Policy brief: Towards a Future-Proof Public Service Media? Lessons from a comparative analysis in seven media markets

Public service media (PSM) all over the world have consistently been subject to different forms of societal and technological transition. However, recent years have brought a number of new challenges. These include radical changes in media use, the advent of streaming services and the dominance of big tech. Moreover, the increasing diversity and polarisation of societies have led to the erosion of trust in traditional media. These have challenged the legitimacy of public service media as an institution and project, but have also affected the broadcasters themselves, requiring them to transform into fully digital, online-first organisations. In this context, we present results from the research conducted during the first year of PSMAP, a large-scale comparative research project analysing ‘Public Service Media in the Age of Platforms’. In this brief, we provide an overview of the dimensions of platformisation, and a series of core findings and discussions on PSM and platformisation, based on the analysis of media laws, broadcast contracts and licences, annual reports, and current policy debates in the following markets: Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia), Canada, Denmark, Italy, Poland, and the UK.