ECMI Minorities Blog. Minority Language Media and TikTok: Are Broadcasters Showing They Are Still Relevant for Younger Audiences?

Abstract

Whilst younger audiences move away from traditional forms of media consumption, public broadcasters – including those in minority languages – have long been facing declining viewing figures in terms of linear television. At the same time, social media consumption habits are diverging along a generational gap – younger audiences favour TikTok and Instagram over Facebook or Twitter. This blogpost sheds light on one element of this, analysing the attempts of institutional actors – in this case minority language broadcasters – to reach different audience segments by creating content directly through TikTok. Concentrated focus is placed on the Welsh language broadcaster S4C, the Galician language broadcaster TVG and the Catalan language broadcaster TV3, with the conclusions pointing towards greater levels of success for their sub-brands which adopt a less-formal, non-institutionalised approach. The positive examples suggest minority language media are finding ways to adapt to contemporary challenges and that their role for younger generations was perhaps neglected too soon by some critics.