• No results found

Financing of Dutch television companies and its influence on television content

N/A
N/A
Protected

Academic year: 2021

Share "Financing of Dutch television companies and its influence on television content"

Copied!
76
0
0

Bezig met laden.... (Bekijk nu de volledige tekst)

Hele tekst

(1)

FACULTY OF ECOMICS AND BUSINESS

Msc Business Studies

Track: Entrepreneurship and Management in Creative Industries

Masterthesis

Financing of Dutch television companies

and its influence on television content

By Olga Drukker

5933897

July 1st, 2015

First supervisor: E. Dirksen MSc Second supervisor: dr. J.J. Ebbers

(2)

1 STATEMENTS OF ORIGINALITY

This document is written by student Olga Drukker who declares to take full responsibility for the contents of this document.

I declare that the text and the work presented in this document is original and that no sources other than those mentioned in the text and its references have been used in creating it.

The Faculty of Economics and Business is responsible solely for the supervision of completion of the work, not for the contents.

(3)

2 Table of contents Table of contents p. 2 Abstract p. 4 1. Introduction p. 5 2. Literature Review p. 7

2.1 The creative industries in general p. 7

2.1.1 Defining the creative industries p. 8

2.1.2 The big paradox within creative industries p. 10

2.2 The history of the Dutch television industry p. 12

2.2.1 The early days of television p. 12

2.2.2 Further development of the Dutch television industry p. 13

2.2.3 Arrival of commercial broadcasting in the Netherlands p. 15

2.3 The current Dutch dual broadcasting system p. 17

2.3.1 Commercial vs public service broadcasting p. 19

2.3.2 Financing by commercial broadcasters p. 22

2.3.3 Reasoning behind public service broadcasting p. 24

2.3.4 Definitional challenges in policy making p. 28

3. Research methodology p. 32

3.1 Research design p. 32

3.2 Sample and data collection p. 33

3.3 Quality of the research p. 34

3.4 Method of analysis p. 35

4. Results p. 36

4.1 Realization of television programs p. 36

4.1.1 Commercial television p. 36

4.1.2 Public service television p. 38

(4)

3

4.2 Commercial broadcasting p. 40

4.2.1 Organizational structure of production companies p. 40

4.2.2 Forms of financing for commercial television p. 41

4.2.3 New trends of commercial television making p. 44

4.3 Public service broadcasting p. 47

4.3.1 Organizational structure p. 47

4.3.2 Forms of financing for public service television p. 48

4.3.3 New trends of public service television making p. 50

4.4 Consequences of financing for television content p. 52

4.4.1 Quality p. 55

4.4.2 Diversity p. 56

4.4.3 Innovation p. 57

5. Conclusion and discussion p. 59

5.1 Summary and discussion of findings p. 59

5.2 Implications p. 62

5.3 Limitations p. 63

5.4 Future research p. 64

(5)

4 Abstract

This study attempts to answer the following research question: ‘How does the financing of

commercial Dutch television programs influence its content in comparison to the public service broadcasters?’ In order to research this topic, twelve experts in the field have been interviewed and their interviews have been analyzed thoroughly. By using this qualitative research approach, the study investigates the topic in close detail to gain a full understanding of the financing of Dutch television companies and its influence on television content. As existing literature was fairly outdated mostly due to the rapid changes in society, further research was necessary regarding this topic. Different trends, types of financing and aspects of content can be distinguished throughout the study. However, the main finding of this study is that financing mostly influences the type of television content that is offered. The television shows of the commercial broadcasters are financed directly through non-spot advertising. As commercial broadcasters focus on maximizing revenues, they only create content appealing to large audiences to gain market shares. Therefore, they mostly produce entertainment or genres that are currently popular like human interest programs. On the other hand, public service broadcasters can be more independent due to their governmental support. Even though this

independence is endangered by the governmental economizations, the governmental budgets are still sufficient at the moment to produce more expensive programs like documentaries, news reporting programs or special interest shows. These shows would not be produced if governmental support was lacking, simply because it would be too expensive to produce for commercial broadcasters whilst aiming to maximize profits.

(6)

5 1. Introduction

The tension between creativity and commerce in the creative industries is not only noticeable in the creative industries as a whole, but also in its subindustries like the television industry. In the past, governmental monetary support has been called into life within the Dutch television industry. In accordance with this tension of commerce and creativity the Dutch government assumed profit maximizing goals of privately funded broadcasters could not go hand in hand with being artistically free to create high quality products for television. As a consequence, the government started funding public service broadcasters to supply a diverse set of programs with impartial information to educate and unite the Dutch population. This has led to a distinction nowadays between public service broadcasters and commercial broadcasters within the Dutch television industry.

However, due to technological and societal developments, changes have occurred that appear to have an influence on this television industry. For instance, production companies have founded that nowadays produce television programs for commercial as well as public service broadcasters.

Furthermore, an international financial crisis has taken place that negatively influenced governmental budgets. Consequently, public service broadcasters are more dependent on additional sources of income, whilst commercial broadcasters have a more difficult time finding sponsors. Similarly, the introduction of digital television and internet also had its influence. These and other developments are starting to blur the boundaries between the previously clear boundaries between commercial and public service broadcasters, it seems. This can have consequences for the content of current tv programs. Thus, it is important to research this topic because it can have several implications for actors involved like governmental institutions or managers of production companies. Therefore, the research question will be: ‘How does the financing of commercial Dutch television programs influence its content in comparison to the public service broadcasters?’

Thus, the aim of this study is to explore the role of financing within the content production of television programs. In an attempt to answer this question, a qualitative research method is used as this method creates the opportunity to gain a better understanding and deeper insight in this topic (Saunders et al, 2009). Eleven interviews have been conducted among professionals in the field.

(7)

6 In order to answer the research question, this study is structured as follows. First, in the literature review the history of Dutch television industry is discussed to better comprehend the current situation. This is followed by an overview of existing literature, regarding not only commercial and public service broadcasters, but also concerning financing and the tension between commerce and creativity. After the literature review has been discussed, I will further elaborate on the method that is used. Then the results of this study will be explained thoroughly to finalize this thesis with a discussion and conclusion. Here, not only a summary and discussion of the findings can be found, but also the implications, limitations and recommendations for further research are mentioned.

