Television in Convergent Media Environment: Audience Trends

Television in Convergent Media Environment:
Audience Trends


Nazarov M.M.

Dr. Sci. (Polit.), Chief Researcher, Institute of Socio-Political Research of FCTAS RAS, Moscow, Russia vy175867@yandex.ru

ID of the Article:


For citation:

Nazarov M.M. Television in Convergent Media Environment: Audience Trends. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2021. No 6. P. 69-78




Abstract

The article focusses on the last decade TV consumption trends in Russia. The concept of media convergence forms theoretical basis of the research. Due to convergence, the configuration of screen consumption, including television and online video, changes. The research provides evidence that in the first half of the last decade there was an increase in the average television viewing time. After 2016, a gradual decline in the audience’s attention to television took place. During the latest crisis associated with the pandemic, the trend of a decrease in the Russian television audience reversed. Media convergence processes brings for broadcast television further increase of competition with streaming services, video exchange services, online movie theatres. Based on representative sample of Russian population, the results show that nearly third of the audience believes that television plays an important role in their life and leisure. It is recorded that negative attitude to television is primarily predicted by variables of dissatisfaction with the choice and content of programs; belonging to a group of young people aged 15–24 years; dissatisfaction with the implementation of the information function by Russian television. The author argues that the domination of the commercial imperative and mass formats of postmodern culture forms a moral and emotional content of a significant part of television programs. Often, this does not correspond to the interests of a sufficiently wide audience. Under current conditions, television does not perform a number of social functions important for Russian society.


Keywords
television; Internet; media convergence; media consumption; digitalization; mass communication

References

Austin A., Barnard J., Hutcheon N. (2019) Media Consumption Forecasts. London: Zenith.

Chandler D., Munday R. (2014) A Dictionary of Media and Communication. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Curran J. (2001) Media Regulation in the Era of Market Liberalism. In: Philo G., Miller D. (eds) Market Killing. What the Free Market Does and What Social Scientists Can Do about It. Edinburgh: Pearson: 216–232.

Dondurei D. (2007) Censorship of Reality. In: Dondurei D. (ed.) Television: Producing Reality. Moscow: Iskusstvo kino: 10–18. (In Russ.)

Gilder G. (1994) Life after Television. New York: Norton. Horkheimer M., Adorno T. (1997) Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments. Moscow: Medium. (In Russ.)

Jenkins H. (2006) Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press. (In Russ.)

Keane J. (2015) Democracy and Media Decadence. New York: Cambridge University Press. (In Russ.)

McLuhan M. (1994) Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. Cambridge: MIT Press. (In Russ.)

McQuail D. (1989) Mass Communication Theory: An Introduction. 2nd ed. London: Sage.

Minow N. (2003) Television and the Public Interest. Federal Communications Law Journal. Vol. 55. No. 3. Article no. 4. URL: http://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/fclj/vol55/iss3/4 (accessed 18.11.2020).

Nazarov M.M., Ivanov V.N., Kublitskaya E.A. (2020) Media Consumption of Different Cohorts: TV and Internet. Vestnik Rossiiskogo universiteta druzhby narodov. Seriya: Sotsiologiya [RUDN Journal of Sociology]. Vol. 20. No. 3: 560–571. DOI: 10.22363/2313-2272-2020-20-3-560-571. (In Russ.)

Negroponte N. (1999). Being Digital. New York: Knopf.

Picard R.G. (2011) The Economics and Financing of Media Companies. New York. Fordham University Press.

Polyakov Yu. (2020) Why Are You Masters of Culture? About Russian Literature and Art. Moscow: Mir knigi. (In Russ.)

Postman N. (1985) Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. New York: Methuen.

Sterling C.H. (ed.) (2009) Encyclopedia of Journalism. London: Sage.

Vartanova E.L., Kolomiets V.P. (eds) (2020) Television in Russia in 2019: Status, Trends and Development Prospects. Moscow: FAPMK. (In Russ.)

Zotto С., Lugmay A. (2016) Media Convergence as Evolutionary Process. In: Lugmayr A., Zotto C. (eds) Media Convergence Handbook. Berlin; Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.

Content No 6, 2021