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ABSTRACT
Most research on the changes affecting commercial media focuses on big markets and, except in some instances, fails to incorporate media managers’ views. By investigating perceptions of private media managers in two small markets, this article fills that void. It analyses how mainly legacy media managers view the impact of market and societal dynamics such as digitisation, internationalisation, and changing business models, and discusses the strategies and priorities they envisage to handle current challenges. Data collection rests on 20 expert interviews with high-level management in Flanders and Norway. The analysis builds on the main challenges identified in the literature, with a focus on the robustness versus fragility of small media markets.
The main finding is that respondents do not go along with a doom scenario of their market, recognising though that the extent to which their companies and media ecosystems used to be shielded away from international trends and competition is over. Connecting with audiences is considered to be of pivotal importance in developing new business models.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1. Flemish experts who were interviewed: Gert Ysebaert (CEO Mediahuis, newspaper publisher), Christophe Convent (Secretary General De Persgroep, newspaper publisher), Peter Bossaert and Ben Appel (resp. (now former) CEO and Director Business & Legal Affairs Medialaan, commercial broadcaster), Philippe Bonamie (COO SBS, commercial broadcaster), Harald Hauben (CEO De Chinezen, independent production company), Peter Bouckaert (CEO Eyeworks, independent production company), Thomas Roukens (Director Regulatory Affairs and Interconnect Telenet, cable operator), Dirk Lybaert (Chief Corporate Affairs Proximus, telecommunications incumbent), Karl Van den Broeck (Editor in Chief Apache, news website), and Wouter Verschelden (CEO Newsmonkeys, news website). Norwegian experts who were interviewed: Are Stokstad (CEO Amedia, newspaper publisher), Didrik Munch (CEO Schibsted Norway ASA, newspaper publisher), Harald Strømme (CEO SBS Discovery Networks Norway, commercial broadcaster), Joachim Benno (Director of Governmental and Regulatory Affairs Telenor Broadcast, telecommunications company), Kathrine Haldorsen (CEO Mastiff, independent production company), Kjetil Østli (Co-founder and Editor in Chief Harvest, news website), Odd Arvid Strømstad (CEO Warner Brothers International Television Production Norway, independent production company), Olav T. Sandnes (CEO TV2, commercial broadcaster with public service obligations), Scott Engebrigtsen (Director of Communications and Corporate Responsibility Telenor Broadcast, telecommunications company), Stian Bromark (Editor in Chief Agenda Magasin, news website), Øyvind Husby (Director of Corporate Affairs Get, cable operator). The authors thank all the interviewees for their collaboration.
2. The interview protocol is available with the authors.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Karen Donders
Karen Donders lectures European Media Markets, Political Economy of Journalism and Policy Analysis at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. She is a PI at the Center for Studies on Media Innovation and Technology (a partner in imec) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. She specialises in public service media, private television, and the interplay between media economics and policies. She has published widely on these topics in peer-reviewed journals.
Gunn Enli
Gunn Enli is Professor of Media Studies at the University of Oslo, Norway. Her research interests are media policy, political communication, and social media. Her work appears in journals such as Media, Culture & Society, Television and New Media, Convergence, and European Journal of Communication. Enli’s recent books are Routledge Companion to Social Media and Politics (2016), The Media Welfare State: Nordic Media in the Digital Era (2015), and Mediated Authenticity (2015).
Tim Raats
Tim Raats lectures Political Economy of the Cultural Industries, Media Policy and European Media and Communications policies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. He is senior researcher at imec-SMIT-VUB, focusing on Public Service Media management and policy challenges on the one hand and the sustainability of audiovisual ecosystems in small markets on the other hand.
Trine Syvertsen
Trine Syvertsen is Professor of Media Studies at the University of Oslo, Norway. She specialises in media policy, media history, television, and digital media. She has published widely on these topics in peer-reviewed journals. Recent books include The Media Welfare State: Nordic Media in the Digital Era (2015) and Media Resistance; Protest, Dislike, Abstention (2015)