(8)

7 2. Literature review

This section gives an overview of the existing literature and knowledge concerning the creative industries and more importantly regarding the television industry in particular. First, the definitional problems and the major paradox of the creative industries are discussed. This is important because the issues concerning the creative industries are applicable to the television industry as well. They can be seen as characteristic for almost every individual subindustry of the creative industries (Hesmondhalgh & Pratt, 2006). Next, the television industry is scrutinized. Starting with a detailed description of the Dutch television history, a better understanding of the Dutch television system is established. This is necessary to fully grasp the existing problems regarding topics like financing and policy making within this industry today. Finally, the current situation of the television industry will be thoroughly examined. First by distinguishing between the commercial private broadcasters and the public service broadcasters. Then a discussion is presented of how television programs can be financed. It shows there is a lack of research regarding this last topic. The last decade not much has been written

concerning the Dutch television industry in general, but more specifically only a few studies have been done when it comes to describing the processes of financing television programs within this industry and what influence this has on the content that is being produced. This creates a clear opportunity for this study to fill this gap. Findings of this study might therefor have implications for different actors involved like governmental institutions or managers of production companies. Ultimately, this section finishes with a short description of important concepts involved.

2.1 The creative industries in general

The television industry is a subindustry of the larger creative industries which have grown

significantly over the last couple of decades (Peltoniemi, 2015; Hesmondhalgh & Pratt, 2006). Many authors therefore emphasize the importance of the creative industries in the global economy nowadays which sometimes is being underestimated by governments or international institutions like the

European Union (Chon et al., 2003; Cooke & De Propris, 2010; DeFillipi et al., 2007; Harrison and Woods, 2001). It is interesting to take a closer look at these creative industries as some general tendencies regarding these industries can be applied to the television industry. Grasping its main

(9)

8 characteristics, the general tendencies but also the difficulties of the creative industries helps to deepen our understanding of the television industry as it partly copes with the same issues.

2.1.1 Defining the creative industries

If there is one thing authors agree on with regard to the creative industries, it is the high level of uncertainty that exists within these industries, mostly due to the rapid pace of changes (Heap et al., 2005; Hesmondhalgh & Pratt, 2006; O’connor, 2009; Throsby, 2008). Caves (2000) already addressed this uncertainty with his notion of ‘nobody knows’, meaning that it is difficult to predict if a product will be a success or a failure. Unlike products containing utilitarian value, for products stemming from the creative industries it is often not easy to forecast what characteristics guarantee success.

However, besides this consensus with regard to uncertainty as a characteristic of these industries, there is little agreement within existing literature about an actual explicit definition of the creative industries. Thus it remains vague what they actually encompass. Defining the creative

industries has been problematic ever since its existence (DeFillipi et al., 2007; Hesmondhalgh & Pratt, 2006; O’connor, 2009; Throsby, 2008). Different authors cannot seem to agree on the exact extent of industries to which the creative industries refer. Some include areas like the current smartphone or computer software industry (Hesmondhalgh & Pratt, 2006; O’connor, 2009; Prince, 2010), whilst others do not think these industries should be included at all (DeFillipi et al., 2007; Throsby, 2008). The disagreement on what the creative industries exactly stand for has its founding in the shift from the term cultural industries to creative industries which has changed over the last decade.

According to Garnham (2005) this shift has everything to do with the transformation towards the current information society that focuses mostly on innovation and knowledge. DeFilippi et al. (2007) also state there is a shift towards a knowledge-based society whereby creativity is the main source of strategic advantage. Garnham (2005) argues that this shift occurred to simplify policy making for governments like the UK. Prince (2010) also agrees that this notion of creative industries is a consequence of a new policy concept. However, if this latter statement is indeed appropriate is unclear.

(10)

9 Either way, many authors agree on the importance of innovation and information in modern society (Bardoel & D’Haenens, 2008; Bakhshi and Throsby, 2010; Heap et al., 2005; O’connor, 2009; ). For instance, also O’Connor (2009) includes both concepts in his definition of creative industries as social network markets whilst being innovation systems at the same time. Consequently, not all authors agree on the reasoning behind this shift from cultural to creative industries though. Malik (2013) for

example discusses this shift on a more sociological dimension as a consequence of a change in values within present society. He suggests that ideas regarding quality and creativity are nowadays ought to be more important than questions of (in)equality or recognition of cultural and social difference. Hesmondhalgh & Pratt (2006) also mention this change in emphasis. Like Throsby (2008), they explain this by regarding the cultural industries as part of the creative industries, whereby the creative industries have some kind of an umbrella function. Thus the latter has a broader focus than the previous concept of cultural industries.

In this sense the notions of creativity, information and innovation may be seen as

complementary to previous definitions of cultural industries. This probably explains why it is difficult to find a clear definition of the creative industries, meaning one that is significantly different from previous definitions regarding the cultural industries. For this reason some authors do not yet even recognize the creative industries in general or as being different from the cultural ones. Throsby (2008) for example defines the cultural industries as “a set of economic activities that combine the function of conception, creation and production of culture with more industrial functions in the large-scale manufacture and commercialization of cultural products” (p. 218). The definition of cultural industries by Hirsch (2000) is more concrete by saying that the cultural industries are the network of organizations consisting of creators, brokers, cultural product’s producers, distributors and media outlets. However, both definitions require an explanation of what cultural products actually contain. He describes these products as “nonmaterial goods directed at a public of consumers for whom they serve an esthetic or expressive, rather than a clearly utilitarian function” (Hirsch, 2000: p. 356). Throsby (2008) defines cultural goods more or less the same. According to him, three properties are of importance for these type of products: first, some input of human creativity is supplied in the production. Second, they hold a certain symbolic value. And third, they contain some

(11)

10 form of intellectual property. Creative goods on their turn just demand some level of creativity in their production. In this way, according to Throsby (2008), creative products go beyond cultural products by including advertisement and software for example. By using an approach based on the industrial organization theory, Throsby (2008) shows that the cultural industries are a sub-set of the creative industries.

For now, this exposition of defining creative and cultural industries is sufficient for having an idea of what the creative industries encompass. It becomes clear that disagreement exists on whether or not to include certain industries. Either way, it is obvious that the television industry is part of these industries which was partly the aim of mentioning the creative industries in general. The television itself is a material good, but to give this medium content products are being produced that have a different kind of value with a more aesthetic or symbolic nature, other than having an utilitarian value.. It is not just about the instrumental use of the product, but it contains some kind of extra layer. Thus the television industry creates cultural products where some human capital creativity and intellectual property are involved. And since a high level of creativity is required for the production of these products, one can state that it also definitely produces creative products. All together it makes television count as a creative industry. As much as defining the creative industries is problematic it is not an aim of this study to supply a proper solution for this definitional problem. It does however indicate the paradoxical nature of these industries which can be seen within the television industry as well. The above mentioned definitional discussion already gives an impression of an issue that will also recur in the television industry: the lack of clear definitions of concepts leading to several complications within the industry.

