scholarly journals House of Lords Communications Committee: Public service broadcasting in the age of video on demand

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petros Iosifidis
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Video On Demand ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Public Service Broadcasting ◽  
On Demand ◽  
House Of Lords ◽  
Streaming Services ◽  
Fierce Competition

This article is my response to the House of Lords Communications Committee Inquiry on ‘Public service broadcasting in the age of video on demand’, which was carried out in 2019. The inquiry was important and relevant as the successful UK public service broadcasters (PSBs) BBC, ITV, C4, C5 and S4C are currently facing major challenges from video-on-demand (VoD) services. These challenges primarily concern competition for content from VoD services in a highly competitive broadcasting market characterized by shifts in audience behaviour. Audiences are watching less scheduled TV as they are attracted by the business model of global streaming services like YouTube, Amazon Prime Video and Netflix. Fierce competition from mainly US-based, unregulated global VoD players investing billions of pounds in content has escalated programming costs and made it difficult for tightly regulated PSBs with modest domestic UK budgets to compete. This article is largely in favour of sustaining properly funded, universally available PSBs, who can deliver quality and original programming, alongside impartial and trusted news in the era of fake news and post-truth politics.

scholarly journals The datafication of Public Service Media

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (69) ◽  
pp. 090-115
Author(s):  
Jannick Kirk Sørensen
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Key Performance Indicators ◽  
Video On Demand ◽  
Business Rules ◽  
Public Service Broadcasting ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Path Dependencies ◽  
Demand Service

Historically, public service broadcasting had no quantifiable knowledge aboutaudiences, nor a great interest in knowing them. Today, the competitive logic of themedia markets encourage public service media (PSM) organizations to increasedatafication. In this paper we examine how a PSM organization interprets the classicpublic service obligations of creating societal cohesion and diversity in the newworld of key performance indicators, business rules and algorithmic parameters.The paper presents a case study of the implementation of a personalization systemfor the video on demand service of the Danish PSM ‘DR’. Our empirical findings,based on longitudinal in-depth interviewing, indicate a long and difficult processof datafication of PSM, shaped by both the organizational path dependencies ofbroadcasting production and the expectations of public service broadcasting.

scholarly journals Rethinking International TV Flows Research in the Age of Netflix

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 241-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramon Lobato
Keyword(s):  
Research Agenda ◽  
Video On Demand ◽  
Global Media ◽  
Critical Questions ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Content Diversity ◽  
Streaming Services ◽  
Media Flows

This article considers how established methodologies for researching television distribution can be adapted for subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services. Specifically, I identify a number of critical questions—some old, some new—that can be investigated by looking closely at SVOD catalogs in different countries. Using Netflix as an example, and drawing parallels with earlier studies of broadcast and cinema schedules, I ask what Netflix’s international catalogs can tell us about content diversity within streaming services, and how this can be connected to longer traditions of debate about the direction and intensity of global media flows. Finally, I describe what a research agenda around Netflix catalogs might look like, and assess the utility of various kinds of data within such a project (as well as some methodological pitfalls).

scholarly journals In between the global and the local: Mapping the geographies of Netflix as a multinational service

2020 ◽  
pp. 136787792095316
Author(s):  
Amanda D Lotz
Keyword(s):  
Video Streaming ◽  
Video On Demand ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Competitive Environments ◽  
Video Distribution ◽  
Streaming Services ◽  
Revenue Models ◽  
Technological Affordances

The different technological affordances and revenue models of subscriber-funded, internet-distributed video streaming services have altered the competitive environments of audiovisual services. One category of these services, multinational SVODs (subscription video on demand), are changing the dynamics of transnational video distribution. Although having subscribers and offices, and commissioning content from many countries, are obvious measures of these services’ multinational status, the extent to which the distinct affordances of these services diminish the national lens through which all other international television trade occurs may be the most profound measure. The article explores how this too becomes a distinguishing competitive tool for Netflix that enables uncommon content strategies, such as the ability to program for tastes and sensibilities too small to effectively form a viable market for services limited by national reach.

scholarly journals Beyond catch-up

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Johnson
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Business Model ◽  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Video On Demand ◽  
On Demand ◽  
The Past ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Catch Up ◽  
Interactive Experience ◽  
Interactive User

