Las radiotelevisiones públicas europeas en el entorno web

RLCS, Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 73 – Pages 911 to 926 [Funded] [Research] | DOI:10.4185/RLCS-2018-1288en | ISSN 1138-5820 | Year 2018 http://www.revistalatinacs.org/073paper/1288/47en.html Página 911 How to cite this article in bibliographies / References MM Rodríguez-Fernández, E Sánchez-Amboage, C Toural-Bran (2018): “Public Service Media in the online arena”. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 73, pp. 911 to 926 http://www.revistalatinacs.org/073paper/1288/47en.html DOI: 10.4185/RLCS-2018-1288en Public Service Media in the online arena María-Magdalena Rodríguez-Fernández [CV] [ https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7312-0853] [https://scholar.google.es/citations?user=DgfUNdoAAAAJ&hl=es] Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Business. Universidad de A Coruña, Spain – magdalena.rodr[email protected] Eva Sánchez-Amboage [CV] [ https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9058-2937] [https://scholar.google.es/citations?user=zke_c7sAAAAJ&hl=es&oi=ao] Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Business. Universidad de A Coruña, Spain – [email protected] Carlos Toural-Bran [CV] [ http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0961-3925] [https://scholar.google.es/citations?user=5oTTfYQAAAAJ&hl=es] Professor at the Faculty of Communication Science. Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain– [email protected] Abstract Introduction. Public Service Media (PSM) in Europe have had to adapt to new scenarios where the Internet is the main platform to inform, communicate and disseminate content to their audiences. Objectives and methodology. We examined websites of Public Service Media organisations in Europe, taking into account the following parameters: positioning, engagement, origin of the audience and device for access. Results. In most cases, time spent by users on sites is limited, the bounce rate is high, users are national and the most frequently used access devices to web contents are mobile. Discussion and conclusions. In some cases, results show that websites belonging to European public broadcasters are not meeting users’ expectations. It is key that operators consider developing more efficient online services when designing their business strategies, as this will inevitably result in greater and better usage of their websites by users. Keywords European public broadcasters; European Union; Internet; websites. Contents 1. Introduction. 2. Literature review. 2.1. Public Service Media in the online arena. 2.2. Public Service Media in Europe. 3. Objectives and methodology. 4. Results. 5. Discussion and conclusions. 6. References. RLCS, Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 73 – Pages 911 to 926 [Funded] [Research] | DOI:10.4185/RLCS-2018-1288en | ISSN 1138-5820 | Year 2018 http://www.revistalatinacs.org/073paper/1288/47en.html Página 912 1. Introduction We find ourselves before a context of media convergence, network’s globalization, multi-platform contents and the consolidation of a communication model “from many to many” (Roel, 2010). These factors have boosted the need for broadcasters to adapt to multi-channel and multi-screen scenarios (Jenkins & Lazcano 2008). The Internet, after overcoming a stage characterised by confusion and fear to the new media, has been consolidated as a relevant ally for broadcasting channels (Cham & Ha, 2003). In parallel, websites [1] have entered strongly in the sector, to the point of becoming essential platforms in communication strategies. Websites provide interactivity between organisations and the audience, and thus contribute to improve dissemination and promotion of contents from traditional formats. As regards Public Service Media organisations, due to their essential role in promoting democratic societies (Dahlgren, 2007), the adaptation to digital environments delivers increasingly higher value to their development of a public service. Within this context, PSM in Europe are the case of study and, after analysing their official websites, the research determines their situation as far as the following parameters: positioning, engagement, audience’s origin and access device. 