Public Service Media in the online arena

Abstract

Introduction. Public Service Media (PSM) in Europe have had to adapt to new scenarios where the Internet is the main platform to inform, communicate and disseminate content to their audiences. Objectives and methodology. We examined websites of Public Service Media organisations in Europe, taking into account the following parameters: positioning, engagement, origin of the audience and device for access. Results. In most cases, time spent by users on sites is limited, the bounce rate is high, users are national and the most frequently used access devices to web contents are mobile. Discussion and conclusions. In some cases, results show that websites belonging to European public broadcasters are not meeting users' expectations. It is key that operators consider developing more efficient online services when designing their business strategies, as this will inevitably result in greater and better usage of their websites by users.

Adapt or die? How traditional Spanish TV broadcasters deal with the youth target in the new audio-visual ecosystem

“…The audio-visual content offered by these groups on the internet was developed in stages. This content ranged from the incorporation of audio-visual elements or programmes and live broadcasts on the websites of the TV channels for content promotion (Rodríguez-Fernández et al, 2018) to the development of premium paid models on platforms such as ATRESPlayer and Mitele Plus (Guerrero, 2018). At the same time, collaborative projects among commercial and public broadcasters were being developed such as on-demand services using common standards (HbbTV) like the LovesTV portal.…”

Introduction. The Values of Public Service Media in the Internet Society

“…Regardless of the size, market power or model adopted by a public service broadcaster in each specific context, these organizations experienced a quite challenging transformation since the mid-1990s, as online and digital media started to develop, changing the communication markets for good. Public service broadcasters then evolved into Public Service Media (PSM) organizations (Bardoel and Lowe 2007 ; Brevini 2010 ), a process that authors like Donders ( 2019 , p. 1012) consider still a “work in progress.” Their traditional activity in the radio and television market was expanded and PSM organizations launched catch-up and on-demand platforms (Rodríguez-Fernández et al 2018 ), developed new ways to connect with their audiences through social media (van Dijck and Poell 2015 ), experimented with innovative narratives, including immersive (Gutiérrez-Caneda et al 2020 ) and transmedia products (Franquet and Villa Montoya 2014 ) and exploited the personalization potentialities posed by the new digital environment (Schwarz 2016 ; Vaz Álvarez et al 2020 ). This digital expansion was also accompanied by major organizational reforms, affecting the organizations’ charts and newsrooms (Larrondo et al 2016 ), which had to be redesigned in order to adapt to new workflows of content production ; its culture, which must evolve from protectionism to a partnership framework (Głowacki and Jackson 2019 ); and its funding models, which in some cases (such as the license fee attached to the ownership of a television set) became unsustainable in the face of new consumption habits (Warner 2019 ).…”