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- Volume 13, Issue 2, 2022
Journal of Digital Media & Policy - Volume 13, Issue 2, 2022
Volume 13, Issue 2, 2022
- Editorial
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- Articles
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Transformation of television-viewing practices in Greece: Generation Z and audio-visual content
Authors: Anna Podara, Maria Matsiola, Constantinos Nicolaou, Theodora A. Maniou and George KallirisIn recent years, digitalization has detached television content from the television screen, and so the television is no longer the only choice for personal audio-visual consumption. The audio-visual market is facing increased fragmentation due to the multiplicity of delivering platforms. Furthermore, the digital touch has brought about far-reaching changes in people’s audio-visual consumption practices. The protagonists of this new digital landscape are the members of Generation Z (GenZ), who are early adopters of the digital innovation. In this article, contemporary consumption behaviours of audio-visual content, contrasting those at the times of traditional television viewing, are explored in the context of the GenZ community. In Greece, GenZ represent nearly 20 per cent of the entire population and makes an interesting target to be scrutinized under the prism of ongoing studies of media usage.
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From state-controlled media to video-on-demand platforms: Rethinking global cultural flows and television viewers’ changing habits in the case of Turkey
More LessThis study aims to open a discussion on the changing face of cultural imperialism within the context of contemporary capitalism’s conditions and the changing habits of Turkish television viewers. Although the past two decades have witnessed a growing interest in both the changing patterns of television viewing habits and viewers’ class status, this process has focused almost exclusively on the West and specifically Euro-American metropolitan viewers’ experiences. By contrast, very few studies have directly addressed other contexts, specifically, television viewers in non-western countries. Based on cultural proximity and cultural discount theories, this study analyses the reasons and outcomes behind Turkish television viewers’ ongoing tendency towards the video-on-demand platforms, such as Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video or their domestic counterparts, like Puhu or Blu TV, under Turkey’s ongoing modernization process. The results suggest that video-on-demand platforms provide particular interest for television viewers while offering relative freedom from state-controlled public media or strictly regulated private channels. Nevertheless, these platforms have appealed to both Turkish upper-middle-class viewers and younger viewers who have the cultural background to enjoy and appreciate the content on offer. This study also indicates how access to streaming platforms in Turkey mainly relies on the class status of television viewers, and that this kind of cultural flow, to some extent, creates a digital divide in Turkey.
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Is heavy binge-watching a socially driven behaviour? Exploring differences between heavy, regular and non-binge-watchers
Authors: George Anghelcev, Sela Sar, Justin Martin and Jas L. MoultrieResults of an online survey suggest that heavy binge-watching of serialized video content might be in part socially motivated. Among a sample of US college students, heavy binge-watchers were more likely to be opinion leaders and to experience fear of missing out (FOMO) than regular binge-watchers or non-binge-watchers. They also reported higher levels of parasocial engagement with the shows’ characters than other viewers. Contrary to common beliefs, heavy binge-watching did not come at the cost of decreased social engagement. Quite the opposite: heavy binge-watchers reported spending significantly more time in interactions with friends and family on a daily basis than non-binge-watchers. Heavy binge-watching was also modestly associated with a few negative outcomes (loss of sleep and decrease in productivity).
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Global streamers: Placing the transnational at the heart of TV culture
More LessAs media globalization has progressed, transnational media have evolved, and this article contends that a new generation has emerged. The first that developed in the latter part of the twentieth century consists of cross-border TV networks and formats. The second is the rise of streaming platforms. During the first generation, the transnational remained a professional practice out of viewers’ reach. With the arrival of the second generation, the transnational has become an everyday mode of media consumption and interaction. Online entertainment services have altered the status of the transnational within TV culture, and what was once at the margins now sits at the core. This article theorizes the notion of the transnational before examining the first and second generations of cross-border media. Considering the advent of streaming, it divides the market into three spaces: subscription video on demand (SVoD), advertising video on demand (AVoD) and video sharing. This article demonstrates how transnational consumption makes SVoD platforms more cosmopolitan than cross-border TV networks. Turning to video-sharing platforms – YouTube in particular – it argues that in the history of TV culture this constitutes a shift in status of the transnational by turning a professional practice into a popular one performed by millions. Based on interviews, this article shows how international access lowers the threshold of economic viability for content creators, while users get involved in cross-border conversations through memetic videos and comments. It is no longer place but technology that determines the fate of stories and ideas, and internet delivery has loosened the ties between TV culture and national culture more than ever.