2. Literature review 2.1. Public Service Media in the online arena Fragmentation of supply and demand, new ways of consumption, alteration of funding systems and new business models in the audiovisual sector are the result of the economic and technological changes in the environment (Campos, 2013). In this regard, technology has meant an important leap from traditional media to the digital ones, a momentum that has improved and expanded the offer for the audience, a feedback loop between the user and the media (Debrett, 2009). The Internet has become, therefore, a tool for communicating and transferring information between organisations and users (Buhalis, 1998; Obercom, 2014). As a consequence of Internet penetration among broadcasters, traditional models of one-way communication have given way to a participative model, characterised by a more active role of audiences. The path followed by the Internet to become an unstoppable phenomenon has been, in years, much shorter than any traditional media. Broadcasters have accepted the challenge of the network and have adopted mechanisms to encourage audience participation, creating hybrid models of television and the Internet (Vinader & De la Cuadra, 2012). Far from the initially expected, the Internet does not cause a drop in the audience of conventional television, but results in an addition thanks to the positive correlation between both consumptions (Meso & Larrondo, 2010). Within this context, when assessing the offer (television) and the demand (user/audience) as parties involved in the communication process of broadcasters, it is seen that users, when consuming television in a digital environment, look for specific news and entertainment contents. That is why they pay greater attention (García, Galán & García, 2015). According to Ortuzar (2007), the spectator has become the centre of the TV universe, due both to their possibilities to participate and to the increasing options they have. RLCS, Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 73 – Pages 911 to 926 [Funded] [Research] | DOI:10.4185/RLCS-2018-1288en | ISSN 1138-5820 | Year 2018 http://www.revistalatinacs.org/073paper/1288/47en.html Página 913 In consequence, broadcasters have had to adopt different strategies to distribute contents, in order to meet and increasingly exigent demand. Live users on television are being lost, while on-demand users on the Internet are increasing, which has favoured the rise in on-demand services (Anton & Guallar, 2014). It is at this point that we can see that the rapid development of ICTs, mainly the advance of the Internet, has led to multiple changes for companies and users in the broadcasting arena (Díaz, Consuegra & Esteban, 2008). Broadcasters’ websites have become essential marketing tools (Okazaki, 2005), as they are instruments able to provide competitive advantages, to carry out real-time transactions, to facilitate two-way communication and access to target groups, to improve competitiveness of companies, to create new opportunities to reduce costs and, thereby, to make communication more effective (Xing & Grandt, 2006). The existence of broadcasting portals on the Internet has made it easy for the audience to access contents whenever and wherever they want, in a non-sequential and more active way (Anton & Guallar, 2014). This is why it is important to ensure web quality and their informative vocation (Mendiguren, 2010). By extrapolating technological changes produced in the scenario affecting public broadcasting services, it should be noted that they are facing two important transformations. First, the distribution channel, which is expanded and diversified by adding new channels and platforms (Enli, 2008). Second, consumption patterns, the audience, who was passive in their beginnings, has now become an interactive part of the communication process with their corresponding media (Meso, Agirreazkuenaga & Larrondo, 2015). According to Enli (2008), strategies to adapt the offer of PSM to new audiences should combine “tradition and innovation”, without ignoring the shared mission and remit. To take advantage of Internet’s potential, public broadcasting services need efficient websites to improve their communication. Among the available variables to achieve this goal, are interactivity and usability (Kaplanidou &Vogt, 2006; Ha & Love, 2005). However, according to Gómez (2016), web platforms are adapted to an audience profile as “consumer”, so they are lacking in users’ interactivity. This is due to the limited creation of communities, as well as the existence of a direct communication between users in the web. That shows that much remains to be done. 2. 