Television Sector Research Articles

What is ‘children’s television’ in the streaming era?: Assessing content discoverability through Australian children’s streaming platform fluencies

In line with international trends, increasing numbers of children in Australia use streaming video platforms to watch television on-demand from extensive catalogues. Child viewers thus tend to negotiate platform interfaces organised by algorithmic curation to select content, rather than accessing content via scheduled linear TV. The deeper implications of this substantial shift in child audience habits around television have yet to be robustly reckoned with across scholarly and national policy approaches. Indeed, policy settings in Australia have not kept pace with these transformations, one result of which has been that 84% less Australian content was aired on free-to-air commercial broadcasters in 2022 compared to 2019. Key producer bodies fear the sector is in serious peril and may not withstand the current instability. Given that local children’s television meets Australian children’s best interests by situating them within their own socio-cultural context, the issue has become a site of significant policy, industry, and cultural concern. At this precarious time for the Australian children’s television sector, this article outlines key findings of a mixed method study with Australian children aged 7–9 ( n = 37) and their adult guardians to illustrate how children understand, identify, and discover ‘local’ and ‘children’s’ content on streaming platforms. This child audience research contributes to current policy and scholarly debates around the ‘routes to content’ audiences develop in the streaming era. A focus of our analysis is how and if children find Australian content. Our aim is to shed light on how ‘discoverability’ issues compound the current state of turmoil for the sector. We elucidate children’s digital fluencies with platform interfaces but highlight their limited cultural literacies with the content itself, which poses significant implications for industry and policy strategy around local content discoverability for child audiences on streaming platforms.

Integration and Industrialization of Film and Television Resources and its Significance for China’s Film and Television Work

The abundance of Film and Television resources in China is notable, yet the effective amalgamation and industrialization of these resources hold immense importance for the nation's film and television endeavors. Utilizing the full potential of policy, market, talent, and cultural assets, this research achieves the industrialization of Film and Television resources via a comprehensive amalgamation and integration of various capital, cooperation, and industry sectors. The findings of our study indicate that merging and mechanizing Film and Television resources in the realm of film and TV not only enhances their usage efficiency and financial worth, but also elevates their quality and expressive capacity. Consequently, this approach enables efficient education in Film and Television for the film and television sector in China. The research aids in comprehending the significance of incorporating Film and Television resource industrialization into film and TV projects, and also serves as a valuable methodological guide for diverse film and TV endeavors via these resources.

Innovative Applications of AIGC in Television Content Generation

Artificial Intelligence and Generative Computing (AIGC) technologies have revolutionized television content generation by enabling automated processes that were previously labor-intensive and time-consuming. This paper explores the innovative applications of AIGC in the broadcast television sector, focusing on three key areas: automated script generation, creation of virtual hosts and actors, and automated video editing. Through case studies and empirical analysis, we examine the effectiveness and impact of these technologies on content quality, production efficiency, and audience engagement. Despite significant advancements, challenges such as ethical considerations and technological limitations persist. Looking forward, the integration of AIGC promises continued advancements in transforming the landscape of television content creation.

An Exploratory Study on the Application and Impact of Artificial Intelligence Technology in China’s Film and Television Industry: Centered on the Innovation and Development Strategy of AI in Film Production

Purpose - This paper discusses the historical traceability of artificial intelligence technology and its development lineage in the film and television industry. It analyzes the close connection between AI technology and the film and television industry. The text summarizes the challenges and impacts of AI technology on the film and television industry, along with suggestions for future development. Design/Methodology/Approach - In order to explore the impact of artificial intelligence on the film and television culture industry, this paper analyzes the impact of artificial intelligence on the film and television culture industry from the perspective of macro-industry and the perspective of application technology, starting from the overall technological impetus of artificial intelligence to the film and television culture industry and the application of artificial intelligence in film and television image processing. The case was analyzed in detail. Based on a summary of previous research, this study identifies key issues and proposes solutions. Findings - Through the research of this paper, the problems of artificial intelligence in film and television creation are summarized, and the potential problems are easily generated technical dependence, legal risks in creation, and reduced professional value of practitioners, etc. Countermeasure suggestions are put forward to break the technical dependence, provide a legal basis for the creation of artificial intelligence, and adjust the use of the positioning to realize the synergy between man and machine. Research Implications - This paper aims to enhance the application of AI in the film and television culture industry, thereby increasing the industry vitality of the film and television sector.

