PSM-AP: PUBLIC SERVICE MEDIA IN THE AGE OF PLATFORMS
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Huddersfield
Department Name: School of Arts and Humanities
Abstract
PSM-AP asks how the cultural and social values of public service media (PSM) are being transformed by the rise of global streaming platforms and what factors are propelling or inhibiting change in different national contexts. For almost 100 years, PSM have played a central role in European culture and society. However, in the past decade, PSM have begun to be transformed by 'platformisation', a particular facet of digitalisation in which a small number of global platforms (Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple) dominate the digital media landscape. PSM organisations have responded by developing new production, delivery and aesthetic practices that could alter, undermine or enhance the value that they provide to society and culture. To understand how and why platformisation is transforming PSM, this project will use a comparative framework based on the six public service values of universality, independence, excellence, diversity, accountability and innovation outlined by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU, n.d.). This framework will be used to analyse 130 in-depth interviews with commissioning, channel/service, curation and audience research teams, the programmes and catalogues of PSM organisations, and trade, regulatory and policy documents in six countries (Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Poland, UK). Contextualised in relation to wider data on the governance, media markets and cultures in each country, this comparative analysis will deliver a clearer understanding not only of how platformisation is transforming PSM across Europe, but also the national, international and transnational factors that are propelling or inhibiting change. Knowledge exchange with, and dissemination to, stakeholders and publics through industry workshops, reports, policy briefs, blogs and press articles, will enable the translation of the research findings into industry and policy recommendations at national and transnational levels, aimed at securing the ongoing public value of PSM.
Organisations
| Description | The overarching aim of PSM-AP is to understand the ways in which public service media (PSM) organisations, regulators and policymakers are responding to the changes wrought by the growth of global platforms and the impact that this might have on the social and cultural values underpinning PSM. Within this, the PSM-AP project has four objectives. At this stage in the project we have completed work package 1, whose main objective was to comparatively analyse the social and cultural values that underpin the national and transnational regulatory and policy debates about PSM in the age of platforms across our six case study countries. The results of our analysis of policy and regulatory documents in Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Poland and the UK found some similarities in the challenges presented by the rise of platforms for PSM as well as some significant differences. One key finding was that the value of universality (in which PSM should be freely available and accessible to all citizens) has emerged as a contested concept, particularly as younger audiences spend less time with PSM and audiences are fragmented across a wider range of services. PSM organisations in all countries had moved to the provision of both video-on-demand (VOD) and linear services raising concerns about the appropriate balance between linear and online provision. This spoke in particular to concerns that linear audiences, which are typically older, lower income and more likely to be disabled, would be left behind. The pressure on PSM organisations to introduce mandatory login (in order to be able to gather the data required to offer personalised recommendations) further generated concerns that this undermined universal access. The concept of universality further emerged in debates about the prominence and discoverability of PSM portals and services on smart TVs and connected devices. In parallel, were debates about the appropriate balance between curation and algorithmic personalisation on PSM VOD services, particularly in relation to providing an appropriate diversity of content. The concern for maintaining these values of universality and diversity frequently conflicted with commercial and market pressures, such as to build the attractiveness and user-friendliness of VOD services to compete with global streamers and balance the use of their own VOD services with third-party platforms, particularly social media. Here, the project revealed the challenges for PSM organisations in all six countries in competing with global streamers who operate on a scale and with access to funding not available to national PSMs. Part of the problem across the case study countries is that path dependencies persist, with funding and auditing of online strategy and practices dominated by linear logics. Finally, policymakers across the six case study countries agreed on the continued importance of PSM and the need to strengthen the PSM's online portal. There were differences, however, in terms of timeline, priorities and strategy, and in terms of the ways in which PSM performance was evaluated. In some contexts, there was a disconnect between the political discourse and the priorities of the PSM organisations themselves, with policy often falling well behind the market realities for PSMs. There was also significant variation in the implementation of algorithmic personalisation, although in the main this was an area rarely addressed by regulation or media laws. |
| Exploitation Route | Although still at a fairly early stage in the research, we have already had significant interest in the research. Beyond academia, we have had numerous invitations to present and discuss the findings and considerable interest in the WP1 findings at our knowledge exchange workshop in Brussels. There is particular interest in our findings related to prominence and discoverability amongst policymakers and regulators. Across Europe and beyond, prominence is being widely debated as a policy intervention. In the UK context, our findings have fed into debates about the Media Bill, which is currently going through Parliament and will introduce prominence legislation for the first time. Our outcomes have also been of interest to PSM organisations themselves, and with regulators, and there has been significant interest in understanding what changes are taking place in other contexts and sharing knowledge and strategies. In terms of academic research, we have one article accepted for publication in the journal Political Quarterly, which will come out in June, and a second under review. We have also presented the findings so far at eight conferences, where there has been significant engagement with the outcomes so far. The main outcome that has been of interest to academics so far has been the identification of universality as a key contested value for contemporary PSM, which will be important for future academic research on the normative values of PSM and on the challenges facing PSM organisations. |
