private networks and
platforms could be included in the sample to identify strengths, weaknesses and examples of good practices that will help
reinforce PlayZ’s transmedia strategy. and of all RTVE and to understand and attract the attention of this public.
330 |
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Evolution of Spanish Transmedia Teen Series: The Case of RTVE’s PlayZ
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
doxa.comunicación
6. Acknowledgements
e English version of this article has been reviewed by American Journal Experts (AJE), to whom we express our gratitude for
their work.
Financing sources:
Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities: Aid for University Teacher Training 2021. FPU reference
code: FPU21/05824.
7. Specic contributions of each author
Name and Surname
Conception and design of the work
Sara Valenzuela-Monreal, Javier Lozano Delmar and
Rafael A. Araque-Padilla
Methodology
Sara Valenzuela-Monreal and Javier Lozano Delmar
Data collection and analysisSara Valenzuela-Monreal
Discussion and conclusionsSara Valenzuela-Monreal and Javier Lozano Delmar
Drafting, formatting, version review and approvalJavier Lozano Delmar and Rafael A. Araque-Padilla
8. Conicts of interest
e authors declare that there is no conict of interest contained in this article.
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10. Appendix
Appendix 1. Audiences Role
OBSERVER ROLEe user can not generate any content on the platform and is limited to consuming content.
DIFFUSING ROLEe user shares content online and with other users.
DISCURSIVE ROL
e users can not create content but actively participate in the transmedia experience through forums,
reactions, and comments.
PLAYFUL ROLEe user engages with gamication products.
CREATOR ROL
e user generates content that “contributes to the transmedia expansion or compression of the
narrative world they consume, whether through works where creativity predominates (fanction,
fanvids, fanart) or products aimed at promoting that narrative universe” (Guerrero-Pico, 2014: 262).
Source: García & Heredero (2015), based on previous classications by Hernández & Grandío (2011) and Guerrero-Pico (2014)
Appendix 2. Types of Functions
EXPANDED ACCESSe full macro-story is made available on other media or platforms.
ADAPTED CONTENTExcerpts that reuse or adapt content already created for the macro-story.
EXPANDED CONTENT
“Original content that provides information expanding the user’s understanding of narrative ction”
(Ivars-Nicolás & Zaragoza-Fuster, 2018: 260). is can include textual extensions (expanding the series’
narrative universe); relevant information (details that enrich the “encyclopaedic knowledge within the
ction”); or extratextual information (content that expands the series outside the ctional universe,
such as a making-of) (Ivars-Nicolás & Zaragoza-Fuster, 2018: 260).
BRAND PRODUCTSPromotional material or merchandise.
RELATED ACTIVITIES
Activities requiring the consumer to adopt an active role and participate. ese can include: themed
activities; experiential activities (video games or role-playing games); or productive activities (the user
generates content).
SOCIAL INTERACTION
Interactions that enhance user content, either through a horizontal relationship with the audience
(viewer-created platforms); vertical (between viewers and the show’s technical and creative team); or
diagonal (audience interaction with characters).
INTERACTIVITY
User contributions that are recognised or inuence the original content.
Source: classication by Ivars-Nicolás & Zaragoza-Fuster (2018), based on Askwith’s work (2007)
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Appendix 3. Selected Sample
TEEN SERIES
SYNOPSES
SEASONS
Si fueras tú
(2017)
Spain’s rst interactive ction series (Hidalgo-Marí and Segarra-Saavedra,
2020). It tells the story of Alba, a young woman who, after moving in with her
uncle, discovers she resembles a girl who went missing six months earlier.
Alba decides to investigate what happened to the missing girl.
1 (8 episodes)
Bajo la Red
(PlayZ,
2018-2019)
is series follows a group of young people who join a chain of favours.
However, the actions required to achieve their dreams (the favours they
requested) push their ethical boundaries, trapping them in the chain. Irene
decides to join the chain after her sister’s death, suspecting that the chain’s
organiser, “El Conseguidor” is responsible, and she is determined to uncover
their identity. Winner of the Golden Globe for Best Web Series at the World
Media Festival in Hamburg (Comisión RTVE, 2020).
2 (Season 1: 6 episodes.
Season 2: 7 episodes and 1 special
episode as spin-o)
Boca Norte
(PlayZ,
2019)
is series, awarded Best Digital Broadcast Content at the 2019 Ondas
Awards, tells the story of Andrea, a teenager from a privileged Barcelona
neighbourhood who moves to a less auent area due to a conict in her past.
Her father forces her to join a local youth centre, where she meets a group of
young people and forms a dance club that changes her life (RTVE, 2019).
1 (6 episodes)
Riders
(RTVE, 2021)
is series follows Axel, a university student who, despite studying video
game design, must start working as a delivery rider to support his family.
is job eventually leads him to get involved with a group of drug trackers.
rough this premise, the story depicts how Axel and a group of riders strive
to make a living.
1 (7 episodes)
Ser o no ser
(RTVE,
2022-)
is series follows Joel, a young trans person who seeks to become an actor
while “facing the emotional and physical challenges of his transition” (RTVE,
2023).
2 (Season 1: 6 episodes. Season 2:
6 episodes)
Source: compiled from RTVE synopses
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Evolution of Spanish Transmedia Teen Series: The Case of RTVE’s PlayZ
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doxa.comunicación
Appendix 4:
Boca Norte
characters’
Instagram social proles
CHARACTER’S NAME
PROFILE
NUMBER OF
FOLLOWERS
NUMBER OF POSTSAVERAGE OF LIKES
Andrea@andrea_d_o126
14 + 1
story
destacado119,57
Dani@dani_bocanorte182
12 + 1
story
destacado290,8
María@maria_gisbertbcn16420145,7
Sarah@sarah_is_dancing110
12 + 2
stories
destacados110,67
Lu@luu__dj10716106
Andy@callmeandy_ocial1209148,11
Katy@sweetkaty1315715188,93
Carol@ka___rol33
5 + 5
stories
destacados30,8
Source: own elaboration
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