Abstract

A structural shift from transaction-based, marginal cost pricing to fee-based service business models often accompanies We emergence of 'platform' markets, i.e. multi-sided markets where an intermediary captures the value of the interaction between user groups. The many examples include telecommunications, data storage, cinema, music and media, and the automobile industry. Why not electricity? In this paper, we explore how the electricity supply industry can be conceived of as a platform-mediated, two-sided market and the consequences for pricing. Through two cases, a balancing services provider for smart home energy management systems and an electric vehicle charge manager, we show where a platform entrant could position itself in the retail electricity markets between supply companies and end-users. The drivers of such a transition include increased volatility due to renewable generation, the new complexity of roles for end-users, and the introduction of information and communication technologies. Conceiving of electricity as a platform market where new entrants provide an energy optimisation and management service may stimulate a competitive ecosystem and innovation. We suggest that fee-based pricing would enable the objectives of time-varying pricing to be achieved without adversely affecting the most vulnerable customers.

Abstract

We have reached the end of a challenging and rewarding journey, after 45 months of ACTIVAGE, this is the last report that aims at providing a taste of the huge work done by the teams at the local sites. This is a testimony of the more than 45 partners that have participated in this WP. We started with 9 DS in 7 countries and we finish with 12 DS in 9 countries, having incorporated three new DS through the open call, and expanding ACTIVAGE vision and ecosystem to Portugal and Bulgaria. We have been able to reach the target of deploying AHA-IoT solutions for more than 7.200 users, we hit the mark of 7.776 and almost 97% of the expected deployments. All DS have been able to perform the evaluation, at local and global level, generating the evidence that ACTIVAGE vision is pertinent, relevant, and effective. Details are provided in the individual results and in D6.5. By the end of the project, still 80% of participants continue operation, and almost all DS have in place sustainability plans to continue providing ACTIVAGE services in one way or another. Even in the cases where no clear plans have been possible, there are opportunities for exploiting the services and the knowledge gained in the project.

Abstract

This article analyses the response of European Public Service Media to the crisis caused by Covid-19, especially the impact of the pandemic on Europe’s major public broadcasters, with a particular focus on technical and professional constraints, alterations in audience volume and habits, production strategies, type of broadcast content and journalists’ routines. The research is based on public information from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and 19 in-depth, structured interviews with a convenience sample of innovation and strategy managers from public broadcasters in Austria (ORF),  Belgium (VRT and RTBF), Denmark (DR), Finland (YLE), France (France TV), Germany (ARD and ZDF), Great Britain (BBC), Ireland (RTÉ), Italy (RAI), Netherlands (NPO), Portugal (RTP), Spain (RTVE),  Sweden (SVT), Switzerland (RTS) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The results indicate that the corporate projection of PSM was increased by emphasising their role as essential services and their defence of the values that characterise them. The pandemic forced the adaptation of programme production from technical standards to an emotional approach, accelerating a formal hybridisation with native online contents. Dependence on software grew and newsmaking processes were altered towards ‘remote journalism’. Changes are drawn that may be maintained in the future.

Abstract

The core programming activity of the traditional television business has been strongly impacted by the disruptive alteration of the media ecosystem caused by over-the-top (OTT) platforms. Despite the new programmatic challenges that this suggests, such as conquering global audiences or defining engagement strategies appropriate to new consumer habits, OTTs share the needs of linear television that justified the development of television programming. The main objective of this work is to verify the validity of programming in the new context of nonlinear consumption and to determine the importance of the different factors that determine it. The premise is that programming is an enduring activity, regardless of the structural changes in the ecosystem. The factors that condition the activity linked to the development of the offering and, therefore, the function of the platforms as content providers continue in force. However, the impact of these factors varies depending on the different needs of the platforms in comparison with linear television. A hypothetical–deductive methodology is applied based on a literature review of factors related to television programming, followed by an exploratory and descriptive analysis of the main platforms operating in Spain. The results contribute to the generation of a conceptualization of programming as a fundamental activity in the streaming platform system.

Abstract

In recent years, Wattpad has become the leading collaborative reading and writing platform allowing young writers to publish their works, some of which belong to the tradition of fan fiction, including stories derived from a source text from popular culture. The main objective of this article is to explore how teenagers reading and writing fan fiction on Wattpad apply transmedia skills related to production and narrative and esthetic reflection. Using a theoretical framework that integrates transmedia literacy, fan fiction communities as affinity spaces, and Wattpad as a tool to promote transmedia reading, we carry out a qualitative study using data collected from workshops, media newspapers, and interviews with adolescents in five different Spanish regions. The results highlight identity-play in the production of the stories, in which fanfics about real-life celebrities from the teenagers’ media universes coexist with original stories inspired by the authors’ personal lives and interests. Likewise, there is a trend toward the hybridization of fan fiction with languages and formats more typical of social media platforms, such as Instagram, with a superficial application of narrative and esthetic transmedia skills related to fan fiction practices.