2.1.2 The big paradox within creative industries

What not has been mentioned yet is the important paradox of commerce and creativity. The tension between these two concepts definitely deserves some attention since it is noticeable throughout the whole branch of creative industries that exist. This is probably also the reason why it has been

researched broadly already. Within the studies that have been done regarding the creative industries, it has been a popular topic to investigate. The paradox is based on the assumption that commerce and

(12)

11 creativity are difficult to combine due to conflict of interest. It turns out that it is often hard to find a balance between being creatively excellent on the one hand, while on the other hand being able to earn money without losing your legitimacy and authenticity along the way (Hesmondhalgh & Pratt, 2006; Peltoniemi 2015; Hirsch, 2006). Especially artists or entrepreneurs in the creative sector are dealing with this complicated tension (Bradshaw & Holbrook, 2007). But also when managing a company within the creative industries this tension is noticeable (Bhansing et al., 2012).

Conflict can arise between artistically motivated creatives and financially motivated managers (Peltoniemi, 2015) who both have different objectives. Peltoniemi (2015) describes this conflict by saying it is about “reconciling artistic and profit goals” (p. 48) between “suits and creatives” (p. 48). DeFillipi et al. (2007) recognize this as well. They agree that tensions arise due to the dual goals of commerce and creativity. In their opinion it has everything to do with exploitation for efficiency and profitability on the one hand, whilst creative exploration on the other hand. These are two completely different aims which makes it almost impossible to achieve both at the same time. The problem with exploration is that returns are uncertain. This creates this tension which brings us back to a key characteristic of the creative industries. Consequently, companies often choose for the dual leadership structure as a solution for preventing any conflict. When using this structure within a company, there is the commercial manager who is responsible for the commercial or financial part of the organization whilst the artistic manager is responsible for the creative part (Bhansing et al., 2012).

Within the Dutch television industry this same division in labor is visible to cope with this tension between commerce and creativity as will be shown in chapter 4 when the results of this study are revealed. However, when working with a dual leadership structure, it is obvious that both types of managers are complexly intertwined. It is almost impossible to act independently of each other as money is needed to produce a show for instance, while at the same time the content of the show has to be good enough to be sold and broadcasted. Thus, some form of consensus always needs to be

achieved in order to find the right balance between creativity and commerce (Bhansing et al., 2012). Now, the Dutch television industry will be addressed. By starting with its history it is becomes easier to fully understand the current situation concerning television financing and policy making. Its history shows how the Dutch government tried to find this right balance between creativity and commerce.

(13)

12 Furthermore, discussing its history is useful for indicating how financing can affect television content. After describing the Dutch television history, the current Dutch television is described by further clarifying the different types of broadcasters and the ways of financing that exist for Dutch television companies. Subsequently, television broadcasters are either commercial privately funded or publicly state funded, thus having different manners to finance the creative content they produce. Previously this separation of types of broadcasters was deemed necessary to produce different kinds of content. However, since the society is changing rapidly and several important developments have occurred, it is interesting to investigate how this has affected their ways of financing and content production. This will then be the foundation of this research. This literature review is the starting point of this research topic, but at the same time it makes clear that new research is needed.

2.2 The history of the Dutch television industry

2.2.1 The early days of television

The beginning of the Dutch television history starts with the introduction of the radio in the 1920s (Hermes and Reesink, 2004; Wieten, 1999). The Dutch society was fragmented. The population was divided into four different pillars, based on philosophical grounds. Each pillar represented certain political and/or religious ideas. During this time of pillarization elites saw in radio a good opportunity to raise the internal cohesion within their own pillar. Therefore every pillar started having their own broadcasting channel. First the VARA (in Dutch: Vereniging van Arbeiders Radio Amateurs) in 1925, followed by the VPRO (in Dutch: Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep), KRO (in Dutch: Katholieke Radio Omroep) and AVRO (in Dutch: Algemene Vereniging Radio Omroep). As there was no

national broadcasters needed according to the Dutch government, the airtime decision (Dutch translation: het Zendtijdbesluit) in 1930 made sure all four broadcasters had their own airtime, all equally divided (Hermes & Reesink, 2004).

It was the same kind of societal landscape when television as a medium arrived. As with radio, there was no possibility for a national broadcaster according to the government. Therefore the

(14)

13 Televisie Stichting) in 1951 filling all airtime. The broadcasters were funded by the government by letting people pay money to watch television. After this, a period of relative tranquility began. It was clear that television was seen by elite and government as an opportunity to enlighten the population and to raise the cohesion within each pillar (Hermes & Reesink, 2004; Wieten, 1999).

2.2.2 Further development of the Dutch television industry

However, the government and elite underestimated the influence of this medium. In 1959 the VRON (in Dutch: Vrije Radio Omroep Nederland) was established. This was an unofficial radio broadcaster which was called into life due to dissatisfaction with the current radio system. According to the population it lacked popular music for instance. From 1960 onwards VRON started broadcasting Radio Veronica from a ship at sea that was just outside territorial waters.

Consequently, there was nothing the Dutch government could do against the stream of popular music and advertisements they broadcasted. This trend within the radio industry was an example for people in the television business. Different actors like Unilever and Philips wanted to get a license to start a commercial broadcaster. However, despite their several efforts, the government declined their attempts. Subsequently, the REM (in Dutch: de Reclame Exploitatie Maatschappij) transformed a former oilrig into a radio tower to start airing commercial television under the name ‘TV-Noordzee’ in 1964. With the introduction of this illegal commercial television transmissions, the government adopted a law in order to evacuate the former oilrig. It stopped the commercial broadcastings, but political tensions did not cease, leading to a change of government in 1965.

As a result, a new broadcasting law was created and activated in 1969 approving new

broadcasters to enter the Dutch television system. However, new and existing broadcasters now had to agree on certain content demands and had to acquire some support from the Dutch population, in the form of membership. Also, advertisements on television were permitted, when clearly separated from the programs itself though. The STER (in Dutch: Stichting Televisie Ether Reclame) was introduced, realizing the exploitation of advertisements. Also, the collaboration and coordination between broadcasters was from now on managed by a new institution, the NOS (in Dutch: Nederlandse Omroep Stichting).

(15)

14 In the meantime, changes of a more social character were visible in society. The power of the different pillars decreased partly due to television and radio. People started to get a glimpse of life in the other pillars leading to an increase of integration between the different groups within the

population and a decrease of the division based on philosophical grounds. New broadcasters like the TROS (in Dutch: Televisie Radio Omroep Stichting) arose which no longer based their content on specific religious or political thinking (Hermes and Reesink, 2004; Wieten, 1999).

Accordingly, the programs that were being offered became more popularized to amuse a broader audience instead of a particular group of the population. It was the beginning of a new trend. At the same time, technological innovations took place further influencing the development of the Dutch television system. For instance cable television was invented resulting in access to a much broader offering of television programs of foreign countries. Meanwhile, the remote control as well as the video recorder were brought to the market. Subsequently, the remote control made it easier to switch channels rapidly. For example during advertisements blocks, people now had the time to watch another television program instead.

