Mediatonality of sports media telegram channels as a means of engaging the target audience

Beglaryan Alik Hachaturovich Postgraduate student; Faculty of Journalism; A.S. Griboyedov Moscow University 121552, Russia, Moscow, ul. Yelninskaya, 15, sq. 77 alik.beglaryan@gmail.com

Telegram channels became part of the domestic media space 10 years ago, in 2015 ^[1], when the opportunity to run your own blog appeared on the basis of the messenger. Research on telegram channels as new media began in 2016: "the first serious mention of the Telegram channels media phenomenon can be attributed to 2016. At that time, political Telegram channels were very popular, which combined both analytics and the current news agenda related to this industry. Telegram channels, due to the possibility of anonymous management, become a source of the most acute and relevant information, and anonymous authors of publications are identified with opinion leaders or representatives of citizen journalism" ^{[2, p. 314]}.

In the 2020s, there was an explosive increase in the number of telegram channels and their subscribers ^[3], and almost every organization represented on the Internet opened a blog based on the telegram channel. This determines the relevance of analyzing telegram channels as an important part of the dynamically changing system of modern mass media.

The phenomenon of telegram channels as a new media has been studied in detail in Russian science: for example, their potential for brand promotion is being considered ^[4], the essence of telegram channels as new media ^[5], their place in the regional media system ^[6], specific characteristics as new media ^[7], linguistic features of content are being studied ^[8] and others. A.R. Yashina argues that telegram channels have fundamentally changed the balance of power in the modern media system: "Telegram is by far the fastest and most useful way to distribute content. The content format has been lost, as well as genre boundaries have been blurred, so now the winner is the one who quickly and conveniently learns how to deliver content to consumers" ^{[9, p. 230]}.

Of particular interest for the analysis are telegram channels, which are representations of mass media - the case when a TV channel, newspaper, magazine, or other media outlet creates and develops a telegram channel as an additional means of communicating with a loyal audience. In this case, the content of the telegram channel partially duplicates the content of the media itself, and partially differs, since the practice of posting posts in telegram implies a short text accompanied by a photo or video clip. As D.V. Multanovskaya points out, "Many modern organizations resort to copywriting, having their own telegram channel and a social network account that needs to be filled with news and texts. Accordingly, the texts obtained as a result of copywriting can imitate various genres of journalism, including, for example, a note or a report. The essential difference in this case is the vector of text creation: the motivation is not the real news relevant to the consumer, but the need to remind oneself of oneself in the Internet space and send peculiar signals to the target consumer so that he does not lose loyalty to the relevant brand" ^{[10, p. 9]}. It should be noted that in Russian science, there is practically no case where the telegram channel represents the media, which is very interesting in the context of diversifying the presentation, language and volume of texts. This determines the scientific novelty of the research being undertaken.

To analyze the content features, three telegram channels were selected, which are projects of the largest sports media: the telegram channel of Match TV (648,037 subscribers) ^[11], the daily newspapers Sport-Express (77,268 subscribers) ^[12] and Sovetsky Sport (32,141 subscribers) ^[13]. They post sports news on a daily basis, while the format of the telegram channel itself, of course, does not imply one hundred percent duplication of the format of the TV channel and the newspaper. Sports media are of particular interest for analysis, as they closely interact with an active audience of fans and fans involved in the constant monitoring of sports news.

All three telegram channels post 20-30 posts daily, comments and reactions are open. In the attached message, Sport-Express offers to subscribe to thematic channels dedicated to various sports. Match TV publishes a daily program for the current day, and on the days of broadcasts of important matches – video clips with interesting moments, accompanied by links to the broadcast on the website. Soviet Sport daily posts a photo of the newspaper's front page and a link to its central material, which is placed on the front page against the background of the largest photo. Sport-Express periodically posts links to its materials, as well as provides each photo with the corporate logo of the publication. Thematic posts related to a particular sport are accompanied by links to the corresponding telegram channels (or to the main telegram channel ^[12]).

