I didn’t know about NBC’s recent live broadcast of The Wiz until it was over, and that worries me.
It isn’t because I necessarily really wanted to see it. It’s the idea that if a company with the resources of NBC couldn’t make a person in the arts like myself aware that the show was going on, what hope do I, with my comparatively minuscule advertising budget and resources, have of reaching members of my community?
I haven’t had a television for about 5 years now and I don’t watch or rent video through Netflix or Hulu. If I did, maybe I would have seen something if NBC promoted it there.
As it was, I had no inkling NBC had even chosen to do The Wiz as their next project, much less when it would air. In all the blogs I read, all the webpages I visit, all the Twitter posts I read in the course of the day, I saw no mention of it until a bunch of people started gushing about how great it was during and after the performance. If there were banner ads on webpages I visited, I missed them.
I should mention, I did notice ads for a performance of Phantom of the Opera at some place in South Carolina. I wondered why I was getting what appeared to be retargeted ads since I am so far away geographically and never visited their webpage. There is a good chance I would have noticed something similar for The Wiz.
This challenge of reaching audiences as so many disparate channels of communication proliferate isn’t a new one. It has been the subject of discussion for a long time and many blogs and articles offer tips for using social media and other strategies to reach audiences.
While my experience (or inattention) isn’t necessarily indicative of a nation trend, as I say the fact that The Wiz broadcast went entirely under my radar caused me great concern. I guess for as engaged in the conversations of the arts field as I am, I am still joining the legions of the disengaged.
I had been counting the days towards this (with low expectations that were GREATLY surpassed) and had heard about it online just after Peter Pan had aired (which I did not watch) that The Wiz was next. The Wiz has been one of my favorite musicals since childhood so maybe I just tuned into looking for the right information the moment I even heard an inkling about the potential of it being in the works. In the black community, it felt as though this was an event – not to be missed – my facebook seemed to be inundated with ads too (i.e. Black Twitter had a field day with this as the show went live). I even had a Wiz viewing party. Haha! If you still haven’t seen it, it’s re-airing on Dec 19th because it was watched by 3x as many viewers than either of the other two NBC produced musicals but if you can’t wait until then, here’s a link! Happy easing on down the road! http://broadwayblack.com/watch-wiz-live-making-wiz/
Just goes to show how important what your social media friends are interested in is to the promotion of events. Peter Pan I knew about long in advance because an agent was trying to push a Peter and the Starcatcher tour. I don’t think there was a Wizard of Oz/Wiz tour in the works before the Broadcast. I wonder if there is one now.
Actually, The Wiz – tv movie and Broadway plans were both announced at the same time. http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/30/the-wiz-will-be-nbcs-next-live-musical-and-then-return-to-broadway/?_r=0
See. Just goes to show how easily this stuff can be missed.