Streaming Public Service Television in the Age of Platforms

Public service media (PSM) all over the world have consistently been subject to social and technological changes. However, recent years have brought several new challenges. These include radical changes in media use, the advent of streaming services, and the dominance of big tech. The new competitors for the attention of citizens have challenged public service media as an institution and project. Moreover, the profound changes in the media landscape have affected the broadcasters themselves, requiring them to transform into fully digital, online-first organisations. In this context, we present results from research conducted during the second year of PSM-AP, a large-scale comparative research project analysing ‘Public Service Media in the Age of Platforms’. In this brief, we put forward a series of findings and recommendations on PSM publishing and personalisation practices based on analysis of the PSM in-house video-on-demand (VoD) services and main linear channels in the following markets: Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia), Canada, Denmark, Italy, Poland, and the UK.