The past 5 years have seen a rapid acceleration in the development of online television in the United Kingdom and beyond, with rise in ownership of Internet-connected television sets, smartphones and tablets, increased access to broadband and the growing penetration of transaction and subscription video-on-demand (VoD) services. This article asks how free-to-air terrestrial broadcasters are adapting to a media marketplace in which, according to Ofcom, on-demand television is becoming mass market, through an analysis of ITV Hub – the VoD player for the United Kingdom’s largest free-to-air advertiser-funded broadcaster. Focusing on the mature UK VoD market and the broadcaster whose business model is most threatened by online television, the article combines trade press and textual analysis to demonstrate how ITV has developed a VoD service highly structured by the logics of broadcasting. Centering its analysis on the interface for ITV Hub, the article argues that this increasingly quotidian form of television ephemera offers a vital site through which to understand the changing nature of television as a medium. The article concludes that with contemporary developments in VoD, the distinctions between linear/broadcast and non-linear/on-demand television (flow vs. file, passive viewer vs. interactive user) are breaking down in ways that challenge prevailing arguments that on-demand television can be understood as offering a distinctly different (and more empowered and interactive) experience for viewers.

scholarly journals ‘If you can’t beat them, be them’

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (70) ◽  
pp. 050-065
Author(s):  
Tim Raats ◽  
Tom Evens
Keyword(s):  
Joint Venture ◽  
Video On Demand ◽  
The Political ◽  
Competitive Advantages ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Small Market ◽  
Media Markets ◽  
Streaming Services ◽  
Market Factors

Faced with heavy competition of global subscription-video-on-demand (SVOD) streaming services, along with increased pressure on fi nancing and distribution of domestic content, legacy media players are increasingly exploring the potential of local SVOD services as domestic alternatives to global platforms such as Netflix and Disney+, often in collaboration with other European broadcasters and/or distributors.This article presents an in-depth case study of Streamz, a domestic SVOD alternative launched in Belgium in September 2020. Building on scholarly work on media disruption and platform power, the case study examines the political and market context that shaped the existence of the platform, and critically analyses the strategies pursued by legacy media players in attempting to develop and emulate key competitive advantages of global SVOD players. The article demonstrates how a persistent policy push to collaborate in a small market resulted in an unusual joint venture and, at the same time, how diff erent market factors, most of them characteristic for small media markets, pose signifi cant challenges for domestic players to develop a profi table platform in Europe, let alone be able to stand achance in a highly competitive streaming market.

scholarly journals TELEVISION MARKET DEVELOPMENT DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (86) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hennadii Mitrov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Service Providers ◽  
Video On Demand ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Main Requirement ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
The World ◽  
Streaming Services ◽  
Television Market

The article covers the issues surrounding the global Internet TV market’s evolution during the COVID-19 pandemic. The rapid changes in the modern Internet television market mean that an in-depth analysis of its development strategies is necessary for further development. The article goes over current trends that affect the development of the industry, and the factors that have led to its changes listed. Today, the main directions of the development of Internet television include multi-screen, video on demand, and the evolution of streaming platforms. This phenomenon became possible by the growing convergence of the Internet and television. The main driving force of the industry has become the so-called streaming services that provide content to subscribers anywhere and anytime — the main requirement to access it being the Internet. The battle for audiences has become truly international. But due to quarantine in many countries, most viewers have drastically changed their habits. Home entertainment has been taking first place, and television became one of them. For the first time in years, TV channel ratings have doubled, movie premieres have been delayed, and sports events around the world have come to a standstill. Audiences turned to those who could offer them the best content. The article examines trends caused by the pandemic, such as a significant increase in Internet traffic, the halting of movie and TV series production, a decrease in the number of sports games and related events, streaming services changing their tariff plans, and the subscription payment model taking leadership in the video-on-demand market. Both the negative and positive effects of these factors on television service providers’ activities, as well as the new habits of subscribers are analyzed. This situation has completely changed the industry, but it has only helped the business of large and local operators. Companies around the world have had to improve their service in a matter of weeks. These changes in the market would have taken years under normal conditions, but the pandemic has significantly accelerated the progress of Internet television and made it possible for end-users to get high-quality services.

