Universality of public service media and preschool audiences : The choice against a dedicated television channel in Flanders
In 2017, Flemish public broadcaster Vlaamse Radio en Televisieorganisatie (VRT), that serves the approximately 6.5 million people of the Flemish community in Belgium, proposed launching a separate television channel for preschool children, making use of existing brand Ketnet Jr. VRT argued such a service was necessary given the different needs of preschoolers compared with older children, and the limited reach of their online offers within certain social-political strata. A universality rationale thus underlined VRT’s plans. This chapter analyses the process, contents, and outcome of the publi... Mehr ...
Verfasser: | |
---|---|
Dokumenttyp: | Chapter in book |
Erscheinungsdatum: | 2020 |
Verlag/Hrsg.: |
Communication Studies Department
Vrije Universiteit Brussel Belgium |
Schlagwörter: | public service media / public value test / preschool television / children’s television / universality / Media and Communications / Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap |
Sprache: | Englisch |
Permalink: | https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-26694854 |
Datenquelle: | BASE; Originalkatalog |
Powered By: | BASE |
Link(s) : | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:norden:org:diva-11753 |
In 2017, Flemish public broadcaster Vlaamse Radio en Televisieorganisatie (VRT), that serves the approximately 6.5 million people of the Flemish community in Belgium, proposed launching a separate television channel for preschool children, making use of existing brand Ketnet Jr. VRT argued such a service was necessary given the different needs of preschoolers compared with older children, and the limited reach of their online offers within certain social-political strata. A universality rationale thus underlined VRT’s plans. This chapter analyses the process, contents, and outcome of the public value test procedure applied to this proposal. The focus of the analysis is on whether universality arguments were seriously taken into account by the regulator and government, or made subordinate to competitors’ logic. Our document analysis makes it clear that the opinion of commercial broadcasters, rarely substantiated by evidence, disproportionally impacted the regulator’s assessment, and eventually resulted in a negative decision on a service of which the market impact was in fact limited and the public interest motivation high. ; Go to the full book to find a version of this chapter tagged for accessibility.