| Sectors | Creative Economy Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Government Democracy and Justice |
| URL | https://psm-ap.com/publications/ |
| Description | Beeb Watch podcast |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Interviewed of Catherine Johnson (PSM-AP PL) by Roger Bolton for his Beeb Watch podcast, in a half hour episode that explored different aspects of the challenges faced by PSB, drawing on PSM-AP research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://shows.acast.com/rogerboltonsbeebwatch/episodes/prof-catherine-johnson-discusses-the-decline-... |
| Description | Debate at Civic Pact for PSM in Warsaw |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Michal Glowacki (PI on PSM-AP) participated in a civic debate for the Civic Pact for Public Service Media about the future of PSM in Poland. The event was held at Terminal Kultury Goclaw in Warsaw. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Debate on PSM in Poland hosted by the Citizens Pact for PSM |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Michal Glowacki (PI on PSM-AP project) gave a talk and participated in a public debate hosted by the Citizens Pact for PSM about the future of PSM in Poland which took place a the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Discussion on political change and the Media at the Erich-Brost-Institute |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Michal Glowacki (PI on the PSM-AP project) participated in a panel discussion on political change and the media, focusing on the Polish case. This took place at the Erich Brost Institute in Dortmund, Germany. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.europe-direct-dortmund.de/event/political-change-and-the-media-the-polish-czech-estonian... |
| Description | EPRA Conference 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | 12 minute video interview of Catherine Johnson (PSM-AP PL) with Maria Donde about the PSM-AP project which was shown at the European Platform of Regulatory Authorities (EPRA) annual conference in May 2023 and also posted on YouTube |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://youtu.be/51TudA7z1-Y?si=2dknz0BDGW5GUQsq |
| Description | International Broadcasting Trust report and launch event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Catherine Johnson (PSM-AP PL) was interviewed for report by third sector organisation, the International Broadcasting Trust, which campaigns for better coverage of international issues in broadcasting on behalf of charities, such as Oxfam. She was then invited to give a presentation and participate in a panel discussion at the report launch hosted at the Palace of Westminster in the UK. This led to ongoing discussions about a further research collaboration with the IBT and greater awareness of the project amongst the third sector. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://ibt.org.uk/reports/fighting-for-space-international-content-and-the-future-of-public-service... |
| Description | Knowledge Exchange Workshop 1 - Brussels |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | We held the first Knowledge Exchange Workshop for the project in Brussels in January 2024. The Workshop was hosted by the Flemish PSM, VRT, in their main building. The morning focused on policy and regulatory debates related to PSM and prominence and was attended by representatives of PSM organisations in 9 countries, commercial media organisations, policymakers, regulators and representatives from the European Broadcasting Union. We presented and discussed findings from Work Package 1 and shared our comparative industry report. The afternoon was a closed workshop with representatives from PSM organisations from 9 countries which focused on personalisation and curation of VOD services. We presented initial findings from Work Package 3 and curated a discussion about the challenges of balancing algorithmic personalisation and curation. The workshop resulted in an invitation to present at the EBU's Legal and Policy conference in April 2024, and requests from the PSM participants to share the notes and findings stemming from the discussion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://psm-ap.com/knowledge-exchange-workshop-2024-in-brussels/ |
| Description | Presentation to CEO of Strategy at DR |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of the PSM-AP project by Hanne Bruun and Julie Munter Lassen (PI and RF on PSM-AP project) to the CEO of Strategy and Users and his team at DR (Danish PSM). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Talk at the Radio and TV Council of the Cultural Ministry in Denmark |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Talk by Hanne Bruun (PI on PSM-AP) on WP1 and WP3 funding on PSM in Europe and the case of Denmark in the context, to the Radio and TV Council (the Danish regulator) a the Cultural Ministry in Denmark. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Talk at workshop on state aid regulation for Nordic PSM |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | One hour talk but Hanne Bruun (PI on the PSM-AP project) on Nordic PSM and platformisation as part of a wider workshop on state aid regulations. The workshop was attended by all of the Nordic PSMs and the EBU. It was organised by Nordvision (the Nordic netowrk for production and distribution of PSM content) and hosted by DR (Danish PSM) in Copenhagen. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | VLV autumn conference 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Participation by Catherine Johnson (PSM-AP PL) in a panel discussion at the Voice of the Listener and Viewer autumn conference drawing on PSM-AP work on the future of PSM in the UK. The VLV is a third sector organisation that campaigns for the future of PSM in the UK. The panel let to engagement with a number of third party organisations that campaign for the public interest in media in the UK and Europe and an invitation to become a Trustee of the VLV. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.vlv.org.uk/recent-events/vlv-autumn-conference-2023-2/ |
| Description | Westminster Media Forum Conference Mar 2024 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Keynote address by Catherine Johnson (PSM-AP PL) to the Westminster Media Forum conference on 'The Audiovisual Sector Following the Media Bill' drawing on PSM-AP analysis of media regulation and policy. Led to contact from BT who were keen to discuss the research further. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.westminsterforumprojects.co.uk/publication/Media-bill-24 |