These technological developments changed the behavior of the audience. It was now possible to record one television program and watch it endlessly later on, while fast-forwarding through the advertisements. Thus leading to more individualized consumer behavior in the 1980s. It was the right environment for commercial television to enter. Whilst the Dutch market was commercializing and internationalizing, efforts were made to start commercial broadcasting in the Netherlands. However, eventually this took a few more years (Hermes and Reesink, 2004; Wieten, 1999).

2.2.3 Arrival of commercial broadcasting in the Netherlands

The new Media law (in Dutch: Mediawet) in 1988 created the opportunity for commercial broadcasting to arise. The Media law required all broadcasters to meet the terms of a complete

program prescription by imposing minimum percentages with regard to several program categories; 20 percent culture, 25 percent information, 25 percent entertainment and 5 percent education. Also, broadcasters had to produce at least half of their programs themselves. Also, a third public service broadcasting channel was added, presented as the quality channel. The Dutch government was hoping

(16)

15 to keep the threat of commercial broadcasters away. The Commissariat for the Media (in Dutch: Commissariaat voor de Media) was called into life to supervise the execution of this new Media Law so that the government could keep its distance. But even though the existence of commercial

broadcasters was still not permitted, different initiatives took place by Dutch entrepreneurs in foreign countries. At the same time, liberal European regulation made it more difficult for the Dutch

government to resist these attempts. Eventually in 1989 previous employees of Veronica started broadcasting the new channel Verónique from Luxemburg. By being located in Luxemburg, the Dutch government was not able to label the channel as illegal as it was officially like any other foreign channel, only with Dutch programs. With new European law, the government was not able to stop Verónique. Eventually, the rise of RTL changed the Dutch television landscape for good. It was the beginning of a new era for Dutch television (Hermes and Reesink, 2004; Wieten, 1999).

To stabilize the public service broadcasters in the Netherlands, the Dutch government decided in 1992 to modernize its public television system. The STER, the advertisement branch, got more freedom. Furthermore, the different public service broadcasters were forced to work closer together in order to have more autonomy from the government. The NOS kept coordinating the three channels. However, the 1990s remained a restless period in Dutch television history. The landscape kept

changing with new actors, different structures within existing broadcasting companies and new genres. For example Joop van de Ende and John de Mol decided to combine their power and start up their own production company Endemol which turned out to be very successful. This same decade, Veronica decided to change into a commercial broadcaster by alliancing itself with Endemol. Furthermore, other new commercial channels arose like SBS6 and TMF.

Due to this increase in commercial broadcasting actors, again a new law was adopted, the Concession Act. A board of directors of the NOS was called into life to take responsibility for the programming of the three Dutch public service channels. Even though the public service broadcasters protested due to the national character of this law, it was activated in 2000. After yet another new commercial entrant, Net5, SBS6 remained one of the most successful commercial channels (Hermes and Reesink, 2004; Wieten, 1999).

(17)

16 2.3 The current Dutch dual broadcasting system

This thorough description was needed to understand the current situation concerning Dutch television. The Netherlands has a unique broadcasting system that would be difficult to understand without knowing its background (Hermes & Reesink, 2004). Countries like the UK or Germany have a more straightforward model where the distinction between commercial and public service broadcasters is easier based on their type of funding, as it is either funded by the government or privately funded by external financing (Brown, 1996; Cooke and De Propris, 2010; Percival and Hesmondhalgh, 2014). As the history of the Dutch television industry suggests, this does not account for the Netherlands where the public service broadcasters are not fully funded by the government as there are advertisements involved as well. More recently, it seems like other sources of income for public service broadcasters have increased as well partly due to the declining governmental budget for television. This research further investigates these other sources of income and its possible implications.

With regard to the current situation of the Dutch television industry not much scientific research has been done. Since the 2000s the amount of Dutch broadcasting channels has increased. The official website of the Dutch public service broadcasting company NPO shows three channels have still remained, supplied by 24 broadcasters, which in their turn produce their programs either themselves or by different production companies. However, some broadcasters were forced to merge like AVROTROS due to economizing by the Dutch government (Nederlandse Publieke Omroep, 2014). NPO describes its mission today as “binding and enriching the Dutch audience with programs that inform, inspire and amuse” (Nederlandse Publieke omroep, n.d.). In their vision they attach value to the importance of feeling part of society, including minority groups and developing yourself in your own way. The multiannual budget report of the NPO mentions the importance of focusing more on immigrants and women for exampl. Furthermore, it is stated that 85% of NPO’s productions are made in Holland. Furthermore, NPO states it produces independent of political or commercial objectives (Nederlandse Publieke Omroep, 2014). All these aspects can be found in the different requirements of the Media Law 2008 where these exact tasks of the NPO are stated (www.rijksoverheid.nl). The division of program categories that are offered by the NPO in order to achieve enough diversity and quality need to be as followed: 25% informative programs, 25% cultural, 5% educative, 25%

(18)

17 entertainment and 20% to fill in freely. Furthermore, the Media Fund (in Dutch: het Mediafonds) is founded to supply subsidies to stimulate the development of promising program concepts. Within this organization a Stimulation Fund exists to help talented program creators and people responsible for the programming of the NPO. In this way it hopes to create an environment where cultural programs of high artistic quality are supplied (Het Mediafonds, n.d.). Findings of this study have to point out if the content NPO produces nowadays is in line with this expected role.

As for the commercial channels, the number of channels has slightly grown as well. The official website of RTL Netherlands shows RTL4, RTL 5, RTL7 and RTL8 nowadays exist (RTL Nederland, n.d.). Also, there are still the commercial channels Veronica, SBS6, Net5 and since recently SBS9. Instead of SBS6 being the most successful channel, it is RTL Netherlands that is doing really well these days with its most recent victory being the winner of the Machiavelli price 2014 for being highly innovative and cohesive. With regard to commercial broadcasting the Media Law 2008 mostly pays attention to the use and duration of advertisements. However, these appear to be less strict than the rules accounting for the public service broadcasting which makes sense as commercial broadcasters are not funded by governmental support at all. Instead, the commercial broadcasters mostly depend on income of advertisers. Overall, the Commissariat of Media still supervises all the activities with regard to both broadcasters. It is the Commissariat’s duty to check if the Media Law is being obeyed. If this law is not obeyed, the Commissariat has the right to hand out fines to the broadcasters or production companies that cross the lines. Now that the budgets for public service broadcasters are declining and other types of income are needed, it seems that the Media Law is violated more often, leading to an increase of fines issued by the Commissariat. This study will look further into this as well.

