Series Under Threat

Lockdown has given us an occasion to discover new television series and to revisit others. TV series accompany us in our ordinary lives, but they can also be a resource or refuge in extraordinary situations. As the enduring success of Friends proves, they provide us with universes of comfort. TV series provide strong common cultural referents, which populate both ordinary conversations and political debates. TV series, by virtue of their aesthetic format (their duration, weekly and seasonal regularity, and the fact that they are, or were until recently, usually viewed in the context of the home), the attachment they inspire to their characters, the democratization and diversification of modes of viewing them (internet, streaming, discussion forums), make possible a specific form of education and constitution of a public. TV shows are hence a medium for political and ethical discussion. The article studies two series, Homeland and The Bureau, which are paradigmatic examples of a genre that has grown exponentially since the beginning of the century, and which we refer to as the “security series” genre. These series are great works of art and can also be seen as powerful tools for educating and informing the public.

Changing the Market Position of Public Television – Case of Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary

The market position of public television channels has been changing over the last three decades. From monopolists, public televisions have become just one of the players on the television market. This paper analyses the position of public television in Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary. These neighbouring countries are similar but have different market power of public TV. Croatia has a strong public television, Hungary has very week public television, and Slovenia is in the middle. The aim of this paper is to show how the audience of public TV channels has been changing and based on this data, the author will estimate regression models for future forecasting of audience share for public TV channels in all three countries. This will enable the analysis of the market position of the whole group of public TV channels in each country.

Three Wishes for Cinderella: Fitting a Czech shoe to a Norwegian foot

In this article, the authors outline arguments explaining the lasting success of the Czechoslovak and East German film Three Wishes for Cinderella (1973). Drawing on newer theories of adaptation, the article addresses the following questions: what mutation did the Cinderella narrative undergo and how did it influence the acceptance of the film adaptation in the Czech and Norwegian context? Are there any non-adaptive explanations for changes in the narrative that can be perceived as a ‘random drift’? How is the persistence of this particular adaptation supported in various cultural contexts? Can we speak about cross-cultural indigenization in the case of Three Wishes for Cinderella? The aim is also to explore the factors that contributed to this cultural phenomenon and to map the journey the adaptation underwent, including the role of NRK public TV and the role of the voice-over. Finally, we discuss whether this adaptation is truly a timeless phenomenon.

COVID-19 Media Coverage on Spanish Public TV

The respiratory syndrome SARS-CoV-2 has affected over 100 countries during the last weeks. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization de­clared the COVID-19 outbreak a pan­demic and since 31 December 2019, 201,315 deaths have been reported. The media has played a key role in providing information and making people aware of the situation during this emergency situation. This re­search seeks to examine the corona­virus media coverage on the Spanish public TV (TVE1). In order to achieve this goal, a content analysis based on the five stages of grief, an audience survey, and focus group interviews were conducted. The results have shown that coverage has undergone different phases. Accordingly, each of these stages has been perceived by the audience. Although both the au­dience and the experts appreciate the work of Spanish public television, the majority opinion is negative. In this re­gard, they state that it has not been impartial and there has been an ex­cess of information. For researchers, these results provide important guide­lines to increase the number of liter­ature reviews by considering not only the news but also the audience and experts’ perceptions. Keywords: COVID-19, coverage, audi­ence, perceptions, content analysis.

Quality and Class or Malls and Music Video

With network musical castoffs like Fame and The Muppet Show hitting it big in syndication and viewers defecting to public TV, the eighties proved challenging for ABC, CBS, and NBC. Simultaneously, viewers lucky enough to live in early-served cable markets could circumvent the networks altogether. Seeing the writing on the wall, the networks jumped into the cable arena with a string of niche performing arts channels, with CBS Cable, Alpha Repertory Theatre Service (ARTS), and The Entertainment Channel (TEC) providing viewers a new cache of musical programming. The resultant interplay between television’s heavy hitters, video distributors, and Broadway royalty like the Nederlanders highlights this as a time of high stakes for various forms of musical entertainment. That said, it was MTV and its embrace of teens and the music video tie-ins of popular dance films like Footloose and Flashdance that won the battle for the cable-based musical market.

A TV PÚBLICA NO BRASIL E PORTUGAL: Aspectos conceituais e históricos

A proposta deste artigo é compreender melhor o sistema público de televisão em Portugal e no Brasil, especificamente as emissoras RTP1 e TV Brasil. Embora os dois países sejam marcados por fortes ligações históricas, culturais e linguísticas, se distanciam no que diz respeito a radiodifusão pública. Enquanto em Portugal a televisão já nasce sob o domínio estatal, que posteriormente vai se moldando aos princípios do serviço público, no Brasil chega pelas mãos da iniciativa privada, que por quase duas décadas dominou de forma exclusiva o cenário televisivo, imprimindo seu modelo no país. PALAVRAS CHAVE: Televisão; Brasil; Portugal; TV pública; História. ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to better understand the public television system in Portugal and Brazil, specifically the RTP1 and TV Brazil broadcasters. Although the two countries are marked by strong historical, cultural and linguistic connections, they are distant in relation to public broadcasting. While in Portugal, television is born under state domination, which later is shaping the principles of public service, in Brazil comes through the hands of private initiative, which for almost two decades dominated the television scene exclusively, printing its model in the country. KEYWORDS: Television; Brazil; Portugal; Public TV; Story. RESUMEN El propósito de este trabajo es comprender mejor el sistema público de televisión en Portugal y Brasil, específicamente en las emisoras de televisión RTP 1 y Brasil. Aunque los dos países están marcados por fuertes vínculos históricos, culturales y lingüísticos, se distancian en lo que se refiere a la radiodifusión pública. Mientras que en Portugal la televisión nace bajo dominio del Estado, que posteriormente dar forma a los principios de servicio público en Brasil llega a manos de la empresa privada, que desde hace casi dos décadas dominaron exclusivamente el panorama de la televisión mediante la impresión de su modelo en el país . PALABRAS CLAVES: Televisión; Brasil; Portugal; TV pública; Historia.