Redefining Public Service Broadcasting

Abstract

This article investigates how the communicative relationship between public broadcasters and their audiences is being cultivated through new possibilities for participation offered by new technology. The aim, in the first part of the article, is to examine the strategic functions of multi-platform participation for public service broadcasting ( PSB). In order to analyse how programming that has strong associations with the commercial sector is constructed within the context of PSB, the second part presents a case study of the multi-platform format Test the Nation. The article engages with current debates on the role of PSB in a changing technological environment and explores the dilemma faced by public service broadcasters caught between attracting large audiences while also representing an alternative to the commercial channels. The article draws on analysis of institutional documents from the British BBC, the Swedish SVT, the Norwegian NRK and the US PBS. The documents range from official policy documents and mission statements to press releases and homepages, assembled between 2004 and 2006. The document analysis sheds light on the emergence of audience participation as a strategy for institutional legitimacy and platform expansion, as well as a way to develop new sources of revenue. A basic finding is that audience participation is a central strategy in the media companies under scrutiny. The `Reithian trinity', through several decades, has been in a process of redefinition, and the article suggests that public service broadcasting in the digital era may best be described as `entertainment, education and participation'.