Moreover, as a consequence of the technological development of television going digital the amount of international television channels has increased tremendously. With the arrival of Pay TV people can now decide for themselves how much access they want to television channels. The most basic packages include the Dutch public service and commercial channels for instance. Often some channels from the UK, Belgium, Germany and France are also included. Consequently, the more one pays for its television subscription nowadays, the more channels are available to them. Ranging from

(19)

18 national sports or music channels to international movie, news or entertainment channels. It makes the competition more intense and more international which on its turn has consequences for the financing of Dutch television broadcasters and their tv programs (Nederlandse Publieke Omroep, n.d.).

This is thus another reason to research this topic more thoroughly. However, I will continue to discuss this interesting debate about financing in more detail later on. First, it is of importance that both broadcasters are distinguished properly which is closely related to their ways of financing.

2.3.1 Commercial vs public service broadcasting

Having the background knowledge of the Dutch television landscape learns us more about the topic of television financing, but, as stated earlier, first some attention is paid concerning existing definitions of the two types of broadcasters. It is not clearly outlined yet what definitions regarding commercial and public service broadcasters exist. By doing so, this further improves the understanding towards the possible tension that might exist nowadays within the Dutch broadcasting system, namely the fading of the previous clear boundaries between the types of broadcasters. As this will be discussed in the next section, the focus in this section will be on scientific attempts to define the broadcasting types.

The public service broadcaster (PSB) has been a popular topic in the past, mostly due to its often controversial governmental support. What is interesting to notice though is that most literature defines public service broadcasting based on its objectives. One of the few that comes up with an actual definition is Brown (1996) saying that “PSB is the presentation of broadcasting programs as

departures from the coverage and schedules that would be offered by profit maximizing broadcasters” (p. 6). Even Brown (1996) bases his definition on the objectives though. He states that public service broadcasting should have other objectives than private broadcasters which are only entertaining viewers and maximizing their profits. This addresses an important aspect of PSBs. They are called into life to add a certain extra value that commercial broadcasters are lacking and are therefore supported by the governments.

Shortly defined, commercial broadcasters are broadcasters that have their own private funding (Anderson & Coate, 2005; Richardson, 2006; Ward, 2003). For this reason, many authors agree on the primary objective of commercial broadcasters being maximizing profits. In accordance with Brown

(20)

19 (1996), Einstein (2009) describes how commercial broadcasters are focusing on appealing to smaller audience segments in order to receive bigger profits. Gabszewicz et al. (2004) also emphasize this focus on profits by commercial broadcasters in relation to their interest in advertising. Harrison and Woods (2004) on their turn contrast commercial broadcasters with PSBs by discussing profit as the main focus of commercial broadcasters leading to carrying out different functions than PSB. This is then confirmed by DeFillipi et al. (2007) as they talk about the fact that efficiency and profitability do not mix with exploration of creativity. Thus bringing us back to the paradox of creativity and

commerce, which is by others seen as the tension between art and commerce (DeFillipi et al., 2007; Hesmondhalgh and Pratt, 2006; Hirsch, 2000; Peltoniemi, 2015). It is this tension that is actually the founding for the distinction between the two types of broadcasters. Governments think commerciality does not go together with art and creative freedom. To increase independence and artistic freedom, governments support PSBs so that they do not have to worry about money or depend on third parties for income. At least, that is apparently one of the main reasons why this division was invented in the first place as the history of the dual Dutch television system shows.

Hence, as opposed to commercial broadcasters PSBs main focus is not profitability like Brown (1996) stated. However, it is difficult to recognize one particular goal of PSB in existing literature. Different authors suggest several sorts of objectives, looked at from different perspectives. Bardoel and d’Haenens (2008) look at the objectives of PSB for instance as being socio-cultural. They suggest governmental support is needed for PSB to serve not only social integration and cohesion, but also cultural bonding and bridging. This is done by offering a diverse programming that appeals to different groups within the population. Harrison and Woods (2001) also mention this objective of PSB by emphasizing the importance of equal opportunity for everyone which is made possible by governmental financial support. There are also authors though that emphasize the more normative nature of PSB. Hughson and Inglis (2009) discuss for example the function of PSB to educate and enlighten the population by making quality art available. Additionaly, Armstrong (2005) also yields for PSB having educational purposes. By mentioning the socio-cultural dimension of PSB Bardoel and D’Haenens (2008) talk about functions of PSB like providing reliable information and education that is freely available. Accordingly, other authors like Enli & Ihlebaek (2011) and Harrison

(21)

20 and Woods (2001) agree on this objective of PSB to educate the citizenry.

Other authors suggest a more implicit purpose of PSB on the economic level. Several authors discuss the potential of market failure when there would not be (partially) state supported broadcasters (Armstrong, 2005; Blaug, 2001; Brown, 1996; Heap et al., 2005; Motta et al., 1998; O’connor, 2009). However, this topic is discussed more thoroughly in the upcoming section about the reasoning behind state supported broadcasters.

Either way, PSBs are broadcasters that are supported by the government in some way (Anderson and Coate, 2005; Armstrong, 2005; Bardoel and d’Haenens, 2008; Brown, 1996; Enli & Ihlebaek, 2011; Gabszewicz et al., 2004; Harrison and Woods, 2011; Heap et al., 2005; Malik, 2013; Ward, 2003). How these broadcasters are supported, differentiates among countries. Brown (1996) suggests different ways in which governmental policy regarding broadcasting can be structured. For instance, a state broadcaster corporation can be established. But the provision of PSB can also be done by a community broadcasting organization. In his opinion even commercial broadcasters could fulfill the task of public service broadcasting if strict regulation would be applied by the government. Bardoel and d’Haenens (2008) also make a distinction between different types of PSBs. According to them, the Dutch model consists of severe regulation concerning the program output that is supervised by an external institution. The ideal types they address are a liberal model, a polarized pluralist type with some form of politics involved and a democratic corporatist model. The latter can be applied to countries like the Netherlands in their opinion, where there is a strong reliance on the role of social groups within society. Lastly, Ward (2003) also differentiates between different forms of PSB. A pure funding model exists that is solely based on state aid, requiring a set of obligations in return. Then there is also a dual funding model where the dual Dutch television system seems to belong to. It is a combination of commercial revenues and a compensation through state aid. The third model he comes up with are the public tenders meant to only fund certain projects judged as a form of PSB. PSBs can thus be fully or partially funded by the government. When they are partly governmentally funded, additional sources of income are involved like member subscriptions (Heap et al., 2005).

Now that the distinction between public service and commercial broadcasters is clear, this section will continue discussing several forms of financing by first addressing different ways of

(22)

21 financing for commercial broadcasters. Thereafter, the reasoning behind subsidies and its

consequential definitional issues with some important concepts will be taken into account.