Methodological Proposal for Sustainable Territorial Communication—The Case of Castilla y León

The proximity television model adopted by Castilla y León since 1999 is based on promoting territorial identity and closeness to citizens, in line with the principles of identity and proximity in regional television, albeit with the particularity in the Spanish context of being a regional television system managed by a private concessionaire. In response to the current challenges of the television sector, a consultancy project is implemented with a methodological approach based on a SWOT analysis and the participation of multiple actors. This work details the methodology followed during the different phases of this interdisciplinary consultancy work: definition of bases, development of a base document, and concretion of actions, until reaching the elaboration of a detailed guide that establishes strategic objectives and specific actions. This strategic approach translates into a proposal to improve the performance of regional television and its contribution to the economic and social development of the region; however, the difficulty for its effective implementation due to an uncertain political scenario is pointed out.

Analysis of the Role of Regulations for the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights and Technological Innovation on the Protection of Creativity in the Television Industry in Indonesia

The Indonesian television industry is undergoing significant transformation fueled by technological innovation and evolving regulatory frameworks surrounding intellectual property rights (IPR) protection. This research investigates the regulatory role of IPR protection and technological innovation on creativity within the Indonesian television sector through quantitative analysis. A sample of 150 stakeholders representing various industry segments participated in the study. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and regression analysis were employed to examine the relationships between IPR protection, technological innovation, and creativity. The findings reveal positive correlations between IPR protection, technological innovation, and creativity, with stronger IPR protection and greater technological innovation associated with higher levels of creativity. Regression analysis further demonstrates the predictive power of IPR protection and technological innovation on creative output within the industry. These results underscore the importance of supportive regulatory environments and technological advancement in fostering creativity and innovation within the Indonesian television industry.

Director for hire? Negotiating creativity and work in the Irish television sector

The television industry has deep-rooted neoliberal employment structures, and this article explores how the non-fiction television director negotiates this contingent working environment. Research has established that creative workers adapt themselves to the demands of a post-Fordist ‘gig economy’, characterised by casual, non-permanent work, with little security or accountability. However, relatively little is known about how non-fiction television directors respond to that context, especially in the Irish case. In-depth interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of 12 freelance television directors. Key findings note the layers of control wielded by broadcasters over the working life of the director. Identifying the negative effect of broadcasters’ dominance in the sector, they revealed a three-line whip of control through budget, creative direction, and a risk-averse approach to programming, which effectively constrained the directors and reduced their autonomy. The directors described how broadcasters’ control over budgets means that the sector is run at their command, a situation that is further aggravated by Ireland’s lack of trade union representation, stagnant pay rates and the absence of intellectual property rights accruing to directors’ work. Respondents proposed that their status was reduced from creative auteur to operational functionaries, reporting the negative impact of the industry work culture and practices on their self-esteem, because their creativity and work were undervalued. This article breaks new ground to explore directors’ responses to the conditions of the gig economy and link the alienation of labour to the loss of creativity in content. There was an acceptance by non-fiction directors of the status quo, which was seen as the ‘price’ of a non-routine life, with the freedom to indulge the passion and the pleasure inherent to making television. Moreover, respondents also revealed how they maintained their creative identity despite their circumstances, through the pursuit of their own work and through the support of peers. Crucially, respondents argued for a repositioning of the television director to reflect their status and role in the origination and creation of novel content, and proposed such recognition might better serve the television viewer.

Vietnam’s Online Newspaper Development Trend in the Context of Social Media

According to statistics from the Ministry of Information and Communications, as of December 2022, the whole country has 127 news agencies; 670 journal agencies (there are 327 journals of political theory and science, 72 journals of literature and art); 72 radio and television agencies. Personnel operating in the field of journalism are about 41,000 people, of which the radio and television sector is approximately 16,500 people. Compared with 2021, personnel is relatively stable and the number of personnel granted journalist cards increases significantly. There have been 19,356 cases of being granted journalist cards. It is easy for the public to check the names of long-term online newspapers and major readers such as “VnExpress,” “Dan Tri,” “Vietnamplus,” “VietNamNet,” etc. The emergence of multimedia journalism is an important step towards shaping the new type of digital storytelling and the future of journalism. In the process of renovation, the Vietnamese press is also gradually transforming and approaching new media products (Long-form/E-Magazine/Megastory) that show long, in-depth stories and multi-purpose writing, photos, audio, video, photographers, etc. According to “Vietnamplus” – a press agency leading this trend, when you first bring this type of work to the public, it is unexpected that these works are received more strongly than other types of media. We use questionnaires to build public perceptions and observations as journalists working for five major online newspapers in Vietnam. The data is taken from in-depth interviews with journalists, editors, editorial staff, and editors-in-chief of five major online newspapers in Vietnam. We choose the sample according to the sampling method of the case. In the context of social media, Vietnam’s online newspapers have developed and changed significantly. These findings will enrich and have a typical impact by clarifying two main contradictions that exist in Vietnam’s online newspapers. Those are conflicts between news products, regular articles and media products, e-magazines, megastory and conflicts in organizations producing online newspapers. From there, the article looks at how Vietnam’s online newspaper is going to grow, how it uses visual reporting, and how excited journalists and press managers are about it.

