Multi-platform media and the digital challenge: Strategy, Distribution and Policy

这个项目是关于媒体行业由于数字融合和互联网的发展而发生的经济和社会变革。本文分析了媒体业务最近向多元化数字发行和多平台增长战略的迁移，以及这对经济效率、生产组织以及内容的性质和多样性的影响。公共政策面临哪些挑战？通过主要个案研究，调查范围将涵盖：-多平台扩展所带来的经济机会和优势；-数码科技的融合及互联网的发展对鼓励这些策略的作用；-多平台对传媒内容制作的影响，以及对多元化和多元化的影响；-对公共政策及规管的影响。该项目调查了当前组织对数字交付平台（尤其是互联网）的到来和增长的反应如何改变并可能改善媒体供应的经济状况。将采用多案例研究方法，重点关注主要行业类别（电视、杂志和报纸）中的重要目标组织，例如BBC、ITV、MTV、All3Media、Lion TV、新闻集团、卫报媒体集团、电讯报媒体集团、金融时报、先驱与时代集团、IPC、Bauer消费者媒体和丹尼斯出版公司。向多媒体方法的转变如何影响整个行业的工作和投资流动，这种方法在多大程度上使公司能够利用其资源并更有效地满足受众的需求？另一个中心问题是调查采用多平台前景是如何影响内容的。该项目将考察生产决策、成品组装和内容服务以及媒体内容项目的分发和交付如何随着部署360度方法的推动力而发生变化。这项研究还将调查媒体产出的整体构成是如何变化的。在这样做的过程中，它旨在找出多平台出版和发行是否有助于扩大内容多样性和选择，或者相反，多平台是否可能以安全和流行的主题和品牌的形式鼓励标准化和统一性。在日益认识到媒体所有权集中和媒体提供缺乏多样性所造成的潜在危险的时刻，研究多平台战略对内容多样性的影响将具有特别的价值。该项目还将在公共政策的其他关键领域贡献知识并提供潜在影响，在这些领域，数字融合和媒体组织的新兴反应至关重要——特别是通过分析创意产业政策在支持创意和创新方面的作用。所要求的主要资源是来自两名兼职（0.5）博士后RAs的投入，以支持该项目。任命两名助理研究员将使在项目整个生命周期内管理研究活动的时间方面具有灵活性，并将有助于征聘在主要方法（例如访谈、观察和内容分析）方面具有互补技能的研究人员。评级机构将在项目的所有阶段发挥充分作用，从最初的数据收集到实地研究和内容分析，再到分析和撰写，再到结果的交流，以及参与和交流。PI和CoI拥有媒体经济学（Doyle）和媒体与文化政策社会学（Schlesinger）方面的专业知识。两人都有与政策制定者和行业接触的丰富经验，并对与媒体相关的和更广泛的文化政策问题的公开辩论做出了贡献。

This project is about economic and social aspects of transformations taking place in the media industry as a result of digital convergence and growth of the internet. It sets out to analyse the recent migration of media businesses towards diversified digital distribution and multi-platform growth strategies and the impact this has had on economic efficiency, the organization of production, and on the nature and diversity of content. What challenges are faced by public policy?Using key case studies, the scope of the investigation will cover:- economic opportunities and advantages created by multi-platform expansion; - the role of convergent digital technologies and growth of the internet in encouraging such strategies;- the impact of multi-platform on the production of media content and on diversity and pluralism; - implications for public policy and regulation.The project investigates how current organisational responses to the arrival and growth of digital delivery platforms and especially the internet have altered and potentially improved the economics of supplying media. A multiple case study approach will be adopted focusing on significant target organizations within the main sectoral categories - television, magazines and newspapers - which this project is seeking to examine, e.g. BBC, ITV, MTV, All3Media, Lion TV, News Corporation, Guardian Media Group, Telegraph Media Group, Financial Times, The Herald & Times Group, IPC, Bauer Consumer Media and Dennis Publishing. How is the move to a multi-media approach affecting flows of jobs and investments across industry and to what extent this approach is enabling firms to exploit their resources and serve audience demands more effectively? Another central concern is to investigate empirically how the adoption of a multi-platform outlook is affecting content. The project will examine how decisions about production, the assembly of finished products and content services, and the distribution and delivery of items of media content are changing in response to the impetus to deploy a 360-degree approach. The research will also examine how the overall composition of media output is changing. In doing so it aims to find out whether multi-platform publishing and distribution is contributing to a widening of content diversity and choice or whether, conversely, multi-platform may be encouraging standardization and uniformity in the form of safe and popular themes and brands. At a moment of increased recognition of the potential dangers posed by concentrations of media ownership and by lack of plurality in media provision, a study of the impact of multi-platform strategies on diversity of content promises to be of particular value. The project will also contribute knowledge and offer potential impact in other key areas of public policy where digital convergence and emerging responses on the part of media organizations are crucial - notably, by analysing the role of creative industries policies in supporting creativity and innovation. The main resource requested is input from two part-time (0.5) Post-Doctoral RAs to support the project. The appointment of two RAs will allow flexibility in management of the timing of research activities throughout the lifetime of the project and will facilitate recruitment of researchers with complementary skills in the main methodologies to be used (e.g. interviewing, observation and content analysis). The RAs will play a full role in all stages of the project, from initial data-gathering, to field research and content analysis, to analysis and writing up and to communication of findings, and engagement and exchange. The PI and CoI have expertise in economics of media (Doyle) and in sociology of media and cultural policies (Schlesinger). Both have extensive experience of engagement with policy-makers and industry and of contributing to public debate on media-related and wider cultural policy questions.