New ways of consumption: the audiences of public service media in Italy and Switzerland

Abstract

The digital transformation of the broadcasting industry forces public service broadcasting (PSB) companies to restructure and rethink their offerings. Characteristic today is a keener attention to the preferences and behaviours of audiences, and the importance of the link between the concept of public service and the role of audience participation. PSB companies are engaged in a reconsideration of their audiences. This article discusses the central role of the audience in the transformation from PSB to public service media (PSM), connecting (1) what has been done by PSM companies to grasp opportunities of digitalization to increase their offerings and (2) the public response to these strategies, analysing the consumption of PSM. The article considers two companies as cases: Rai in Italy, a large country and SRG SSR in Switzerland, a small country. Italy and Switzerland differ in the size and structure of their television markets. The market structure, the television distribution systems and the funding schema of the PSM companies analysed have influenced the development of strategies adopted by these companies and also audience responses. Empirical research is based on analysis of relevant policy documents, the case companies’ offerings, interviews with the firms’ operators, and audiences and users data.

Digital omnivores? How digital media reinforce social inequalities in cultural consumption

“…This, however, is only valid in countries where broadcasting systems provide sufficiently diverse content. Because of a strong public service, TV content in Switzerland is rather varied (Cola and Prario, 2012). Supporting this interpretation, Lizardo and Skiles (2009) ob-served more omnivorous television consumption in countries with a less commercialized production system.…”

From showroom to chat room

“…For instance, the fact that services like Twitter and Facebook are commercial entities could make it unsuitable for PSB practitioners to employ such channels in their line of work (Moe, 2013; Van Dijck and Poell, 2015). Such potential policy issues aside, the argument is sometimes put forward that since the audience is present on commercial platforms like these, PSB personnel need to likewise engage with services like these in order to secure outreach (Cola and Prario, 2012; Storsul, 2011). Or, as Van Dijck and Poell (2015: 151) put it, ‘avoiding Twitter or YouTube entirely on account of their proprietary algorithms and business models would be disastrous because it would surely result in the loss of particularly a younger generation of viewers’.…”

The transformation of audiovisual media companies: The cases of Mediaset (Italy) and Antena 3 (Spain)

“…The launch and the consolidation of multi-channel platforms and pay TV companies have characterized the Italian television industry throughout the last couple of years similar to other European countries (Cola & Prario, 2012).…”