Abstract

In 2005, the current socialist government has set out to undertake the greatest update in broadcasting policy since 1956, the moment in which television was born in Spain. This transformation is related to the quick digital reconversion that television has suffered in the latest years. Despite the changes in the law and some reasons to be optimistic about technological development in a recent future the television of the 21st century can not do without being profitable in a social, cultural and educative sense. This is a challenge which many countries have not faced yet and Spain is among these countries. Some models of public television in the world have consolidated proposals of broadcasting contents that make a priority out of the cultural and educative role of television.

Abstract

XXI Century television is undergoing a process of transformation. New actors, new products and new ways of consuming television are on the lookout. Interactivity will make the traditional concept of television disappear. Television viewers can design their own grids independently of the operator’s schedule. The convergence of television and computer, Internet, telephone and video games bring us a new concept of television. Television faces two big transformations: digital transformation and that of the concept of «general public». The computer, the computer screen, has the calling of turning into a reception screen in which both computer and television functions fuse. Latest generation mobile telephony is integrating itself is this multimedia complex, in connection with television. Future television cannot dissociate from the Internet.

Abstract

News consumption is undergoing great changes due to the advance of digitisation. In this context, ascertaining the changes in readers’ consumption habits is essential for measuring the scope and effects of digital convergence and the outlook for the future. This article aims to analyse this transformation in the specific case of young people’s relationship with news reporting. The methodology is based on a quantitative survey of people aged between 16 and 30 (N=549) in order to examine their consumer habits and perceptions. The results show the emergence of social networks as a news medium and the decline of traditional media, and newspapers in particular. However, we observed a high level of interest in news stories and their positive valuation in civic terms on the part of young people. These data also reveal the obvious appeal of cost-free content. Finally, the results highlight the gender gap with men as the greater news consumers, and the impact of age, with news consumption increasing as young people mature. The conclusions of this research suggest that profound changes are emerging in news consumption patterns and the concept of news among young people.

Abstract

The interactivity and participation of the public in the media is not a novelty, but has increased significantly with the adaptation to the digital convergence process. The possibility for audiences to share content through social platforms or generating its own is raising new ethical and legal issues. In this context, the public service audiovisual media must be pioneer both in the introduction of new participatory experiences and in the debate on the behaviour of the media regarding the interaction with its users. The objective of this article is twofold: on the one hand, to approach the current scenario of participatory mechanisms present in the European public service audiovisual media; on the other hand, to determine how this media is solving the new problems generated by the increase in user interaction. The research on participatory mechanisms offered by public service media shows that social networks, blogs, and comment sections are the main tools for discursive participation, while the field of creative participation requires the exploitation of new innovation strategies. The main challenge arising from this situation is how to control the legality of user-generated content and how to manage the ownership of copyright according to social values represented in public service media.

Abstract

This paper aims to study the interactions between television and social networks (what we might call social TV) in Latin America, with two goals in mind: 1) Identifying how social media is affecting television consumption, including influential factors; and 2) Quantifying these factors in order to have a clear picture of the phenomenon. For this purpose we used a mixed methods approach, combining a focus group and national survey. The study yielded five major findings: 1) The more comments users read in social media the higher the effect on their television behavior; 2) Open television is discussed more than cable, on demand, and webcasting; 3) The most discussed topics are humor and informational subjects; 4) Facebook and Twitter are the most commonly used platforms to comment about television; 5) While Facebook is the most used site to learn about what friends are viewing on television, Twitter is the most used site to learn about what the general public thinks about television content.