News Release

Audience members influence value creation in the TV audience market

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Estonian Research Council

Illustrative Photo

image: Recently an article was published in the International Journal of Digital Television, which examined the changing relationship between traditional TV providers and their audiences. Senior Research Fellow Ulrike Rohn (Tallinn University) and Docent Mats Nylund (Arcada University of Applied Sciences) say that the notion of sharing, which is most prominent in the current buzzword of the 'sharing economy' may be applied for understanding current trends in TV markets. view more 

Credit: Baltic Film and Media School

Recently an article was published in the International Journal of Digital Television, which examined the changing relationship between traditional TV providers and their audiences. Senior Research Fellow Ulrike Rohn (Tallinn University) and Docent Mats Nylund (Arcada University of Applied Sciences) say that the notion of sharing, which is most prominent in the current buzzword of the 'sharing economy' may be applied for understanding current trends in TV markets .

With reference to the keyword of the 'sharing economy', Rohn and Nylund point out the increasing sharing activities in form of collaborative production and collaborative consumption in the TV audience market. In particular, they introduce the sharing activities between traditional TV providers and audience members as well as among audience members, which are enabled by new technological developments and platforms. They conducted interviews with TV providers and the main findings concern the so-called audience value.

In the article, researchers point out three sharing activities in TV audience markets - distribution, interaction and audience circulation. These also serve as a framework for the identification of success factors by TV providers. „In terms of distribution, making content available generously and across various platforms is essential and increasingly expected by audiences," Rohn explained and added that with regard to the interaction with audiences, the interviewees emphasized that beyond actually incorporating audience input into the production of TV content, it was much more important to provide audiences with the feeling that they mattered in terms of content creation and production. „In terms of circulation behaviour by audiences, the interviewees agreed that it was most important that they positioned their content in an environment that enabled and stimulated audience circulation behaviour. Facebook and YouTube were seen as important platforms for being noticed in the online world and for stimulating audiences to pick up content and make it viral," she added.

As a result of their study, Rohn and Nylund argue that the traditional, linear value chain that has seved as a framework for understanding how value is created in the TV industry is outdated. Instead, they introduce an activity net of value creation in the TV audience market.

Article „The sharing economy: How sharing activities influence value creation in the TV audience market" was published in International Journal of Digital Television (Volume 9 Number 2). Authors are Ulrike Rohn (Visiting Professor and Senior Research Fellow at Baltic Film, Media, Arts and Communication School in Tallinn University) and Mats Nylund (Docent at the Department of Culture and Media in Arcada University of Applied Sciences).

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