For almost 100 years, public service media (PSM) have played a central role in European culture and society. However, over the past decade the rise of global platforms and streaming services has transformed the environment within which PSM operates. PSM organisations have to compete with global streaming services, such as Netflix and YouTube, for audiences, revenue and talent. And they have had to develop new on-demand services and online content that can only be delivered through the online systems owned by global platforms such as Google, Apple and Amazon. PSM-AP asks how PSM organisations, and the regulators and policymakers that legislate for and enforce their remits, are adapting to this new platform age, and how their responses might be altering the social and cultural values of PSM and its ability to operate in the public interest. It focuses on television, which remains at the heart of PSM. It asks how the new environment within which PSM organisations are operating might affect the values that underpin the production and distribution of TV programmes by PSM organisations, and the policy debates and regulatory structures that shape the remits and structures within which PSM organisations operate.
The project will compare data gathered within and across six countries and 12 PSM organisations: Belgium (RTBF, VRT), Canada (CBC), Denmark (DR, TV 2), Italy (RAI), Poland (TVP), UK (BBC, Channel 4, S4C, ITV, Channel 5). We will look at policy, regulatory and trade debates/documents, undertake interviews with commissioning, channel/service, curation, marketing and audience research teams within the selected PSM organisations, and analyse the linear schedules, video-on-demand interfaces and programmes of those PSM organisations. Comparing this data across each country will enable us to understand how different factors, such as language, size of nation and legitimacy and funding of PSM, might affect the ways in which PSM organisations, regulators and policymakers are adapting to the platform age. Knowledge exchange with PSM organisations, regulators, policymakers and civil society groups will be used to identify what actions might be needed to ensure that PSM operates in the public interest. The project includes the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the European Platform of Regulatory Authorities (EPRA) as project partners and will generate industry and policy briefs, reports, blogs and press articles aimed at securing the public value of PSM.
KEYWORDS:
public service medi, platformisation, public value, comparative media studies, regulation and policy, working practices and organisational cultures, narratives and aesthetics, personalisation
CONSORTIUM
- Project Leader: Catherine Johnson, University of Leeds, School of Media and Communication, United Kingdom, e-mail
- Tim Raats, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Centre for Studies on Media, Innovation and Technology, Belgium
- Hanne Bruun, Aarhus University, Media and Journalism Studies, Denmark, e-mail
- Michal Glowacki, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Journalism, Information and Book Studies, Poland, e-mail
COOPERATION PARTERS
- Emmanuelle Machet, European Platform of Regulatory Authorities (EPRA)
- Sasha Scott, European Broadcasting Union (EBU)
- Serra Tinic, Faculty of Arts, University of Alberta
- Massimo Scaglioni, Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
ACHIEVEMENTS
Publications:
Journal Articles
Johnson C., Martin D., Universality: A Battleground for UK Public Service Media in the Platform Age, The Political Quarterly, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.13342
Iordache C., Martin D., Mejse Münter Lassen J., Raats T., Świtkowski F., Gajlewicz-Korab K., Johnson C., People, personalisation, prominence: A framework for analysing the PSM shift to digital portals and interrogating universality across contexts, International Journal of Cultural Studies, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1177/13678779241296556
Bruun H., Raats T., Mejse Münter Lassen J., Świtkowski F., Nucci A., Johnson C.,
Publishing Public Service Media on Demand: a comparative study of Public Service Media companies’ editorial practices on their VoD-services in the age of platformisation, Journal of Digital Media & Policy (in press)
ORF articles
Raats T., (2024) Preserving and extending universality in the platform age, In TEXTE 28: Public Service Media in Europe, ORF, pp. 14–18, https://zukunft.orf.at/show_content.php?sid=147&pvi_id=2415&pvi_medientyp=t&oti_tag=Texte
Glowacki M. (2024) Public service, no deliberation, In TEXTE 28: Public Service Media in Europe, ORF, pp. 37–41, https://zukunft.orf.at/show_content.php?sid=147&pvi_id=2415&pvi_medientyp=t&oti_tag=Texte
Mejse Münter Lassen J., (2024) Danish public television in digital transition: A range of dilemmas, In TEXTE 28: Public Service Media in Europe, ORF, pp. 119–122,
https://zukunft.orf.at/show_content.php?sid=147&pvi_id=2415&pvi_medientyp=t&oti_tag=Texte
Policy Briefs
Głowacki M., Świtkowski F., Johnson C., (2025) Adapting Public Service Media for the Age of Platforms: Balancing legacy, technology and audience needs for future development. Report. University of Leeds, https://doi.org/10.48785/100/305
Bruun H., Münter Lassen J., (2025) Streaming af public service-tv i platformenes tid, Report, University of Leeds, https://doi.org/10.48785/100/300
Iordache C., Raats T., (2025) Streaming Public Service Television in the Age of Platforms: Lessons from a comparative analysis of VoD publishing and personalisation in the Belgian market, Report, University of Leeds, https://doi.org/10.48785/100/301
Bruun H., Münter Lassen J., Johnson C., (2025) Streaming Public Service Television in the Age of Platforms, Report, University of Leeds, https://doi.org/10.48785/100/298
Scaglioni M., Nucci A., Galli M., (2024) Italian policy brief: La transizione digitale del Servizio pubblico in Italia, Report, University of Leeds on behalf of PSM AP, https://doi.org/10.48785/100/260
Głowacki M., Świtkowski F., Gajlewicz-Korab K., Mikucki J., (2024) Polish Policy Brief – Media publiczne w erze platform: Telewizja czy Platforma? Report, University of Leeds on behalf of PSM AP, https://doi.org/10.48785/100/259
Raats T., Catalina I., Van der Elst P., (2024) Belgian Policy Brief: Een online first publieke omroep als voorwaarde voor een toekomstbestendige publieke omroep? Report, University of Leeds on behalf of PSM AP, https://doi.org/10.48785/100/258
Bruun H.,(2024) Fremtidssikrede public servicemedier i Danmark? Report, University of Leeds on behalf of PSM AP., https://doi.org/10.48785/100/255
Johnson, Catherine; and Martin, Dan (2024) Future-proofing the UK’s Public Service Media Lessons from a comparative analysis of seven media markets. Report. University of Leeds on behalf of PSM AP.
https://doi.org/10.48785/100/257
Raats T., Iordache C., Johnson C., (2024) Policy brief: Towards a Future-Proof Public Service Media? Lessons from a comparative analysis in seven media markets, Report, University of Leeds on behalf of PSM AP, https://doi.org/10.48785/100/256
Start date
1 November 2022
Project duration
36 months
Project budget
€ 1 335 910
Funding organisations
