Clemson teams up with CBS affiliate to cover Super Bowl XLVII

Published: February 1, 2013

This is the way the TV screen will look during the broadcast. image by: WSPA

CLEMSON — Students and faculty from the department of communication studies at Clemson University will provide a unique service to 7 On Your Side (WSPA TV) from the university’s Social Media Listening Center Sunday, Feb. 3, as millions of people watch the Super Bowl.

WSPA news anchor Amy Wood will host a live, interactive webcast from the CBS affiliate’s studios beginning at 6:30 p.m. when the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers kick-off the game in New Orleans. Clemson students will monitor Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and other social media. Students will pass on the details to Wood.

“This collaboration is a way for our department to work hand-in-hand with a reputable news outlet,” said Sara Arbogast, Clemson graduate research assistant. “Our students are given real-world experience while providing a service that gauges public opinion surrounding pop-culture, advertising, and athletics.”

Wood agrees.

“7 on Your Side is excited to work with students and faculty from Clemson’s department of communication studies,” she said. “We appreciate the university’s willingness to bring our viewers this unique perspective through its impressive Social Media Listening Center.”

Clemson faculty experts will tackle a range of subjects as they pop off the screens in the listening center during the game.

Professor Joseph Mazer is the associate chairman of the department of communication studies and director of the College of Arts, Architecture and Humanities’ Social Media Listening Center. He will take the lead in addressing social media behavior.

“We suspect people will talk about a little bit of everything,” Mazer said. “We’ll explain why people can be quite comfortable using social media to express opinions that they wouldn’t commonly share in face-to-face conversations.”

Mazer said conversations could include anything from the game, players and fans to the entertainment and the highly anticipated “super” commercials.

“We are able to gain better understanding of the impact of a multimillion dollar advertisement via a social media impression,” said Arbogast. “This provides real-time analytics and opinion-monitoring, giving us insights beyond an estimated advertising value.”

Representatives from Clemson’s new corporate partner, Erwin Penland Advertising, will join the webcast to talk about social media comments on the ads. They’ll also share their expert opinions on why companies are so willing to pay big bucks to broadcast their commercials during the Super Bowl.

The online chatter about the entertainment is in full swing. Lindsey Dixon, lecturer and director of Clemson’s nationally recognized speech and debate program, studies communication and popular culture and will serve as the entertainment expert. She’ll weigh in on social media chats about the entertainment, including the Super Bowl’s half-time headliner: Beyonce.

This is not the first time 7 On Your Side reached out to Clemson’s Social Media Listening Center. The station used information from the center during a live webcast for the 2012 elections.

“As we saw working with Clemson University during the election, it can make a real difference when you have the ability to drill down into the words what you're seeing ‘pop’ in social media to find out what people are really saying,” Wood said.

WSPA TV will use the social video platform Spreecast for its Super Bowl webcast. Participants will need to open a free Spreecast account to join the conversation. Viewers can find a link to the webcast at www.wspa.com.

END