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Targeted advertisements and incentive for market consolidation in next-generation TV
Authors: Aman Tyagi and Jon M. PehaThe next-generation television (TV) standard will give over-the-air (OTA) broadcasters the ability to target advertisements. This could give a competitive advantage to broadcasters with more channels and hence create incentive for consolidation. Consolidation in the OTA TV industry could concern policy-makers. We construct a model to estimate revenues and costs of targeted advertising and derive profit-maximizing strategies. We find that profit is maximized by sending targeted advertisements via fixed broadband, even on devices that are watched for only a few minutes per week, but until costs drop significantly, not via mobile broadband in most cases. Our results show that targeted advertisements would not create strong incentive for consolidation in the scenarios that we consider most likely, so policy-makers should be sceptical of arguments that consolidation should be allowed on the grounds that consolidation leads to large cost savings. However, we do identify plausible scenarios where broadcasters with more channels would be significantly more profitable.
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Streaming platforms’ contribution to capitalization of local audio-visual producers in Mexico and Canada
More LessThis article examines the contribution of streaming platforms in providing financial investment – in the form of co-productions, commissions and acquisitions of audio-visual content – as well as capital returns to local audio-visual producers. It will focus on the North American region, particularly on Mexico and Canada, as gravitating around stronger US audio-visual companies. Studies of traditional audio-visual windows in the countries studied have pointed out the undercapitalization of independent content producers due to financial structures and capital return models that are disadvantageous to them. This article questions: what is streaming’s contribution, as a new commercialization window, to the capitalization of local independent producers? The research conducted a qualitative study of interviews with film producers and distributors as well as an industrial analysis based on previous studies, media and business reports. The research has found that streaming tends to provide: (1) equal or slightly less returns than what the DVD window used to offer; and (2) equal or more generous figures than those delivered by TV and cinema exhibition windows. Furthermore, streaming has promoted a burgeoning production activity – adding to the production from traditional players (film and TV). These are benefits that should not be overlooked. However, streaming has not altered independent producers’ disadvantageous position: (1) revenue shares are still relatively small; (2) licences represent small percentages of what content costs to make; (3) commissioning and co-production budgets are fairly close to production costs; and (4) the boom of platforms’ original production is actually a battle among large corporations to control intellectual property (IP). All the above keep hindering the financial capacity of local independent producers.
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Technological transition and market structure: The switch-off and local television in Italy
Authors: Andrea Mangani and Barbara PaciniMedia scholars raised several concerns about the digital television transition implemented at the beginning of this millennium. The impact of the transition on local TV systems is a crucial issue, because many small- and medium-sized enterprises may not be prepared to switch to a new technology and may exit the market. This article studies the survival of local TV stations in Italy during the transition to digital television. The empirical analysis shows that the adoption of the digital system is associated with a sharp decrease of the probability of survival of local TV broadcasters. While this result confirms that local media struggle to compete in the digital world, the overall assessment at the national level is not straightforward, given the imbalance between many local TV stations and scarce economic resources before the switch-off.
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- Book Reviews
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Sports TV, Victoria E. Johnson (2021)
By Hunter FujakReview of: Sports TV, Victoria E. Johnson (2021)
New York: Routledge, 208 pp.,
ISBN 978-0-41572-294-0, p/bk, USD $31.96
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Media Freedom, Damian Tambini (2021)
By James MeeseReview of: Media Freedom, Damian Tambini (2021)
Cambridge: Polity, 224 pp.,
ISBN 978-1-50954-468-4, h/bk, AUD $113.95
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