Children and Public Service Broadcasting

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Livingstone ◽  
Claire Local
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Television Viewing ◽  
Children's Television ◽  
Online Content ◽  
Public Service Broadcasting ◽  
On Demand ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Television Plays

Much has been said about the future of public service content, the growth of multiple platforms, new market and regulatory pressures, and changing audience preferences and practices, among other widely debated topics. However, little attention has been paid to the role that public service television plays in educating, entertaining, and broadening the horizons of children in the UK. This chapter focuses on how public service television can better serve a child audience that spends on average at least 35 hours per week consuming broadcast, on-demand, and online content. It discusses how children still view public service television on a television set; whether children's television viewing really in decline; the case for online provision of children's public service television; the case for online provision for children of other public service content; and the case for enhancing the ‘discoverability’ of children's public service content.

Content Diversity1

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Consumer Preferences ◽  
Public Service Broadcasting ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Sports Events ◽  
Current Affairs ◽  
Catch Up ◽  
Data Consumer

This chapter considers the programme genres in public service broadcasting. Genres that have been traditionally associated with public service broadcasting — such as education, natural history, science, arts, current affairs, children's and religion — have been in steady decline for over a decade. A shift to on-demand viewing in recent years has further segmented viewing habits. Although the vast majority of viewing continues to be live, some genres are increasingly viewed on catch-up services. Big entertainment shows and sports events often account for the highest proportion of live viewing, compared to drama series, which have the highest proportion of on-demand viewing. These trends point to the increasing complexity of maintaining public service mixed genre provision given an increasing reliance on ‘big data’, consumer preferences, and taste algorithms that may limit the diversity and visibility of a broad range of genres.

Video-on-Demand as Public Service Television

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Video On Demand ◽  
The Internet ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Commercial Media ◽  
Air Content ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Television Content ◽  
Quality Programming ◽  
The Uk

Public service broadcasters (PSBs) are operating in a media landscape in which the increased convergence of the Internet and television has blurred the distinctions between broadcast and on-demand TV. In this environment, people can switch easily between live/linear and on-demand viewing within the same interface and access television content through a range of online and Internet-connected services. This chapter suggests that the case for PSB becomes stronger as traditional broadcast and Internet services merge. In a fully commercial media landscape, economically disadvantaged audiences are under-served because they are less able to pay for services and less attractive to advertisers. By providing free-to-air content, PSBs ensure that video-on-demand serves all of the UK public with high-quality programming that entertains, educates, and informs.

Netflix speaks Arabic, Arabs speak Netflix: How SVOD is transforming Arabic series screenwriting

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fadi G. Haddad ◽  
Alexander Dhoest
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Business Model ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Video On Demand ◽  
Target Audience ◽  
Cultural Narratives ◽  
System Framework ◽  
Scholarly Literature ◽  
On Demand ◽  
The World

While subscription of video-on-demand (SVOD) services has become increasingly popular across the world in recent years, the arrival of Netflix to the Arab world was transformational. As it stepped up to produce original Arabic series, Netflix-modelled services from the region proliferated, promising to challenge the existing Arabic series’ (musalsalat) routines in content and form. Since the Arab World is scarcely mentioned in the growing scholarly literature on SVODs, this article attempts to understand how the Arabic TV drama industry is recalibrating to this new transnational co-production context, particularly when it comes to developing series ideas and screenplays. Our aim is to analyse the creative interplay in which these ideas and screenplays are evaluated and developed. To this effect, we draw on original interviews with screenwriters, development producers and creative executives who have worked with Netflix on original Arabic series, as well as those who have worked with Shahid VIP, a Saudi-owned pan-Arab SVOD platform. Informed by the ‘Screen Idea System’ framework that suggests an understanding of the dynamics between the shaping elements of any new idea made for the screen, we explore whether the current business model results in certain cultural narratives and how this affects the perceptions of quality and success of the produced series. Our findings show that transnationalism is instigated by the writers’ perception of a transnational target audience, and is reflected strongly on the levels of production and creative decision-making. Moreover, the systems in which the series of both platforms are developed are in constant negotiations with the musalsalat conventions, while aiming to prompt novelty based on a Western perception of the idea of quality.

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