Mercedes Medina

Globalization and Pluralism The Function of Public Television in the European Audiovisual Market

/ European audiovisual legislation focuses exclusively on a concept of external pluralism. It therefore seems necessary to adopt other policies and develop new measures to guarantee diversity. In order to implement this reform, a new, richer concept of pluralism must be sought that reflects the reality of the market. This would enable us to devise instruments to measure the real presence of pluralism in the media, and perform effective regulation to defend this right at every level. The aim of this study is to examine the scope of this problem in the content of public and private broadcasting in different European countries, and then suggest a redefinition of pluralism and cultural diversity, together with new forms of evaluation that could guarantee that both values are present in sufficient measure.

The Internet of ThingsGreengardSamuel (ed.) The Internet of Things, The MIT Press: Cambridge, 2015; 232 pp.:

Recent developments in communications technology make it possible to integrate networking capabilities into everyday physical objects. Wide-spread use of such ”smart objects” will likely cause profound changes to today’s computing networks and have significant impact on our daily lives. In this elaboration an overview of the Internet of Things and its techniques is given. It also shows some applications that make use of the Internet of Things.

12.95 (pbk)

The Spanish news media industry was hit hard by the recent financial crisis eroding growth and advertising revenues. The need for daring solutions is pressing in a context with fewer resources to cope with the change. Most Spanish news media companies still offer a ‘menu’ that seems a mere imitation and repetition of ‘glories’ from the past.

Market Structure and Innovation Policies in Spain

Media products usually comprise two components: a nonmaterial element (journalistic, fiction, persuasive, etc., called content) and a material element (whereby the content is distributed and made accessible to consumers, typically referred to as a platform). While both components function in tandem in the market as regards meeting needs, consumer demand is primarily linked to content; the role of communication or transmission platforms is secondary in this regard, although they may be crucial to such concerns as accessibility (Murphy. How television invented new media. Rutgers University Press, 2011; Chun. Control and freedom: Power and paranoia in the age of fiber optic. MIT, 2006).

Contents as Products in Media Markets

The convergence of television and the internet is profoundly changing the audio-visual market. Connected TV is offered through a wide range of internet-enabled devices. Taking audience perspective into account, the aim of this article is to describe television companies’ strategies for their multiplatform portfolios and the impact that this new context has on traditional pay television companies. The main data sources are professional reports, case studies, and an original online survey carried out in Spain.

El comportamiento del público y las estrategias multiplataforma: el camino hacia la televisión conectada en España

Media companies have started paying especial attention to online media. During many years, they have been the audience leaders, so they have got enough advertising revenue to be profitable. However, they are suffering nowadays from the competition of Internet, social media and new electronic devices.