The telegram channels of the three largest sports media differ significantly in terms of text and visual content. An analysis of the content of the telegram channel "Sport-Express" ^[12] shows that a typical post is based on the formula "headline + lead": a short emotional phrase typed in bold, followed by more detailed information revealing the meaning of this phrase. This short text is published accompanied by a photo or video, the text contains emoticons and emojis. Puns and wordplay are usually used in the first phrase, and athletes' last names and surnames are often changed: they are shortened or played out in connection with current events. For example, typical telegram channel posts:

January 15th, 2025:

"In Argentina, the insider is not Fabrizio Romano, but Fabrizio Cringiano (smiley face)

On social media, they wanted to hype on the CSKA legend, but they couldn't. Akinfeev elegantly countered and joked about one of the strangest rumors (a smiley face is a smile with a drop of sweat on his forehead)" ^[12]

In some cases, using the same formula "photo + headline + lead", material from a recent newspaper issue is announced, in this case the post is accompanied by a link, and the photo is a copy of the paper issue of the newspaper with the keywords of the material typed over the photo. The total number of such posts is about 10% - 1-2 per day out of 20-25 posted in the telegram channel.

The telegram channel Sovetsky Sport, which also presents a paper edition, publishes extensive text posts much more often than Sport-Express. For example, on January 15, 2025, the telegram channel posted a lengthy excerpt from an interview with Oleg Kornaukhov: four questions from the journalist and four answers from the interviewee, followed by a link to the full article. the version of the interview on the newspaper's website. In general, the posts of Sovetsky Sport significantly exceed the posts of Sport-Express in terms of text volume and often include extensive excerpts from the texts of the print edition and the website. Like Sport Express, Sovetsky Sport accompanies its posts with emoticons and emojis, and often indicates an explicit assessment of events in the texts ("cool", "brilliant", etc.). The telegram channel is also characterized by "voting" using reader reactions - for example:

"(emoji – surprised face) The Media League player joined Paris NN. Vasily Mavrin will travel to Turkey for the training camp of the team.

Will the player stay at the club?

(smiley face – thumbs up) – Yes, that would be cool

(smiley face – thumbs down) – No

(smiley camera) the team's social networks

(Soviet Sports logo) subscribe to @sovsport" ^[13]

Readers are thus invited to express their opinion by reacting with one or another smiley face, which will allow us to count approximate statistics of public opinion under the post.

The Match TV telegram channel often posts video clips from the TV channel's broadcasts. The text part of the post, as a rule, consists of three sentences, does not include quotes from materials posted on the site, and the first sentence of the post – the title – is duplicated in the recognizable Match TV brand font in gold color over the photo if the post is accompanied by a photo, not a video. For example:

"(smiley face - surprised face) "Pari NN" took Mavrin to the training camp. Vasily is the champion of the Media League and the winner of the IFF Cup

The Amkala football player will have the opportunity to play for the Nizhny Novgorod club in friendly matches.

Unexpected news. What if everything works out?

@Match_TV» ^[11]

Compared to the telegram channels of print publications, MatchTV Telegram is distinguished by its emotional news presentation and friendly tone of addressing the reader - the authors often use jargon, colloquial vocabulary, and address the reader as "you":

"(smiley face – red forbidding cross) Kunde was left without a double. The referees found it offside. Do you see a piece of the boot sticking out?

Don't forget the microscope.

@Match_TV» ^[11]

In order to compare the news provided by the three analyzed telegram channels, let's consider the news posted on January 15, 2025 about hockey player Alexander Ovechkin, who came to the match accompanied by two Corgi dogs. Interestingly, this news, which is not actually sports – it is not about Ovechkin's achievements in the field of hockey, but about his participation in a socially oriented charity event – attracted the attention of all three telegram channels analyzed in this study.

Sport-Express posted a photo of an athlete with dogs, accompanied by a concise text.:

"Ovi didn't drop it at night, but we already have the cutest photo of this year (a smiley face depicting love surrounded by hearts)

Alexander participated in the club's charity event to find owners for homeless animals (smiley face depicting a dog)

Watch the puck on @sehockey (smiley face depicting a cup)" ^[12]

In the telegram of Sovetsky Sport, this news is described twice as voluminously.:

"(smiley face with heart eyes) You won't see anything nicer today. Ovechkin arrived at the match against Anaheim with two corgis.

The thing is that Alexander and the team took part in a charity event aimed at drawing attention to animal shelters.

Cool (smiley face – applauding hands)

(Soviet Sports logo) subscribe to @sovsport" ^[13]

The text is accompanied by a short video clip of a hockey player walking down a hallway with two dogs.

Match TV, like Soviet Sport, posted the video, accompanied by the following comments:

"(smiley face surrounded by hearts) Ovechkin participated in a good action. "Dog Night" helps tailed cats find new owners

Before the match, hockey players pose with friends who live in shelters and on the streets of the city.

