New Sources of Public Service Content1

This chapter considers public service content outside of television. In recent years, there has been a major shift in viewing habits, with more and more people watching material on demand, not just through catch-up services such as the BBC iPlayer but also online. Greater broadband speeds have facilitated the viewing of audiovisual material through an internet connection, and the technical and financial barriers to making such content have fallen. Every newspaper, advertiser, campaigning group, agency, corporation, and brand is now in the content creation game. So too are the UK's many and diverse cultural institutions, ranging from national organisations established in statute to diverse local, regional, and charitable establishments; they could prove to be key contributors to a more plural, diverse and dynamic public service media landscape in the future.

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.


2013 ◽  
Vol 146 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Bennett ◽  
Andrea Medrado

In this article, we explore the notion of hybrid public service media (PSM) in relation to two interconnected issues: economic and platform hybridity. We examine the creation of PSM content by privately owned, commercially driven independent production companies in the United Kingdom as a hybrid economic arrangement. In so doing, we ask not only whether public service can act as a motivation beyond profit for production cultures and business models, but also whether PSM can be created at a profit without compromising the fulfilment of public service values. In relation to platform hybridity, we study examples of interlinking public service content created, delivered and distributed across multiple platforms (as opposed to merely video-on-demand services). In particular, we are interested in how such multi-platform texts might fulfil public service, but also the way in which multi-platform content creation brings together digital and television production cultures to produce hybrid PSM business models and cultures.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-40
Author(s):  
Nur Syafiqah Hussin ◽  
Naqiah Awang ◽  
Farah Husna Mohd Fatzel

Covid-19 is an unprecedented crisis that has affected almost all industry players including education. It has transformed our way of life and introduced a new normal to how things are done. As an effort to contain the outbreak of pandemic Covid-19, universities have shifted to online learning. In line with this, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) has decided to execute open and distance learning (ODL) for the current semester until 31 December 2020. ODL introduces a different learning environment as compared to the traditional classroom that requires students to be self-reliant in learning new things. Hence, the purpose of the study is to explore students’ experiences in the process of knowledge transfer through ODL specifically for accounting subjects. A questionnaire was distributed to students who were taking the subject of Introduction to Financial Accounting and Introduction to Cost Accounting in UiTM Pahang Kampus Raub and a total of 206 responses were received. The study found over half of the students enjoy learning through ODL but only one-third were looking forward to having ODL for the next semester. Poor internet connection is the main reason found in the study that makes ODL not preferred by the students. At the same time, few features were highlighted by the students about ODL such as the advantage of pre-recorded video to catch up the new material and flexibility for them to learn at their own pace.


Author(s):  
Daithí Mac Síthigh

The purpose of this chapter is to explain, in the context of telecommunications law and regulation, the regulation by EU and UK law of audiovisual and radio media services. Overarching principles are found in the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, which takes an approach described as technologically neutral, but established two top-level categories of regulation, for television (or linear) services and on-demand (or non-linear) services. In the case of television services, a wide range of standalone works and comprehensive Sections or chapters on the regulation of broadcasting are available. As such, the focus here (with a view to the interests of readers) is on licensing of content and multiplex services by Ofcom and the handling of complaints about those services, with a bias towards the standard licences for services on cable, satellite, internet, and digital terrestrial platforms, and the regulation of DTT multiplexes and of on-demand services, as opposed to detailed description of the BBC and the commercial public service broadcasters. Indeed, the European Court of Human Rights has regularly found that the regulation of communications infrastructure can have a real impact on the receiving and imparting of information.


2015 ◽  
pp. 1370-1414
Author(s):  
Jaydip Sen

Cloud computing transforms the way Information Technology (IT) is consumed and managed, promising improved cost efficiencies, accelerated innovation, faster time-to-market, and the ability to scale applications on demand (Leighton, 2009). According to Gartner, while the hype grew exponentially during 2008 and continued since, it is clear that there is a major shift towards the cloud computing model and that the benefits may be substantial (Gartner Hype-Cycle, 2012). However, as the shape of cloud computing is emerging and developing rapidly both conceptually and in reality, the legal/contractual, economic, service quality, interoperability, security, and privacy issues still pose significant challenges. In this chapter, the authors describe various service and deployment models of cloud computing and identify major challenges. In particular, they discuss three critical challenges: regulatory, security, and privacy issues in cloud computing. Some solutions to mitigate these challenges are also proposed along with a brief presentation on the future trends in cloud computing deployment.


Author(s):  
Jaroslav Vrchota ◽  
Monika Mařiková ◽  
Petr Řehoř ◽  
Ladislav Rolínek ◽  
Radek Toušek

Industry 4.0 is related to major changes, particularly in production. As such changes might have major implications for the labour market; the paper focuses on the assumptions of the human capital and its preparedness for Industry 4.0 in the Czech Republic. The findings are based on EUROSTAT, MEYS, OECD, ISCED, CZSO, and WEF. Based on such data, twelve indicators were selected and described in the results. Subsequently, the correlation analysis was carried out, using the data of the Czech Republic in order to estimate which indicators are related and thus to obtain a more detailed view of areas that need to be improved. The level of computer skills in the Czech Republic are increasing. Internet connection is around 80%. The share of technical workers in the Czech Republic is in the range of 30–40%. In terms of expenditure on education, the Czech Republic belongs to the countries of the eastern region. The number of graduates of technical professions managed to catch up with the development of the European Union (EU). In terms of employment in High-tech and Medium-high-tech areas, the Czech Republic is one of the leaders in the EU. Czech students have great potential in basic computer skills.


2011 ◽  
pp. 303-311
Author(s):  
Sylvie Albert ◽  
Don Flournoy ◽  
Rolland LeBrasseur

A new set of conditions for healthy growth and adaptation is emerging for 21st century communities. This book has sought to explain what some of these conditions are, and to advise forward-thinking community leaders and stakeholders about how to take advantage of broadband bi-directional telecommunications to assure a better future for all. The high-speed Internet has given individuals, institutions and businesses ways to more efficiently connect and collaborate with one another, locally and globally. With pervasive digital networks in place, the economics of access, innovation and distribution have undergone radical transformation. The costs continue to drop throughout the value chain of products and services. The instruments of digital product, service and content creation that only a century ago were in the hands of governments, and only a decade ago were in the hands of big business, are now in the hands of local entrepreneurs and citizens as well. Anyone with a personal computer can now be a publisher, and anyone with an Internet connection can be a producer, marketer and distributor. Ordinary citizens who once thought of themselves only as consumers of other people’s products can now create their own content and build applications that can be—and are being—sold and adopted globally as well as locally. The democratization of the tools of content and service production and the collaborative networks that make information exchange more efficient and productive allow for more prosperous communities.


Author(s):  
Catherine Johnson

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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petros Iosifidis

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.


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