Engaging Norway Through the Lens - A qualitative study of the communicative behaviors of three of Norway’s most acclaimed TV hosts.

Abstract

The ever-evolving television industry is experiencing increasing competition from a diverse set of platforms. Subsequently, audiences have become more selective as they have ample alternatives to choose from. The aim of this thesis is to add to our understanding of effective entertainment TV show hosting and efforts to engage audiences by studying what characterizes the communicative behaviors of three of the most accomplished and prominent Norwegian television hosts. Solveig Kloppen, Jon Almaas and Fredrik Skavlan´s communicative behaviors and their efforts to engage audiences were examined through conducting a content analysis of their communicative behaviors on their respective TV shows, combined with individual in-depth interviews with the personas themselves. Key findings indicate that the presenters are particularly high in verbal and non-verbal immediacy and sociability. The notion of providing the audience with adequate levels of information and speaking in a comprehendible manner is prominent. A significant observation is that their communicative behaviors ultimately appear aimed at adding value to the audience in one form or another. Furthermore, they present themselves as highly engaged in the material and appear poised in their role as host. A key notion among all was wanting to appear authentic, which is predominantly portrayed by all of the presenter.