Judicial Movement and Civil Society: A Sociological Perspective on Media's Role as Watchdog in Pakistan

Pakistan has a vibrant media landscape. In spite of political pressure and direct bans, the media is sometimes subject to the state. Media is independent to a large extent. After having been liberalized in 2002, the television sector experienced a media boom. In the fiercely competitive environment that followed commercial interests became paramount and quality journalism gave way to sensationalism. The Pakistani media landscape reflects a multilinguistic, multi-ethnic and class-divided society. Media gives the public a platform for discussion and analyzing matters of interest. This research analyzed the role of media through qualitative content analysis. This study includes electronic journalists from Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Concerning the qualitative content, it also includes five senior print and electronic journalists' interviews. This research had taken social responsibility theory back to this study. Media executed judicial movements and further media played its role in the erosion of military involvement in political institutions,Educating masses and endowment of human rights.

More than just a few ‘bad apples’: the need for a risk management approach to the problem of workplace bullying in the UK’s television industry

In an extensive study of management practices within the UK’s unscripted television sector, more than 93% of respondents told us that they had experienced or witnessed some form of bullying or harassment within the workplace. Our findings confirm other similar reports from across the film and television sectors, and come at a time when a great deal of unwelcome media attention has been paid to some high-profile examples of such behaviour. The industry has begun to respond. New systems to facilitate whistle-blowing have been set up, and improved guidance has been issued to managers. Whilst such initiatives are not unwelcome, we argue that they do not go far enough. The problem is not one of ‘a few bad apples’ but rather it is one rooted in a systemic and complex set of underlying structures and processes. Many of the characteristics shown by our study to be commonplace in television work, are precisely those identified in the field of organisational psychology as risk factors for workplace bullying. We therefore call for a risk management approach to this problem; one that systematically recognises, appraises and minimises these risks.

Screen agencies as cultural intermediaries: Delivering gender equality in the film and television sectors?

This article examines the role of national screen agencies in the realisation of an equitable screen sector. Publicly funded screen agencies like Ffilm Cymru Wales, Screen Ireland, Det Danske Filminstitut (Danish Film Institute) and Hrvatski Audiovizualni Centar (Croatian Audiovisual Centre) directly shape the sector, both on screen and behind the camera. Using interviews with senior decision-makers within several European screen agencies, we critically analyse the logics and practices of these cultural intermediaries in relation to gender equality. We chart how the issue is mediated by screen agencies, including their (in)actions. Alongside formal measures, we observe some staff working in quotidian ways to deliver change through positively leveraging their relationships with the sector. Our research highlights that while most of sampled agencies advocate for gender equality, few recognise ethnicity, socioeconomics, disability or age in their larger policy frameworks, and therefore, questions of intersectionality are rarely addressed formally in institutional approaches. We conclude that for screen agencies to become effective intermediaries for equality, a paradigmatic shift in their logics and working practices would be required. However, this would only represent a first step as wider policy and industrial reform is necessary to redress the exclusionary frames of the screen sector.

Factors Affecting the Sustained Market Position of TV Channels: Insights from Audience Preferences

Presently, in a rapidly changing environment, television (TV) channels—such as other profit-seeking institutions—should strive to gain a competitive advantage over their competitors to save their market shares and sustain themselves in the sector. This especially applies to local TV channels, which not only compete with other local TV channels, but also compete with international and online platforms at the same time. In North Cyprus, where the TV sector is very small and limited, TV channel owners try to generate profit out of a very small market. In this situation, it is important for them to create a good brand image in the minds of the audience, as well as good program quality, their end goal being to sustainably gain the preference of the audience. It is also important for local TV channels to increase their viewing times, leading to the sustainable behavior of the viewers. The present study aims to evaluate the hypothesized relationship between TV channels’ image and audience preferences, taking into account the mediation effect of program quality and the moderator effect of viewing frequencies. The scope of the study encompassed people living in North Cyprus who watch local TV channels, from whom a sample of 384 respondents was drawn. An online self-administered questionnaire was distributed in order to collect the data. The collected data were analyzed with the help of SPSS and AMOS 24. The results from the analysis showed that there was a positive relationship between the channel image and channel preferences of the audience, and that this relationship was mediated by TV program quality. On the other hand, viewing frequency was found to have no statistically significant moderation effect on the relationship between channel image and audience preferences.

