Abstract
This article discusses the impact of convergence and digital intermediaries for television as a medium, industry and political and cultural institution. There is currently widespread debate about the future of television and the impact of technological and market changes. Our argument is that the answer to what is happening to television cannot be adequately addressed on a general level; local and contextual factors are still important, and so is the position and strategic response of existing television institutions in each national context. Based on analyses of political documents, statistics, audience research and media coverage, as well as secondary literature, the article explores the current situation for Norwegian television and point to four contexts that each plays a part in constraining and enabling existing television operators: the European context, the public service context, the welfare state context and the media ecosystem context.
Highlights
There is currently widespread debate about what is happening with television and how technological and market changes may undermine the medium’s future.1 The article argues that the answer to what is happening to television cannot be adequately answered on a general level—television’s future is not just determined by technological and economic developments, and by local and contextual factors: history, structure, regulation, user patterns, as well as the position and strategic response of specific institutions in each national context
Media and Communication, 2016, Volume 4, Issue 3, Pages 142-153 divided into three parts, each with an accompanying research question. These are: 1) What are the current changes in contemporary technologies, contents, markets and industries that point towards a fundamental change in the understanding of and conditions for television? 2) Which political, economic and cultural contexts may help to explain differences between national cases in how television develops, which contexts are relevant in the Norwegian case, and how do these contexts enable or constrain existing TV companies? 3) How do traditional television institutions in Norway— public service as well as private—respond to the general and specific challenges and with what impact? The discussion is framed by a general introduction on “the end of television” debate and ends with a concluding discussion on the factors shaping television today
We turn to the first of our analytical research questions 1) What are the current changes in contemporary technologies, contents, markets and industries that point towards a fundamental change in the understanding of and conditions for television? The specific impact of convergence for existing media is complex to disentangle and subject to much discussion and debate
Summary
There is currently widespread debate about what is happening with television and how technological and market changes may undermine the medium’s future. The article argues that the answer to what is happening to television cannot be adequately answered on a general level—television’s future is not just determined by technological and economic developments, and by local and contextual factors: history, structure, regulation, user patterns, as well as the position and strategic response of specific institutions in each national context. Media and Communication, 2016, Volume 4, Issue 3, Pages 142-153 divided into three parts, each with an accompanying research question These are: 1) What are the current changes in contemporary technologies, contents, markets and industries that point towards a fundamental change in the understanding of and conditions for television? In the case of a particular on-line service, “Top Gear YouTube”, the BBC protested, claiming that clips were not intended to be consumed like TV, but as “tasters” of the television shows (Ofcom, 2013) This demonstrates that the understanding of what TV is has changed historically, but fluctuates according to perspective and stakeholder interest. We are concerned about both continuity and change, and both about general forces and the geographical and cultural specificities in a national setting
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