Today TV programs, from news shows to prime time series, have created websites to advertise their show to more people in hopes to develop a strong fan base and to increase viewer population. Take the Ellen DeGeneres Show for example. A thirty-one Daytime Emmy Award winning talk show in its eighth season, hosted by comedian, Ellen DeGeneres has created a website for fans to learn about show information, ticket information, and a variety of other uses.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show’s website, which I will refer to as Ellen Online for easier reading purposes, is a bright, colorful website free of large distracting advertisements. While advertisements are seen on the website they are mostly discrete. There are quite a few links to other websites related to pop culture as well as icon links to Ellen’s Facebook, Twitter feed, and YouTube channel. This is like an advertisement within an advertisement. For example, the Facebook icon is advertised as a social networking site on Ellen Online, but when clicked, fans are taken to the Ellen DeGeneres Show’s Facebook page. The site in general uses this technique multiple times. “elveneleven“, Ellen’s new record label is advertised within Ellen Online, as well as American Idol, where Ellen serves on the judging panel. Once again, the ad within an ad technique is used.
The site serves users as a resource of information about the show in general, including past and future episodes. Highlights of past episode segments can be found on the homepage in the “Video of the Day” section. A week long, daily list of guests that will be interviewed is found in the “Show Info” dropdown menu. A search bar located at the top of the page allows new fans to find out what time the show airs in their zip code. How to go about requesting tickets is spelled out and a form to be filled out is provided. A calendar of shows with remaining tickets available is also accessible.
In addition to being a go-to place for information about the show, Ellen Online is also a source of entertainment. Although the show runs only an hour long, fans can be graced by Ellen’s presence 24/7 when using Ellen Online. To win a deeper place in viewers’ hearts, Ellen Online offers a 
“Backstage Blog”, including video messages from celebrities that are on the show, rehearsal bloopers and more. There is also a “Games” tab that offers online games and downloadable games for adults and kids. Fans can listen to music performances that aired on the show, look through funny picture albums and watch a range of videos. There is even a shopping feature that opens in a new browser window and allows fans to buy The Ellen DeGeneres Show merchandise, ranging from shot glasses to apparel and everything in between.
The question that remains is whether Ellen Online is a successful website. After navigating throughout the majority of the website, I would have to say that it is a successful site. It provides useful information through video, text, sound and pictures to teach us about our world. Users of Ellen Online are kept up to date on the cultural identity of Hollywood, a subject that most Americans are fascinated by.
Really it’s the fans, the viewers, and the users that make Ellen Online a successful website. Ellen Online has to be regularly updated and maintained because there is a need from and for fans to be constantly socialized and embedded in the transmission of the cultural values that we hold so highly in our society. In today’s obsession with pop culture, none of us want to be ill-informed, as to be in a social setting in which we cannot participate in conversation because we don’t know the latest gossip about a celebrity’s relationship status, fashion mishap or weight fluctuation. And because we are so closely wrapped up in this subject matter, Ellen Online provides us entertainment, and distraction. Learning about the people that are so highly thought of in our society is entertaining.
Ellen Online offers numerous ways to use the media it provides. It even provides interactivity amongst fans through Meebo, an instant messaging program that joins all virtual communities into a single channel to communicate. Although Ellen Online offers a way to communicate with others, it doesn’t have a distinct community. Random users post opinions and comments about pictures, stories, and videos on the site but there isn’t much of an interaction between fellow fans. I think that if Ellen Online users could interact in a more formal setting, such as a specific place within the website, the fan base would grow in strength. For example, if Ellen Online better facilitated communication online, fans who had attended the same taping of an episode could reconnect and develop a relationship, or fans planning on attending an upcoming show could correlate a meeting before or after the show and develop a relationship.
Overall I can only commend the creators of Ellen Online. It is a successful production of media for its users. Its offering of informative news to those interested in pop culture helps socialize them to become familiar with cultural and societal norms. All the while entertaining users with primary sources of these social norms, and further allowing the discussion of what has been learned and enjoyed to develop between users.
˙˙ KaBrKe ˙˙ 