2.3.2. Financing by commercial broadcasters

The sources of revenue for commercial broadcasters are significantly different from PSBs. As previously discussed, PSBs are primarily funded by governmental monetary support possibly with additional sources of revenues. As for commercial broadcasters, they are entirely privately funded mostly based on their advertisement revenues. This private funding nowadays might be more difficult though. For instance, the international financial crisis and technological innovations like the arrival of the internet and smartphones have changed the landscape tremendously (Bhakshi and Throsby, 2010). As this might have had an impact on business models of commercial broadcasters, this study will take this into account when researching the financial models of Dutch television companies.

In general private funding happens through several different strategies. Besides earning profits via international format trade, broadcasters can get revenue through selling advertisement blocks during television programs for instance. Here, different ad spots are shown during a block of solely

advertisements for several minutes. The price that is paid by advertisers depends on the viewer ratings and the duration of their spot (Olson and ThjØmØe, 2010).

Olson and ThjØmØe (2010) compare tv sponsorship with tv spot advertising. Spot advertising refers to advertising outside the television program. It concerns spots of advertising that are presented in advertisement blocks of several minutes before or after a television show. On the other hand, tv sponsorship is non-spot advertising. It involves the advertising of a brand within a television show. The sponsoring is not a spot in itself, it is an appearance of a brand or product within a television show. They conclude that a tv spot advertisement of 30 seconds is as effective as 10 seconds of tv sponsorship, depending on fit and recognition of the brand. According to Anderson and Coate (2005) these advertisements determine the profitability of broadcasters. However, to make their programs more attractive, broadcasters compete for viewers by reducing their levels of advertising. In Europe there are countries like the Netherlands where advertisement ceilings are imposed, meaning that only a certain level of advertisement per hour is permitted when it comes to tv spot advertising (Anderson

(23)

22 and Coate, 2005).

Brown (1996) proposes this advertisement support is the best option. However, Enli & Ihlebaek (2011) say this source of revenue is under constant pressure. They think the new strategy of vote-ins within television program is the new main source of revenue by letting the audience

contribute to the media production through digital platforms. It is not only a form of direct income, but it also increases viewer loyalty due to increased viewer involvement. Viewers who vote for programs will be more devoted and thus have more interest in general, thus leading to more revenue (Enli & Ihlebaek, 2011).

Another possible strategy is exposure by placing the logo of a brand at the beginning or the end of a television with often the text “This program is sponsored by…”. These are called ad bumpers or underwriting spots (Olson and ThjØmØe, 2010). The sponsor normally pays a certain amount for this type of exposure dependent on viewing rates. Current research has shown this type of television sponsoring happens more often than before. It now involves several brands that are being mentioned (Olson and ThjØmØe, 2010).

Furthermore, it is possible for advertisers to buy seconds of exposure in television shows. The money that is paid for exposure depends not only on the viewing rates, but also on the amount of seconds the exposure will last. This type of television sponsoring is highly dependent on the genre though, because not every brand is suitable for every type of television program. Also, recognition of the brand, viewing rates and the congruity between program and brand always have to be taken into account as well (d’Astous and Seguin, 1998). It is called in-program sponsoring, product placement or brand placement (Armstrong, 2005; Chang et al., 2009; Smit et al., 2009).

Smit et al. (2009) suggest editorial and commercial content of television programs are nowadays more mixed due to this relatively new form of television sponsorship. Research has been done with regard to its influence on audiences. However, its exact influence on the content of television programs remains unknown. Chang et al. (2009) explain the impact of brand placement through the social exchange theory as a form of brand integration. When introduced, product placement was used to reduce costs by borrowing props. Therefore, they distinguish two types of product placement nowadays: paid product placement and trade product placement. The former speaks

(24)

23 for itself. Here, sponsors have paid for their product being placed in a television show. The latter however, are often called barter arrangements. In this case, no money exchanges occurred. Instead, an informal deal has been made to use certain products freely in exchange for exposure time in the television show. Both types of product placement occur often these days (Chang et al, 2009; La Ferle and Edwards, 2006).

Lastly, there are some authors that emphasize on other sources to reduce costs like the importance of subscription television and pay television (Brown, 1996; Armstrong, 2005; Heap, 2005). Chon et al. (2009) on their turn suggest most firms nowadays reduce costs by merging and thus integrating knowledge, labor and monetary costs. They argue this strengthens the competitive position of firms in the market. On the one hand, by integrating horizontally an increase in scale economies and market power is established. On the other hand, vertical integration helps secure resources and leads to direct control to product specifications. Thus, for this reason mergers seem to happen more often. Overall, what seems to be missing in current literature is the influence of the internet as a source of revenue. Now that the internet has become widely available, commercial broadcasters must notice some influence. If possible, they should take advantage of this development. By advertising on their websites for example or letting people pay to watch television programs that have already been broadcasted. This has not been researched yet which gives this study another reason to make an important contribution. As several different developments have taken place over the last decade, changes must be noticeable with regard to business models and created content by the commercial broadcasters. This study will try to shed light on the current situation regarding these topics.

2.3.3 Reasoning behind public service broadcasting

Now continuing with the reasoning behind monetary state support, this section shows this reasoning goes hand in hand with the earlier mentioned objectives of PSB. Two main perspectives can be distinguished, namely a socio-cultural or an economic point of view. The socio-cultural proponents emphasize the cohesive and educational function of PSBs whilst the economic view is more concerned with avoidance of market failure which would result in homogenization and monopoly forming. These two perspectives are closely related though.

(25)

24 From a socio-cultural perspective, Armstrong (2005) argues subsidies are necessary to ensure a diverse and high-quality programming. This diversity is necessary to serve all interests and

communities of the population. Thereby, he thinks governmental financing is necessary for educational and other social benefits. Additionally, he mentions the importance of protecting local production. Many authors agree with the different reasons Armstrong (2005) addresses. Bardoel and d’Haenens (2008) feel like proper education and reliable information can not sufficiently be provided by commercial broadcasters as they have commercial purposes. Furthermore, they say subsidies are necessary to stimulate innovation and talent. They literally state: “Commercial media make their contribution too, but can’t offer a guarantee of freely accessible, reliable information, innovative culture and deliberate education” (Bardoel and d’Haenens, 2008: p. 351). It is in line with the

arguments earlier described by Brown (1996). From a more cultural elitist view, he thinks the welfare of viewers is enhanced by offering a diverse programming that would normally not be in accordance with the market demands as certain intellectual or cultural groups would otherwise possibly be ignored. Enli & Ihlebaek (2011) also discuss this enhancement of the welfare of viewers due to subsidies by the government. It makes PSBs capable of supplying the audience proper enlightenment, information and education.