3. Public Service Media in Europe Before talking about the European case, it is important to highlight that, as the 1990s moved on, the TV sector reached a turning point due to the shift from analogical to digital broadcasting (Bustamante, 1999). In Europe, audiovisual trends, influenced by the economic and financial crisis that started in 2007 and by the technological convergence, have resulted in a restructuring of public broadcasters, as well as a concentration of providers for digital services by analog TV, cable and satellite (Campos, 2013). Nevertheless, prospects point to the future of the IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) and to the shift from terrestrial radio waves to mobile communications at the expense of television (Campos, 2013). In the digital era, elements such as the adaptation to convergence, the revaluation of the social dimension of public service provision (Campos, 2016), and the commitment to a greater credibility as RLCS, Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 73 – Pages 911 to 926 [Funded] [Research] | DOI:10.4185/RLCS-2018-1288en | ISSN 1138-5820 | Year 2018 http://www.revistalatinacs.org/073paper/1288/47en.html Página 914 regards contents, are some of the essential elements that PSM have to value in order to guarantee their survival, as the future trend is towards pay-TV. At this juncture, Bustamante & García (2017) mention the existence of voices in favour of the relevance of PSM in the digital era (Lowe & Yamamoto, 2016), as well as critical voices as regards the way in which Europe is developing its digital expansion (Brevini, 2013). At this point, and in order to better understand the reasons-why, PSM are still essential in the digital era, we should first understand their remit, mission, goals, values and roles. Their mission is safeguarding cohesion against hyper-fragmentation, providing a sense of identity and cultural diversity to national communications and seeking to combine diversity with universality of access to contents (Campos, 2016). Among the goals of public service broadcasters are: the universal and maintained access; the promotion of culture, native languages, arts, education and knowledge; the promotion of pluralism, equality and interculturality; the offer of generalist programming for majorities and the attention to minorities; the independence and information quality; the diversity of genres and formats; the emphasis on the quality of information; the exemplariness in the performance of public-service missions; the democratic and efficient management; the construction of a public space and the innovation (Miguel, Zallo & Casado, 2017). According to the mission and established objectives, the six PSM core values established by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU, 2014) are: universality of access, independence, diversity, innovation, excellence and accountability. Finally, the tasks of European PSM are structured around democratic guarantees, the political role, the communication and cultural role, the identity role, the educational and training role, and innovation (Table 1). Table 1: Tasks of European PSM Democratic guarantees Universal access. Pluralism and programming diversity for all social groups. Promotion of integration of migrants. Political role Stimulation of citizens’ participation. Debates, discussion spaces on specific economic, social and political issues. Communication and cultural role Promotion of accurate, objective and near information. Promotion of art-related contents. Promotion of creativity (new aesthetics). Regional broadcasting shall occupy a space within the communication system of the region. Identity role Promotion of language. Promotion of heritage. Educational and training role Scientific dissemination. Promotion of ethical and citizens’ values: sustainability, cooperation, solidarity. Innovation PSM should be not only use existing technologies, but also be proactive in the use, looking for new functions, such as the participation of the civil society. RLCS, Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 73 – Pages 911 to 926 [Funded] [Research] | DOI:10.4185/RLCS-2018-1288en | ISSN 1138-5820 | Year 2018 http://www.revistalatinacs.org/073paper/1288/47en.html Página 915 New TV formats (cross, transmedia). Organisational innovation. In a moment of convergence, it is logic to break with the traditional division between departments of radio, television and the Internet. New informative approaches: 360 journalism, etc. Source: Prepared by authors from Miguel, Zallo & Casado (2017). The performance of these functions should be structured around governance, which should promote transparency, a sound and stable funding, and a distinguished programming (Miguel, Zallo & Casado, 2017). In this regard, PSM in Europe are immerse in a global, convergent and changing ecosystem of media, technologies, distribution systems and new forms of accessing and consuming audiovisual contents (Campos, 2016). The use of innovation is presented as a relevant strategy for the following authors [2] (Steemers, 2003; Van Dijck & Poell, 2014; Dondeers &Van den Bulck, 2014 y Glowacki & Jackson, 2016), cited in Campos (2016), with the aim of revitalising and boosting the image of Public Service Media organisations. This way, European public service broadcasters are facing a great challenge: to adapt themselves to a new changing scenario in order to strengthen their positioning. In this regard, it is important to maintain traditional audiences and to try to get new spectators other platforms, strategies and narratives, where the demand of content consumption tends more towards experience (Campos, 2016). 