Producing the on-air schedule in Danish public service television in the digital era

Abstract

This article presents results from a production study on how the on-air-schedule is changing in the digital era at the Danish public service broadcaster, TV 2. TV 2's multi-channel and increasingly non-linear television portfolio has a profound impact on the production practices involved in order to meet the public service obligations. The analysis shows that the producers develop new ways to secure an audience of scale under these conditions. So far three lessons are learned: First, the work flow of promoting content and the demands on the qualities of the promotional material has changed. Second, an understanding of the interplay between flow and SVOD scheduling is emerging. And third, a renewed focus is put on branding the viewer-provider relationship. The article concludes that the production of on-air scheduling makes the contours of what can be termed 'a third television paradigm' visible in which a distinction between linear and nonlinear television does not apply.

The delay economy of “continuity” and the emerging impatience culture of the digital era

“…Efforts to attract and retain the attention of the viewers are therefore paramount and have become more important than ever. The findings from my own production study of TV 2 in Denmark in 2016 (Bruun, 2018) also support the idea that a rather conservative and cautious development is taking place in commercially funded public service television. The television industry's dominant business model (the commercial break) and the very different pricing models connected to commercials on broadcast television and online television are the important conservative forces in the industry.…”

“…As an integrated part of the on-air schedule of linear television and what the industry calls "continuity", this business model is presently under threat owing to the tensions between a linear and a non-linear television paradigm. However, recent explanations of the way in which different television companies navigate the tensions between these two paradigms have pointed to the resilience of the traditional linear television paradigm in the reconfiguration of "continuity" and of the on-air schedule produced by the television companies (Barra & Scaglioni, 2017;Bruun, 2016Bruun, , 2018Enli & Van den Bulck, 2014;Ihlebaek et al, 2014;Johnson, 2013Johnson, , 2017. This article adds to this body of television studies, contributing in particular to a discussion of the kind of implied viewer that is being produced by the broadcasters.…”

“…As pointed out in my recent study of how the production of on-air schedules and continuity is changing within the Danish public service broadcaster TV 2 (Bruun, 2018), the television industry in Denmark is presently marked by tensions between a familiar linear television paradigm and an emerging non-linear television paradigm, with at least five key characteristics of the two paradigms colliding -as outlined below: Continuity is very much a child of these key characteristics of the linear television paradigm outlined above. It performs a list of communicative functions in the provider-viewer relationship that might be very close to what television studies have regarded as the basic characteristics of television as a medium (Bruun, 2016).…”

“…The text produced strives to tackle the tension between the schedule and the programmes on the one hand and the time view-ers spend waiting for the next programme to begin on the other. Second, during these intermissions, which are regarded as waiting time by the viewers, providers promote themselves and their products (Bruun, 2016(Bruun, , 2018Stigel, 2004Stigel, , 2006 in accordance with the traditional business model: commercial breaks including sponsorship announcements. Even if continuity is still fundamental to the way in which a television company distributes its content to the majority of its audience and makes a revenue, the viewing habits in the population are changing.…”

“…The way in which on-air schedules and continuity are produced is changing within television companies. The producers are trying to appropriate the nonlinear paradigm and integrate it into their strategies and tactics in a way that fits the multiplatform "ecosystems" or "digital estates" of the television companies (Bruun, 2018;Evans et al, 2017). However, as Johnson's (2012) findings suggest, it has become increasingly difficult to predict linear viewing patterns.…”