Abuse of Dominance in the Hong Kong Television Sector

This article critically evaluates legal developments in relation to the regulation of abuse of dominance in the Hong Kong television sector, focusing on the milestone case of Television Broadcasts Ltd (TVB). The TVB case was decided under the previous sectoral competition regime under the Broadcasting Ordinance (BO) and has since 2015 been replaced by the crosssector Competition Ordinance (CO). Nevertheless, the decisions of the Communications Authority (CA) and the Court of First Instance (CFI) in 2013 and 2016 respectively provided important insights on the application of the small but significant and non-transitory decrease in quality (SSNDQ) test in two-sided markets and the ‘purpose/object’ and ‘effect’ tests to exclusivity practices, and more generally, the analysis of abuse of buyer power in a labour market setting. Hong Kong competition authorities are likely to be confronted with similar issues as they gradually expand their enforcement activities into digital markets and abuse of market power scenarios beyond the broadcasting sector. The purpose of this article is to subject the TVB decisions, in respect of their analysis of market definition, market power, the abusive conduct, and the remedial aspect, to in-depth critique. It situates the issues in the broader context of the crosssector CO under which future cases of abuse of dominance in Hong Kong will be scrutinized. abuse of dominance, Hong Kong, television, TVB, SSNDQ, two-sided markets, exclusivity, abuse of buyer power, labour, remedy

Remapping spatiality in contemporary East Asian media engagement: reevaluating China’s Got Talent

Over the past decade, production in China’s television sector have reshaped media cultures across the country as well as the geocultural region of East Asia. Through analysis of licensed reality television programs such as China’ s Got Talent, this paper examines transnational television formats and their circulation and replication in contemporary China, challenging the traditional concept that television format trade falls within a West-Rest narrative. While highlighting the cultural and media phenomena of interactive ‘glocalization’ of cultural products, this paper calls for de-westernization in approaching Chinese and East Asian media studies. It does so by pointing out unique imitating and adaptive practices of Chinese unscripted television programs, which serve as case studies to the existing literature of television business and cultures. The practice of licensing formats provides a unique perspective into analyzing China’s media strategies in a globalized industry and reviewing the current scholarship on media globalization. With a comparative analysis, the paper attempts to reconceptualize the spatiality of East Asian media production and consumption. I also include my observations while working on the production teams for these programs.

Tools and measures for diversity and inclusion in media industries: International best practice and informing policy change in the Irish film and television sector

This article focuses on equality, diversity and inclusion in the Irish media industry and how it can be improved. The need to develop these policies, tools and measures has become pertinent, considering that the Irish media workforce currently lacks diversity. The aims of this article are twofold: (i) examine the tools and measures from the international media industry that have been developed to improve equality, diversity and inclusion and (ii) interrogate how these tools and measures could work within the Irish context. Through sampling tools and measures developed in varying media industries in English language territories, this research used this analysis as the basis of semi-structured interviews with independent production companies and broadcasters in Ireland, to gauge how the media industry can develop equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives. This article identifies four central areas that would encourage further diversity in the Irish media sector: data gathering and monitoring, developing diversity standards, objective setting and incentivization and diverse recruitment for the industry.

Conceptualising change in equality, diversity and inclusion: A case study of the Irish film and television sector

Research is key to supporting diversity and inclusion practices in media and creative industries because it articulates the structural and cultural barriers to participation by workers with a broad range of underrepresented social identities. However, currently there is a lack of research that problematises how change happens with regard to equality, diversity and inclusion in creative industries. Very little research looks beyond specific initiatives, particular employers or individual organisations to explore how change is adopted more broadly within the sector. This article seeks to address that gap by applying a number of literatures on policy and organisational or cultural change to generate a schema that allows the complexity of change to be understood through a unified model of a policy regime. This article adopts a qualitative case study methodology to examine equality, diversity and inclusion regime change in the film and television industries in Ireland from 2015 to 2021. Key findings map how policy goal changes, paradigm shifts in thinking on equality, organisational coalitions and a change in power arrangements all combined resulting in significant change in the gender and equality regime in Irish film and television work. This framework is valuable because it provokes questions about how equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives can be more effective, how various cases of change compare with each other and how some efforts at change ultimately fail.