Two lovely corgis are definitely happy to meet Alexander the Great (smiley face depicting raised hands)

@Match_TV

(smiley face is a video camera image ) of the Washington social network ^[11]

Chronologically, Sovetsky Sport posted the news first – at 12-28 on January 15, 2025 (Moscow time), Sport-Express - at 12:50, Match TV - at 15-11. All three telegram channels have embedded 2-3 emoticons in the text, mainly focusing on the emotion of "tenderness", "approval", "support". In all three cases, words with the root "mil-" were used: "the cutest photo", "you won't see anything sweeter today", "two sweetest corgis".

At the same time, recognizable features of each of the channels are noticeable in the different presentation of the news. So, Match TV resorts to using jargonisms ("pesel"), Sport-Express used a characteristic distortion of proper names for this publication – "Ovi" instead of the hockey player's full name. "Soviet Sport" and "Match TV" used specific names of the event in the text, and in "Soviet Sport" the sporting event is emphasized – it is mentioned with which team the corresponding match is being held, and in "Match TV" the name of the event is "Dog Night".

For all three publications, the news about Ovechkin and the dogs is posted on the website, and the publication time is about one to two hours later than in the telegram channel: at 14-17 at Sovetsky Sport ^[14], at 13-50 at Sport-Express ^[15], and on two hours earlier at Match TV - at 13-30 ^[16]. At the same time, Match TV has no jargon or emotional epithets in the news text on the website: "Washington forward Alexander Ovechkin came to the NHL regular season home game against Anaheim, accompanied by two corgi dogs. Washington players took part in the charity event "Night of Dogs", which helps to find owners for pets in pet shelters. Athletes appeared in front of cameras with dogs. Ovechkin appeared with two dogs at once – one was sitting in his backpack, the other was on a leash" ^[16].

It is significant that there are no emotional assessments in the text on the Match TV website, such as "cute", "kind", etc. For example, at the Sport Express, "Washington showed a cute photo" ^[15], "The club's social networks shared a cute photo of a Russian" ^[14] at the Soviet sports". An analysis of other materials on the Match TV website also showed that of all the channels of interaction with the viewer, the site, unlike the telegram channel, social networks and the TV channel itself, is the most stylistically restrained and non-expressive. Such a contrast was not found for print media: the presentation of the telegram channel mainly correlates with the style of the publication, social networks and the website.

In general, the telegram channels of all three sports publications are actively functioning, posts are updated every 30-60 minutes, and specific practices of interaction with the media itself, with affiliated telegram channels and with the media website are presented. Print publications are characterized by a high speed of news placement compared to the website and newspaper, the practice of announcing the latest issue of the print edition throughout the day, visualizing the pages of the newspaper and inviting readers of the telegram channel to interactive interaction. In this case, the telegram channel is a way to quickly interact with the reader and actively involve him in the emotional sphere of the publication, inviting him to a kind of "interest club". At a time when the print format of the publication is losing popularity, and few people purchase newspapers in paper format, the telegram channel is becoming a way to involve the younger generation in the consumption of information about sports, discussion (through the comment tool) and an increase in site visits.

Match TV posts announcements of TV shows, a program for every day, and links to live broadcasts on its telegram channel, which allow you to switch to the match broadcast and watch the event when a new message appears on the channel. The tone of communication in the telegram channel differs significantly from the presentation of the material on the website, however, it is almost completely reproduced on the social networks of the TV channel and on the air in the speech of TV presenters. This is an emotional friendly tone with extensive use of colloquial vocabulary and sports jargon, implying communication "in the circle of initiates."

In general, telegram channels of mass media have become another active channel for attracting an audience, interacting with it, and increasing the number of views of websites and TV shows. Along with websites and social networks, telegram channels post information about events, comments, news, analysis of sports events, etc. The specifics of the telegram channel as a new media outlet do not allow you to post a large amount of information in one post, and the media use this channel as a kind of information digest for an engaged and interested audience. The analysis of the telegram channels of the three largest sports media in Russia has shown that to date, a unified standard for the functioning of the telegram channel and the mechanics of its interaction with other consumer communication channels, as well as content diversification, has not yet been developed. Telegram channels do not duplicate the content of the publication completely, but they often announce publications or broadcasts, as well as post fragments of the most interesting moments from interviews, matches and other materials. This allows the modern consumer of content to be involved, to navigate the current news, to show their reaction both with the help of emoticons designed for this purpose, and with text comments. An iconic element of posts in the telegram channel is the extensive use of emoticons, which usually precede or end each sentence or paragraph, which serves as a kind of guideline for the reader - he is pre–tuned to the emotion that he should experience in connection with the event.