The Eurovision Academy will hold its first Masterclass in e-Sports and Gamification in March. With broadcasters needing to find new ways to reach young audiences, understanding how to incorporate gaming into their programming and developing new business models has become paramount.

The Masterclass is being held at the Design Akademie in Berlin on 17 and 18 March and is being led by Jonas Vossler.

“The Master Class “e-Sports and Gamification" is a hands on introduction into the world of games that is designed to assist programme directors and planners, editorial staff and communications managers to explore Games as a resource for novel content ideas and viewer interaction strategies,” he said.

“The participants of the Master Class will gain important insights into the transferability of gaming concepts onto their business units. For one, this will include the development of ideas for how to incorporate gaming content into their programming and how to complement those with viable business models. Moreover, by delving into the workings behind the fascination for games and the functionality of game mechanics, participants will be equipped with a tool set for the creation of gamified viewer interactions geared towards boosting engagement among young target groups.”

The two day Masterclass will give an overview of the gaming industry as well as looking at gamers as a target group for broadcasters. It will also look at how to use gamificaton for storytelling and at various streaming platforms and business models.

Nathalie Labourdette, Head of the Eurovision Academy, says the time is right for providing this Masterclass: “For adolescent target groups, digital games make up the lion’s share of their media diet, and the cultural impact and economic potential of games can no longer be ignored.”