Covid-19 and public service media: Impact of the pandemic on public television in europe


Abstract:

This article analyses the response of European Public Service Media to the crisis caused by Covid-19, especially the impact of the pandemic on Europe’s major public broadcasters, with a particular focus on technical and professional constraints, alterations in audience volume and habits, production strategies, type of broadcast content and journalists’ routines. The research is based on public information from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and 19 in-depth, structured interviews with a convenience sample of innovation and strategy managers from public broadcasters in Austria (ORF), Belgium (VRT and RTBF), Denmark (DR), Finland (YLE), France (France TV), Germany (ARD and ZDF), Great Britain (BBC), Ireland (RTÉ), Italy (RAI), Netherlands (NPO), Portugal (RTP), Spain (RTVE), Sweden (SVT), Switzerland (RTS) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The results indicate that the corporate projection of PSM was increased by emphasising their role as essential services and their defence of the values that characterise them. The pandemic forced the adaptation of programme production from technical standards to an emotional approach, accelerating a formal hy-bridisation with native online contents. Dependence on software grew and newsmaking processes were altered towards ‘remote journalism’. Changes are drawn that may be maintained in the future.

Año de publicación:

2020

Keywords:

  • Chains
  • Production strategies
  • co-creation
  • trends
  • Interactivity
  • Advertising
  • Platforms
  • News
  • television
  • CORONAVIRUS
  • Television programming
  • covid-19
  • audiences
  • Pandemics
  • Broadcasters
  • EUROPE
  • Public Service Media
  • PSM

Fuente:

scopusscopus

Tipo de documento:

Article

Estado:

Acceso abierto

Áreas de conocimiento:

  • Medios de comunicación
  • Comunicación

Áreas temáticas:

  • Procesos sociales
  • Problemas sociales y servicios a grupos
  • Actuaciones públicas