However, this does not mean PBSs are not allowed to offer entertainment. As long as an additional value can be recognized, it is permitted. Harrison and Woods (2004) clarify this. According to them, a diverse range of quality programming should lead to education of the population. Education would then take place by showing cultural and social differences through attention to minority groups. In this way, people have more knowledge regarding the multicultural society of nowadays. PSBs should thus provide impartial information leading to a more enlightened viewer that is able to participate in public debates. Something that the commercial broadcasters would not be able to do, Harrison and Woods (2004) state. As fragmentation increasingly exists in current society, they ought it to be of importance that PSBs have a cohesive function. Lee et al. (2014) add here that PSBs prevent any form of social exclusion thus more implicitly suggesting the importance of cohesiveness. This is why governments demand national production quotas and a variety of programs in return for their support (Heap et al., 2005).

(26)

25 O’connor (2009) and Richardson (2006) recognize this emphasis on nation building as well. According to them, state funding mostly exists to preserve the national culture in an increasing global environment. It is found important to stimulate the population for solidarity since people are often tempted to act out of self-interest, as the public choice theory describes (Blaug, 2001). Consequently, it is necessary to create universal access for all people and oblige PSBs to supply certain content. Besides this socio-cultural perspective, there is also an economic side behind the reasoning why monetary aid by the government is important. Anderson and Coate (2005) say the market itself would not provide optimal programming without it. Instead, it would lead to a sub-optimal offering of programs as certain popular programs would be duplicated whilst other programs focusing on specific topics would be left out. When there would not be any form of subsidizing, there is a high chance that broadcasters would choose to only produce programs that lead to high revenues to compensate for the high cost of producing television shows. Furthermore, the possibility exists that production companies will only produce low cost television programs with high viewing rates which might threaten quality standards (Harrison and Woods, 2001). In both cases this would lead to a decrease in the variety of supplied programs that will have socio-cultural consequences as explained earlier. Many authors think it is necessary to maintain diversity to keep the citizens well informed (Anderson and Coate, 2005; Armstrong, 2005; Harrison and Woods, 2001; Heap et al, 2005; Gabszewicz et al., 2004).

Armstrong (2005) also suggests market failure would arise as a consequence of advertising being the sole source for funding. He also argues that PSBs will force other broadcasters to follow suit with regards to high quality standards which is beneficial for the overall quality of the programming. Furthermore, Heap et al. (2005) address another important reason for supplying governmental support as the barrier of entry for the television industry are high. Making and broadcasting television programs lead to high costs. As a consequence economies of scale are created which makes it difficult for new actors to enter the market, which can lead to a monopolistic market situation. Due to financial aid by governments new entrants can stand a chance. Motta et al. (1997) describes this concentration of market power as a source of potential market failure as well.

However, the way the television industry is currently regulated should be changed (Motta et al., 1997). Some authors indeed question if this economic rationale for subsidies still holds today. Due

(27)

26 to the arrival of the internet and digital television, the consumer has more power than before. Not only can people decide for themselves when to watch certain programs, but the programming that is

provided nowadays is of greater variety due to the increase of international channels made available as a result of the digitalization of television. Furthermore, consumers have an increasing influence on the production of content so it is questionable to what extent governmental support still makes a

difference with regard to the content that is being produced.

Gabszewicz et al. (2004) think market failure would not occur for this reason. They argue that broadcasters will have to differentiate themselves by offering a variety of programs. Competition in this way would lead to greater diversity and higher quality. Van der Wurff & Cuilenburg (2001) also think companies should adopt a differentiation strategy which should lead to moderate competition. Gabszewicz et al. (2004) come up with one boundary condition though: advertising time needs to be limited to increase audiences. Heap et al. (2005) recognize this same development in society. Due to the multi-channel world of today, conditions have arisen to encourage competition naturally. They still think some form of subsidizing is necessary though, as there are still sources for market failure like over production of harmful programs, under provision of information and a low level in innovation in production. Ward (2003) agrees on the notion that complete deregulation by the government is indeed not favorable. Ward (2003) furthermore suggests it is important to have a transparent system regarding the allocation of resources.

This overview of existing literature concerning public service broadcasting shows there is a lack of consensus with regard to the use of governmental monetary support. Proponents think it is necessary to achieve certain socio-cultural and economic objectives through this state aid whilst opponents think these rationales no longer hold in the current society. Part of this disagreement might stem from the vaguely described concepts that are used in the discussion towards financial support by the government. The mainly used concepts of quality, creativity, innovation and diversity are used in the discussion without clearly defining them. Even governmental policies lack efforts to defining these concepts clearly when making certain proclamations. The upcoming part will try to clarify these different concepts that are used in the discussion to favor governmental monetary support. It helps to better understand the perspective of proponents.

(28)

27

2.3.4 Definitional challenges in policy making

In this section an attempt is made to clarify the concepts of creativity, innovation, quality and

diversity. The previous review shows these four concepts are often used in the debate about subsidies. What is quite odd, is that only few authors actually define these concepts when using them. To understand how the concepts should be understood, this section outlines these concepts that have been used by few of the authors that have written about creative industries. Starting with the concept of creativity makes the most sense because the television is part of the bigger creative industries. It is quite straightforward here how important this concept thus is as the whole branch of industries is centered around creativity. Subsequently, a discussion about the concepts of innovation, quality and diversity will finalize this literature review by giving you an idea what these concepts actually contain. As mentioned earlier, creativity is an important concept. The industries where television is part of center around this concept. Also, this same concept is part of the earlier discussed paradox between creativity and commerce which some think does not go together. There are authors who name this paradox the tension between art and commerce. Here, the suggestion is made that art equals creativity. Either way, two articles stand out with regard to creativity.

DeFillipi et al. (2007) are one of the few that try to clarify creativity. They deem this important because nowadays creativity is seen as a source of strategic advantage. According to DeFillipi et al. (2007) creativity is something spontaneous and irrational. It is embodied in the type of personality making it almost impossible to control. Emphasis must be on the use of imagination as well. Even though DeFillipi et al. (2007) do not come up with an explicit definition, their description does enhance the understanding of creativity. An attempt that other authors, writing about creative industries, have not made. Except for Throsby (2008). Although he emphasizes on the lack of agreement concerning one widely accepted definition, he states ‘[…] creativity involves imagination

and the capacity to generate original ideas and novel ways of interpreting the world’ (Throsby, 2008:

p. 218). These attempts to define creativity at least gives some idea of what is meant by this concept. As there has been debate about creativity for decades, it is impossible to suddenly come up with a clear definition in this study. Even others authors who focused completely on this concept had problems with coming up with a proper definition. Thus, for this study the previous exposition of

(29)

28 creativity is sufficient. Attempting to define this concept goes beyond the reach of this study.

Fortunately, understanding the concept of innovation has been made easier thanks to Bakhshi and Throsby (2010) who define innovation along four dimensions: audience reach, art form

development, value creation and business models. This specifically concerns the meaning of innovation within the cultural industries though. In their definition, technological change is central. With innovation in audience reach, they mean generation of new audiences or further deepening the engagement with audiences through digital technologies like HD broadcasting for example. When talking about development in artwork, it concerns new and experimental work in the programming of broadcasters for example. Furthermore, innovation in value creation is about finding new ways of creating value for consumers.