3. Objectives and method The goal of the research consists on analysing the official websites of the EU-28 Public Service Media organisations, with the exception of Luxembourg, which does not have such a service. Table 2: PSM corporations in Europe and their websites Country Corporation Website Germany ARD http://www.ard.de/home/ard/ARD_Startseite/21920/index.html Germany ZDF https://www.zdf.de/ Austria ORF http://orf.at/ Belgium BRF https://brf.be/ Belgium RTBF https://www.rtbf.be/ Belgium VRT https://www.vrt.be/nl/ Bulgaria BNT https://www.bnt.bg/bg Bulgaria BNR http://bnr.bg/ RLCS, Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 73 – Pages 911 to 926 [Funded] [Research] | DOI:10.4185/RLCS-2018-1288en | ISSN 1138-5820 | Year 2018 http://www.revistalatinacs.org/073paper/1288/47en.html Página 916 Cyprus CyBC http://www.riknews.com.cy/ Croatia HRT http://www.hrt.hr/ Denmark DR https://www.dr.dk/ Slovakia RTVS http://www.rtvs.sk/ Slovenia RTVSLO http://www.rtvslo.si/ Spain RTVE http://www.rtve.es/ Estonia ERR http://www.err.ee/ Finland YLE https://yle.fi/ France FT https://www.france.tv/ Greece ERT http://www.ert.gr/ Hungary MTVA https://www.mediaklikk.hu/m1 Ireland RTE https://www.rte.ie/ Italia RAI http://www.rai.it/ Latvia LTV http://ltv.lsm.lv/lv/ Lithuania LRT http://www.lrt.lt/ Malta PBS https://www.tvm.com.mt/en/ Netherlands NPO https://www.npo.nl/ Poland TVP https://polonia.tvp.pl/ Portugal RTP http://www.rtp.pt/ UK BBC http://www.bbc.com/ Czech Republic CT http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/ Romania TVR http://www.tvr.ro/ Sweden SVT https://www.svt.se/ Source: Prepared by authors The analysis was carried out using SimilarWeb [3], an online tool for knowing the most relevant data of a specific Internet site as regards positioning, audience and traffic. The tool has been previously RLCS, Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 73 – Pages 911 to 926 [Funded] [Research] | DOI:10.4185/RLCS-2018-1288en | ISSN 1138-5820 | Year 2018 http://www.revistalatinacs.org/073paper/1288/47en.html Página 917 used by authors such as Túñez & Costa (2017) for the assessment of online communication and web traffic of some public broadcasters in Europe. The fieldwork consisted on tracking for three consecutive months, namely since September 1, 2017 to December 1, 2017, in order to not generate distortions associated to discontinuity. The fixed photo that projects the state-of-the-art of PSM’s websites is captured assessing four parameters and their associated variables (Figure 1), in order to achieve the goal of the research. The analysis covers the positioning of websites (using the value Web Global Rank), their engagement (using the number of visits, duration and bounce rate), origin (national and international), and access devices (desktop and other mobile devices). Figure 1: Analysed parameters and variables - - - - Main goal of the research Bold type Parameters Regular type Variables * Web Global Rank is a relation of websites, worldwide, ranked by traffic. ** Percentage of visitors who enter the site and then leave rather than continuing to view more pages within the same site. Source: Prepared by authors 4. Results The results are organised based on the analysed parameters and variables: positioning, engagement, origin of the user, and access devices. RLCS, Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 73 – Pages 911 to 926 [Funded] [Research] | DOI:10.4185/RLCS-2018-1288en | ISSN 1138-5820 | Year 2018 http://www.revistalatinacs.org/073paper/1288/47en.html Página 918 First, it is assessed the positioning of PSM’s websites at the Web Global Rank (WGR) on a global basis. The parameter is a relation of sites worldwide, ranked by traffic volume. Figure 2 shows the position of European PSM’s sites arranged by quartiles. Q1, Q2 and Q3 contain the positioning of the 24 best positioned PSM, and every quartile includes the information on 8 broadcasters. On the other hand, Q4 refers to the data from the six remaining EU’s broadcasters. It is important to note that, although they are no visible, quartiles (data set up in four parts