MYTHBUSTERSMOME 408: Multi-platform Media Brand PackagingProfessor Justin Cone

Yuki Yamada Spring 2010

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SUMMARY

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MYTHBUSTERS airs new episodes every Wednesday at 9:00 pm ET along with four re-runs of the show during prime-time TV as well as two re-runs on Satruday late mornings. During prime-time, It airs after Cash Cabs, a game show that can warm up the minds of audiences before watching MYTHBUSTERS and is followed by re-runs of past shows as the night ends. The show rates a supurb 9.0/10.0 on TV.com with over 6,000 votes and is not losing its speed just yet.

Hosted by Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage -- and co-hosted by Tory Belleci, Kari Byron and Grant Ima-hara -- the MYTHBUSTERS mix scientific method with gleeful curiosity and plain old-fashioned ingenuity to create their own signature style of explosive experi-mentation. It aims at a wide range of audiences who are curious-hungry.

"Replicate the circumstances, then duplicate the results"

AUDIENCE SURVEYSAND ANALYZATION

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“I think the characters are all really funny and they make scientific proofs really entertaining. As an engineer I am extra interested in some of the stuff they study.”

“I dont like how the discovery channel shows a million commercials durring it. When I had cable I would just watch it on onDemand to skip commercials.”

“It becomes almost redundant at times, and some of the topic matters explored may seem contrived, as if the writers were struggling to find an interesting urban myth to explore.”

“I like the explosions, slow motion capture, and the corny jokes.”

Sample: Age 21-30 majority, 46% female / 56% male.

Watches TV during: Prime-time weekdays, morining + prime-time weekends.

The majority of the audience sometimes watches it.

63% of the audience gave a rating of 7-9 out of 10.

Having the show air on prime-time Wednesdays and Saturday mornings is right on target for this sample. Although the audience seems to watch it only if it happens to be on, the ratings show that they enjoy it quite well. There are arguements over the corny jokes and the sometimes redundant myths, but overall they seemed to be enjoying the humorous scientific experiments.

STATISTITCS

ANALYZATION

LIKES

DISLIKES

FAN SURVEYS

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1. SIMPLY EXPLODING STUFFWho doesn't like to explode things every now and then?

2. THE EXPERIMENTThe scientific methods and the equipments are a definite yes to the fans.

3. SUBMITTING MYTHSThe fans are excited that they are able to submit myths themselves and get involved with the show.

4. CHARACTER There are many humorous and joyful characters in the myth-busting crew with Jamie and Adam in the lead.

5. KARI BRYON

"Well simply put you have the most entertaining and informative show I have ever seen.I have been a fan right from the start and try not to miss any episodes.You have a great crew and seem to have alot of fun with the challenges put forth by various fans.I just wanted to thank you all for a great show and I hope it stay...s on the air for many years to come.Its just too bad you are so far away I would love to see you bust myths in person."

---Tony Holvey

"I love it when my science teacher lets us watch u guys as an educa-tional movie. she says u always use the scientific method"

---Alex James Dickey

The “madonna” of the show even has a fan site dedi-cated just for her.

5 THINGS FANS CHERISH 800K+ FANS on FACEBOOK100K+ FOLLOWERS on TWITTER

COMMERCIALS

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- Sprint - Geico- Target- Michelob Ultra- Construction Intervention (new show promo) - Education Connection - Febreeze - Life (show promo)- Discovery Channel (network promo)- Direct TV- Samuel Adams- Samsung- Papa Johns - Jordan McKenna - Deadliest Catch (show promo)- Discover - Miller Lite - Jell-O

Many of the advertisements target mature audiences interested in technology, house products, insurance, and food. It makes sense to include technology products such as the Samsung TV during a science show and food like Papa Johns pizza and beer during the evening. Furthermore, the DISCOVERY CHANNEL promotes itself and other shows on the network such as the new show Construc-tion Intervention.

AND TARGET AUDIENCES

CURRENT SHOW PACKAGE

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OPENING TITLE MYTH DESCRIPTION EXPERIMENT DESCRIPTION

BUMPER LOWER THIRD CREDITS UP NEXT ELEMENT

MYTHBUSTERS opens up with a montage of the episode and a quick cut of their title. They immediately bring in the myth of the episode (subtitle) with a blue-print look and have the hosts describe the myth. After deciding how to execute the experiment, they explain the experiment with a short animation (the cheasiness recently improved). Furthermore, their bumpers are live action show-ing a metal plate with the title on it in an environment usually related to the episode. They also have no credit screen and show the names during the conclusion. Finally, they show a short cut of the result of the experiment for the myth. Throughout the show in the lower right corner, the DISCOVERY CHANNEL promotes itself and other shows on the network.

ELEMENTS

ONLINE PROMOTION

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MYTHBUSTERS have two main sites that promote both itself and the network. Both sites have many menus and links as well as advertisements and are hard to navigate with just a glance. The DISCOVERY CHANNEL section leads to other shows, blogs, and games, and the MYTHBUSTERS section explain about the show, casts, episodes, and include images and videos.

ELEMENTS

PACKAGE ANALYSIS

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Currently, MYTHBUSTERS overall has a serious package with a little bit of humor element as well, and most sequences are live action invoving little graphical elements. The montage opening is a great start to engage the audience in what they are about to see but the logo animation seems a bit underwhelming by its minimal movement despite the excitement. Using the illustration on blue paper when describing the myth is a nice element where science and playfulness is evenly distributed, but the animation when describing the experiment could be viewed as cheasy with its humor presented right in your face, much like when you can sometimes tell that they are reading off of a script during the show. Also, the bumpers of the show, although it differentiates from other shows by using live action shots of the logo, seems more buff than science and humor and should incoporate those two factors in it. Furthermore, the credits are what horrified me the most since they seemed to have squeezed it in at the end along with when the hosts are explaining the results. The names change instantly one after the other and it may be hard to focus on the words when you also want to hear the hosts. All in all, MYTHBUSTERS have a firm base for their packaging but certainly have space for improvements in terms of showing off their characteristics and strengths more.

MYTHBUSTERS

CONCEPT

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Although MYTHBUSTERS is a successful show, the branding elements used in the show are not unified and is overall gloomy and serious despite the humor aspect it has. A more content but still scientific design is needed, adding more interest to the show while retaining its characteristics.

The re-branding of the show will reference the Rube Goldberg machine to represent the comical and scientific experiments the show takes on. The clip that is being played will activate the transitions and bumps into the next clip, much like what the machine does. Visually, simple shapes would represent the parts of the machine that interacts with the film and themselves. Also, a sans-serif font would be ideal for the technical look, and the blue color of the show would collaborate with yellows.

ADDING HUMOR

MOOD BOARD

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COLOR PALETTE TYPE STUDIES

Frutiger Aa GgFrutiger Aa Gg

Frutiger Aa Gg

Bell Gothic Aa Gg

Bell Gothic Aa GgBell Gothic Aa Gg

Gill Sans Aa Gg

Futura Aa GgFutura Aa GgFutura Aa Gg

Gill Sans Aa GgGill Sans Aa Gg

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CHOSEN COLORS & TYPE

Frutiger Aa Ggscience, concentration, cool

humorous, progressive, energetic

new, construction, simple

metal, serious, destruction

MYTHBUSTERSMYTHBUSTERS

MYTHBUSTERS

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Frutiger Aa GgFrutiger Aa Gg

SHOW OPENINGSTYLEFRAMES

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UP NEXT ELEMENTSSTYLEFRAMES

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SHOW PROMOSTYLEFRAMES

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TRANSITIONSSTYLEFRAMES

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MORTISE CREDITSSTYLEFRAMES

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