Selecting technologies for the digital TV switchover in Bangladesh

From the perspective of a developing country, the selection of correct digital technology for state-owned television might appear as a decisive testimony of national interest. In selecting appropriate technology, factors such as user acceptance, commercialization prospects, network externalities or cost-effectiveness have significant influence. However, the causal element(s) that have the greatest impacts in the developing countries have not been discussed enough. This article thus aims to examine the technology selection process through the ongoing digital television switchover in the Bangladesh experience. In line with recent global escalation of changing broadcasting technology from analogue to digital, the International Telecommunication Union apprized the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) to complete the digital TV switchover by 2015. In 2021, the GOB had not yet completed it. This article primarily aims to discover why it has not been possible to complete the switchover in Bangladesh to date. With a few exceptions, little work has been done on how developing countries decide to choose a technology over another and how they exclude other latent technology for media industry. During the technology selection process, how the various options and parameters work and how they incorporate with the existing media policies are in need of examination. Although there may be some common parameters while selecting technology universally, within the developing countries, aspects of country-specific contexts might be different. Rather than verifying the technology chosen, this article aims to explain that how the selection process occurs within the television sector in the developing countries.

Expansion of the core business of traditional media companies in Spain through SVOD services

The strategic importance of the internet for television became evident in the early 2000s, even destabilizing its very concept and finally resulting in convergence towards a profound transformation of the sector. The introduction of global over-the-top (OTT) media services into local markets has led to strategic changes in multimedia groups. This study considers the subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services of Atresmedia and Mediaset España, the two main traditional media organizations in Spain that form a duopoly in the country’s commercial television sector, with the aim of understanding and evaluating their positioning strategy in this market and the results obtained through the diversification of their core business. Based on an analysis of their content, price, and promotion policies and the results in terms of subscriptions and revenues, slight differences emerge regarding the strategy and scope of these two groups in their own environment in the sector. They compete for customers to achieve growth in the audiovisual market while seeking to retain a cross-media, multiplatform audience, as well as expand their core business of commercial linear television against a background of a reduction of advertising spend on television and the expected increase of hybrid financing models.

Diversity and Inclusion in Film, Television and Media Sector: Policy Alternatives for an Inclusive Film Industry and Training

This issue of CINEJ Cinema Journal observed the slow recovery from the destructive effects of COVID-19 global pandemic on filmmaking, film distribution and exhibition, and teaching film at HE institutions. One development that is on the agenda is diversity and inclusion in film industry, film education and film studies/criticism as institution. The diversity of film sets has been voiced and is gaining momentum at creative top of the line levels of director, producer and screenwriters Still obstacles remain for those who want to move from entry to mid-level both in film industry as creatives and for academics who want to enter white dominated academia.

Efectos del COVID19 en la televisión ecuatoriana analógica y la WebTV

La crisis sanitaria ha vuelto a poner en valor a la televisión en abierto. El medio está adoptando un rol protagónico en su función de informar y entretener a la ciudadanía. En esta línea, la presente investigación reflexiona sobre la capacidad de la televisión ecuatoriana para capitalizar a corto y medio plazo la recuperación de unas audiencias perdidas, especialmente las juveniles, que tornan ahora su mirada a las plataformas analógicas y digitales. A partir de entrevistas a representantes de las principales cadenas de televisión nacionales y académicos expertos en comunicación, se profundiza sobre los aspectos internos y externos que inciden sobre la innovación del sector televisivo en Ecuador y el efecto que el COVID19 tiene sobre la plataforma digital. Complementariamente, se realiza un análisis descriptivo de las principales métricas de consumo de la WebTV de las mayores cadenas y se llevan a cabo dos grupos de discusión con estudiantes de Comunicación, con el objeto de conocer la perspectiva del segmento de la audiencia que constituyen los jóvenes y que, por sus propias características, es el que muestra una mayor potencialidad y al cual se deben de dirigir las estrategias para captar atención y posterior fidelización. La información, adalid y bandera de las cadenas ecuatorianas, supone una gran atracción de audiencia a la televisión analógica y la WebTV en la actualidad; sin embargo, el artículo visibiliza la existencia de una televisión con problemas estructurales que impiden avanzar hacia las estrategias innovadoras adecuadas. Por su parte, la audiencia joven asume como ajena a la televisión de difusión nacional. El factor credibilidad y el desinterés que produce la oferta de la parrilla son algunos de los principales aspectos que evitan que estas audiencias se vinculen con el medio, de ahí que se observe una falta de engagement.