equally divided) have the positioning of all websites in the world, of any category, not only broadcasters. Figure 2: Position of European PSM at the Web Global Rank at international level, arranged by quartiles. Source: Prepared by authors Based on the above mentioned, the BBC achieves the best position of all analysed broadcasters, as it is 163th in the world ranking. The remaining EU’ public broadcasters occupy a lower position in the ranking, being the most notable differences in Q1, between the BBC and the ORF, which are 163th and 1,466 respectively, and in Q4 between the LRT and the BRF, placed in positions 37,732 and 666,527. The second parameter analysed is the engagement, which provides information on the commitment between the website and the visitor. Three variables are taken into account in this regard: total number of visitors, duration of visits –time spent on the website by the user-, and the bounce rate (percentage of visitors who enter the site and then leave rather than continuing to view more pages within the same site). It is important to remind that the data showed in the study reflect the evolution of variables during three months. RLCS, Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 73 – Pages 911 to 926 [Funded] [Research] | DOI:10.4185/RLCS-2018-1288en | ISSN 1138-5820 | Year 2018 http://www.revistalatinacs.org/073paper/1288/47en.html Página 919 Figure 3: Number of visitors of PSM’s official websites in Europe Source: Prepared by authors Figure 3 shows the number of visitors of the websites from Public Service Media in Europe. The BBC stands out again from the rest of broadcasters, as its website, during the 3-month analysis, had more than a trillion visits (1,332.163.500). On the other side, it is the Swedish SVT (13,300 visits), the lowest figure of all analysed cases. Between both extremes, the median has been calculated: 24 million visits. Based upon the foregoing, the map of Figure 3 is divided into two halves. First one, the orangecoloured reflects the 50% of countries exceeding the median, located in the Western and Central Europe, except from Finland and Ireland, which belong to Northern Europe. In this first case, the Austrian ORF stands out with the highest data (121,095.400), followed by the German ZDF (104,640.200) and the Spanish RTVE (93,647.600) among others. The second half, corresponding to the 50% of countries with less than 24 million visitors, is represented in dark blue. Apart from Portugal, countries belonging to this group are located in Eastern Europe. Regarding to engagement, another variable to analyse is the duration of visits in each of the websites of European public broadcasters. It is important to highlight that the duration of visits reports, indirectly, on the interest of sites. A long-time of visitors spent surfing the web, implies that the web has a better structure and a more attractive content for the user. RLCS, Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 73 – Pages 911 to 926 [Funded] [Research] | DOI:10.4185/RLCS-2018-1288en | ISSN 1138-5820 | Year 2018 http://www.revistalatinacs.org/073paper/1288/47en.html Página 926 A Ortuzar (2007): “La televisión pública en la era digital”, en Transformaciones de la radio y la televisión en Europa, (Ed C Peñafiel Saiz). Vitoria: Servicio Editorial de la Universidad del País Vasco. M Roel (2010): “Desafíos de la televisión ante la consolidación del ecosistema digital”, Ámbitos. Revista Internacional de Comunicación, 19, pp.25-42. JM Túñez-López & C Costa-Sánchez (2017): “Comunicación online y trafico web de las televisiones públicas en Europa”, in JM Túñez- López, F Campos-FC Freire & A Silva-Rodríguez A. (Eds.). (2017) Estudios sobre financiación, legislación e innovación en la Televisión Pública. Cuadernos Artesanos de Comunicación, cac126, pp. 127-142. La Laguna (Tenerife): Latina. 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Notes 1 Cibersitio is a collection of linked websites and common to a domain or subdomain on the World Wide Web inside the Internet. 2 Steemers, 2003; Van Dijck & Poell, 2014; Dondeers &Van den Bulck, 2014; Glowacki & Jackson, 2016), are cited in Campos (2016). 3 It may be consulted at https://www.similarweb.com/. __________________________________________________________________ How to cite this article in bibliographies / References MM Rodríguez-Fernández, E Sánchez-Amboage, C Toural-Bran (2018): “Public Service Media in the online arena”. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 73, pp. 911 to 926 http://www.revistalatinacs.org/073paper/1288/47en.html DOI: 10.4185/RLCS-2018-1288en Article received on 25 November 2017. Accepted on 10 May. Published on 17 May 2018.