Consequently, innovation in one of these categories requires changes in business models as well (Bakhshi and Throsby, 2010). Although Heap et al. (2005) also do not define innovation explicitly, their discussion of the concept is in line with Bakhshi and Throsby (2010). Heap et al. (2005) emphasize on the importance of newness in programming and variety in audiences. In accordance, they also address the issue of necessary change in business models. In line with others, Cooke and De Propris (2010) do not define innovation. However, they highlight the ability of

innovation within the creative industries by saying these industries are more innovative in comparison with other industries. Thus, with their innovative character the creative industries highly contribute to economic growth in the current society (Cooke and De Propris, 2010).

Diversity on its turn has also been mentioned by lots of different authors in relation to state support for PSBs without using definitions. However, Van der Wurff and Cuilenburg (2001) define diversity in relation to the creative industries clearly by saying “Diversity refers to the extent to which media content varies on one or more content dimensions” (p. 214). Therewith they suggest that two norms exist to establish whether or not media content is diverse. On the one hand, reflective diversity exists where it is taken into account if media pay proportional attention to the needs of media users. On the other hand, there is open diversity which has more of a political and cultural nature. It is about ideas being able to have uniform access to societal communication systems (Van der Wurff and Cuilenburg, 2001). Van der Wurff and Cuilenburg (2001) are thus the only ones who made an attempt

(30)

29 to define diversity in relation to media studies. Others have only described diversity as being important for governmental monetary support of PSBs. In line with previously mentioned authors, Einstein (2004) for example argues that reliance on advertising as the sole source of revenue leads to limited diversity in programming as it only caters to mass audiences. This implicitly suggests that diversity leads to catering multiple audience which in turn is one of the key objectives of PSBs.

Harrison and Woods (2001) also highlight the importance of diversity. They discuss it in relation to quality as they think both concepts are closely related. According to them, diversity and originality form the basis for quality. Which brings me to an attempt to define quality which is probably the most difficult concept of the four. Often quality is seen as something subjective and thus hard to measure. For this reason, most authors leave an exact definition of quality out. They seem to assume that most people already have an idea what quality contains. Still, it is difficult to describe this concept in words. What is noticeable throughout the literature is that quality is often implicitly being related to high art. However, quality is not per definition high art. Motta et al. (1998) come up with a quite useful solution for this definitional problem. They mention the notion of perceived quality. When applying this to television, attractiveness of program schedules and/or program content could be seen as an indicator for quality. Independent of the content, a television program contains quality if it is successful, thus appreciated by its viewers (Motta et al., 1998). Unfortunately, other authors have done no attempts to define quality thus leaving the reader to guess what is being meant. This makes earlier statements of quality difficult to test. For now, this study will work with this latter definition of quality as it is again too far beyond the reach of this thesis to come up with a proper definition myself.

Now that the existing literature is reviewed, it is clear for what reasons the distinction exists between commercial broadcasters and public service broadcasters. As shown in this overview, there is a gap in the literature with regard to the current business models of these broadcasters. As the history of the Dutch television industry makes clear different societal developments or governmental changes had their impact in the past. Not only did they change the way television content was being financed, but they also changed the television content that was being created and offered. Since the current society seems to be changing more rapidly than before, it is interesting to investigate these topics today. It

(31)

30 would not be surprising if the recent international financial crisis or the technological development of the internet has left its mark in the television industry. New tensions and pressures might be noticeable throughout this industry regarding both broadcasters which can be exposed by sketching a proper image of how television programs are financed today and what influence this has on the content that is being offered. This study makes an effort to expose this current situation of the Dutch television industry by interviewing several important actors of the field. The next chapter describes the

methodology in more detail before eventual findings are analyzed and discussed in order to come up with a proper conclusion.

(32)

31 3. Research methodology

In this section the methodology of this research is presented. First, the chosen research design is discussed followed by an overview of the sample and data collection process. Then, I will elaborate on the quality of this research by addressing its different aspects: credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability. Eventually, I will finish this section by elaborating on the used method of analysis.

3.1 Research design

The aim of this study is to explore the role of financing within the content production of television programs. An effort will be made to uncover the business models of television production companies with regard to their television content creation. In an attempt to answer the research question most extensively, a qualitative research method is used with an inductive approach as it is about gaining more understanding about this topic. When using a qualitative method, one can research the topic in more detail as it helps to dive deeper into the subject matter. The use of an inductive approach creates the opportunity to start with making a number of observations that can lead to possible generalizations. This method also will help to increase a detailed understanding of the topic. However, there is a downside to this research method. Due to the small sample size when conducting a qualitative research one should be careful with making generalizations (Saunders et al., 2009).

This study is a case study of the Dutch television industry as it investigates this industry in its contemporary real-life context using multiple sources of evidence (Saunders et al., 2009). Within this industry I closely examine different companies involved to create a more complete image of their ways of financing and their ways of producing content. Thus, this study has a descriptive as well as an exploratory purpose. Descriptive in the sense that an effort is made to provide a detailed picture of financing mechanisms as well as content production of television programs. It describes the financial processes continued with a description of the content production processes. Furthermore, as this study closely examines these intertwined relations it can be seen as exploratory as well, potentially resulting in some new insights regarding the conflict of creativity and commerce within the Dutch television industry (Saunders et al, 2009). Only primary data are used for this study, consisting of interviews. The conducted interviews are eleven semi-structured in-depth interviews, each consisting of at least 45

Referenties

GERELATEERDE DOCUMENTEN

Pure cultures of four species of Lactobacillus previously isolated from Namibian traditionally fermented milk Omaere, were used to ferment double pasteurised fresh

Results: In the total population, obesity was associated with a 7.8 fold higher risk for T2DM (HR 7.8; 95%CI 6.26 to 9.73; p b.0001) than that for normal weight participants,

In practice, this inconsistency between declared strategic goals and realized projects handicapped successful objective realization, as funds allocated to ROPs accounted for

De eerste testafname zag er voor beide condities hetzelfde uit: er werd een standaard Dimensional Change Card Sorting (DCCS) taak afgenomen zonder het geven van feedback.. Bij

Because of its importance, however, we will again mention that even though there are great differences between them, the Anderson model Hamiltonian matrices do have the

Moreover the eight evaluation studies revealed little with regard to the question of whether 'building a safe group process and creating trust' is an important or unimportant

He escuchado a algún abogado intentando explicar lo inexplicable: que una vez okupada la vivienda no puede ser desalojada si no es a través de un proceso judicial, que, en

En esta sociedad en la que priman los bienes materiales y en la que la forma de llegar a fin de mes es ahorrando en la cesta de la compra, ha pasado a segundo plano la importancia