Abstract

YouTube is currently becoming one of the main international platforms for amateur creators attempting to attract followers through a multiplicity of audiovisual content and engagement strategies based on search and algorithmic recommendation systems. In many cases, this environment, and especially its users, try to adapt to a celebrity network pattern on the basis of the construction of seemingly authentic and close relationships, leading to relevant phenomena such as parenting vlogs. This kind of content is focused on the presence of intimate moments that reflect the daily life of influencers or micro-influencers, capturing large numbers of followers, as well as important communication and information strategies. From this perspective, and through a quantitative content analysis of 1,034 videos and more than 900 viewing hours on two very popular YouTube family influencer channels, this study explores the degree of intimacy portrayed in their video content as performative strategies that configure the profiles’ post through interactions with followers, brands, and self-promotion. The results suggest that the degree of intimacy shown in this content becomes a performative process for these family youtubers, whereby the more intimate the exposure, the more popular the information offered to the user. In short, this type of content prioritizes the routines of the youtubers, who include their closest family members and friends as a means of attracting attention, while dedicating their time to interacting with brands (advertising) and recording, editing, and submitting a vast amount of personal and private information on the platform (dissemination) in a sort of promotional–private performativity.

Abstract

Fifteen years after the term was coined, the podcast is now consolidated as a sound format with a specific identity within the digital media ecosystem. The practice of podcasting is none other than radio, but one encompassing diverse production on both expressive and thematic levels whose properties (mobility, narrative fragmentation, and the integration of multiple devices) and personalized consumption generate a very different listener attitude compared with traditional radio. After an initial period of independent amateurism strongly conditioned by the technologies available, the podcast has achieved significant global popular recognition, as well as an increasingly important professional dimension thanks to the emergence and spread of new distribution platforms (podcast networks) designed to serve as alternatives to the dominant feeds (such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iVoox, and Spotify) that rely on different catalogs and business models. This investigation identifies, describes, and systematically orders the main management and marketing models for podcasts on these platforms on the basis of a comparative analysis of fourteen of them, two in each of the eight countries in Europe, North America, and Latin America where this format is most widespread: Acast (Sweden); Podimo (Denmark); Binge Audio and Majelan (France); Podimo Spain and Podium Podcast (Spain); PodcastOne and Luminary (USA); Convoy Network and Puentes (Mexico); Posta and Parque Podcast (Argentina); and Pia Podcast and Podway (Colombia). The study measures and compares the offerings of each of the studied platforms using different quantitative and qualitative variables (age, territorial reach, content categories, dominant genres, funding, and consumption). The objective is to start to draw up a global map of the main operators in the podcasting industry, and to identify the production trends and marketing strategies of a format with increasing impact and demand, destined to become the future heir of broadcast radio.

Abstract

This article aims to introduce Galileo, a platform for extracting and organizing news media data on social networks. Galileo integrates publications made on the main social networks used in the information ecosystem, namely Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Currently, the system includes 97 media outlets from nine countries: Brazil, Chile, Germany, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States. Galileo uses a Twitter API and the service CrowdTangle to download Facebook and Instagram posts. This data is stored in a local database and can be accessed through a user-friendly interface, which allows for the analysis of different characteristics of the posts, such as their text, source popularity, and temporal dimension. Galileo is a tool for researchers interested in understanding news cycles and analyzing news content on social networks. 

Abstract

In recent years, digital audio has undergone an explosion. The transformation of radio and its expansion to new channels and consumer devices, added to the rise of podcasts and streaming music platforms, have led to the transformation of the audio ecosystem. This transition from the audio medium to audio media has involved an integral change in content, as well as in its production and reception processes. In this regard, the aim of this paper is to approach the present digital audio scene from the standpoint of its content, formats, and broadcasting models as well as of the new professional profiles, business models, and consumer–relationship practices, providing a snapshot that is completed with a prospective reflection on the challenges facing radio in this new ecosystem.

Abstract

Assessing women’s role in the audiovisual industry provides us with negative data regarding the number of women in the industry, which are also confirmed when factors such as their prominence or leadership in these audiovisual projects are considered. A quantitative and qualitative analysis was thus undertaken based on the need to examine this problem in depth to determine what is happening in the documentary or nonfiction genre, which has exhibited significant growth thanks to the demand for content from subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) streaming platforms. This research analyzes data on the number, prominence, and leadership of women through a review of the 35 Spanish productions in this genre that were produced and/or distributed exclusively on the three leading platforms in Spain between 2016 and 2021. Accordingly, the 2,099 jobs created by these productions have been evaluated, providing data on the occupations and level of responsibility that women had. The research findings confirm the overall data. In addition, they allow us to determine why, although the documentary genre has been associated with greater opportunities for women, this has not held true within the streaming market, where this genre has achieved a greater impact. This underrepresentation of women is especially prominent in the area of leadership.