IN
DEGREE PROJECT COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, SECOND CYCLE, 30 CREDITS
STOCKHOLM SWEDEN 2020 ,
The Future of Public Service Television in Sweden
A study on challenges and opportunities for SVT Play in a shifting television landscape
MUHAMMAD DACCAK
KTH ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
SCHOOL OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE
ABSTRACT
This study investigates the changing television landscape and consumption habits and the effects on the Swedish public service television(SVT). Recent shifts have amplified the ongoing decline of linear television and were marked by increasing migration of viewers to online video consumption and global streaming services. These new competitors escalate the challenges facing national broadcasters and emphasize the role of having a strong independent public service television that can remain relevant to all its audiences. SVT has been a pioneer in shifting to online and launched its video streaming service SVT Play in 2006. But the service is unable to recuperate the viewership bleeding from SVT linear channels, and reaching younger audiences has never been more challenging. The study presents a literature review and background referring to recent general trends in the television market, to put shifts and disruptions in the Swedish market in a larger context. We also present a thorough background on the Swedish television market focusing on the position of SVT and SVT Play. We discussed dynamics and drivers of recent structural and consumption shifts through in-depth interviews with key personnel from SVT as well as with other experts from different areas within the media and telecom industry. We seek to answer what future challenges and opportunities are for SVT Play and how to deal with those challenges and opportunities. The data collected were analyzed and reported in this study. The main findings indicate a new era ahead of public service heralded by the unprecedented decline of SVT broadcast and the increased consumption divergence in 2019. The study found that SVT Play has a central future role of public service television and should be further empowered to remain agile and relevant, through diverse, differentiated, and personalized offerings, but also through constant engagement with audiences and continuous learning of what they value and demand in a constantly changing media landscape.
SAMMANFATTNING
Denna studie undersöker det föränderliga TV-landskapet och de nya konsumtionsvanornas effekter på svensk public service- TV (SVT). Nyligen har skiftningar intensifierat den pågående minskningen av linjär-TV vilket märkts i den ökande migrationen av TV-tittare till online video-konsumtion och globala streamingtjänster. Dessa nya konkurrenter trappar upp utmaningarna som nationella programföretag ställts inför och betonar vikten av att ha stark och oberoende public service-TV som kan förbli relevant för samtliga målgrupper. SVT har varit pionjärer i övergången till online och lanserade sin streamingtjänst för video, SVT Play, redan 2006. Men tjänsten är oförmögen att hämta upp de förlorade tittarsiffrorna från SVTs linjära TV-kanaler.
Samtidigt så har det aldrig tidigare varit svårare att nå de unga målgrupperna. Denna studie presenterar en litteraturgenomgång
och bakgrund med referenser till de senaste allmänna trenderna TV-marknad, för att ställa den svenska marknadens
förändringar och störningar i ett större sammanhang. Vi presenterar även en grundlig bakgrund av den svensk TV-marknaden
med fokus på SVTs och SVT Plays positioner i denna. Vi har resonerat kring dynamiken och drivkrafterna bakom de senaste
strukturella förändringarna och förändringarna i konsumtion, genom djupgående intervjuer med nyckelpersoner från SVT samt
andra experter inom olika områden av media- och Telecom-industrin. Vi söker svaret till vilka de framtida utmaningarna och
möjligheterna för SVT Play är, samt hur man bör handskas med dessa utmaningar och möjligheter. Den insamlade datan har
analyserats och rapporteras i denna studie. De huvudsakliga upptäckterna indikerar en ny era för public service, påbörjad av de
historiska minskningarna av SVTs sändningar samt den ökande konsumtionsdivergensen under 2019. Studien har funnit att
SVT Play besitter en central framtida roll för public service-TV och bör fortsatt vara stärkt i uppgiften att förbli rörlig och
relevant, genom varierade, differentierade och personanpassade erbjudanden, men även genom ett konstant engagemang med
sin publik och ett kontinuerligt lärande över vad de värderar och önskar i ett ständigt skiftande medielandskap.
The Future of Public Service Television in Sweden
A study on challenges and opportunities for SVT Play in a shifting television landscape
Muhammad Daccak
School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science KTH
Stockholm, Sweden daccak@kth.se
ABSTRACT
This study investigates the changing television landscape and consumption habits and the effects on the Swedish public service television(SVT). Recent shifts have amplified the ongoing decline of linear television and were marked by increasing migration of viewers to online video consumption and global streaming services. These new competitors escalate the challenges facing national broadcasters and emphasize the role of having a strong independent public service television that can remain relevant to all its audiences. SVT has been a pioneer in shifting to online and launched its video streaming service SVT Play in 2006. But the service is unable to recuperate the viewership bleeding from SVT linear channels, and reaching younger audiences has never been more challenging. The study presents a literature review and background referring to recent general trends in the television market, to put shifts and disruptions in the Swedish market in a larger context. We also present a thorough background on the Swedish television market focusing on the position of SVT and SVT Play. We discussed dynamics and drivers of recent structural and consumption shifts through in-depth interviews with key personnel from SVT as well as with other experts from different areas within the media and telecom industry. We seek to answer what future challenges and opportunities are for SVT Play and how to deal with those challenges and opportunities. The data collected were analyzed and reported in this study. The main findings indicate a new era ahead of public service heralded by the unprecedented decline of SVT broadcast and the increased consumption divergence in 2019. The study found that SVT Play has a central future role of public service television and should be further empowered to remain agile and relevant, through diverse, differentiated, and personalized offerings, but also through constant engagement with audiences and
continuous learning of what they value and demand in a constantly changing media landscape.
KEYWORDS
Digital disruption; digitalization; public service television;
television; linear television; OTT; online video consumption; video-on-demand; media convergence;
television value chain; video streaming; personalization;
content discovery; the role of public service media
1. INTRODUCTION
In the age of ubiquitous fast Internet and streaming war, an unprecedented amount of digital content can be accessed anywhere at all times and the consumer is surely taking the driver’s seat. In the US, subscription video on demand (SVOD) grew by 450% between 2009 and 2017, and the autonomy that consumers enjoy by choosing how, when, and where they view content stands out as the most prominent driver [25, p.4]. Major studios and aggregators have been trying to recuperate their negotiation power and moving downstream the traditional television (TV) value chain through direct-to-consumer (DTC) business models, whereas distributors have been moving upstream through consolidations with TV networks and major studios to secure content rights and sustain their threatened last mile position [12, pp.62-64]. But the streaming giants continue to break their spending records. Netflix, for example, spent $15 billion on content in 2019, and the estimates are $17 billion for 2020 [17]. The company claims that as linear TV (traditional broadcast TV via satellite, cable, or terrestrial networks) took over radio in the 1950s and 1960s, streaming
‘is’ replacing it, by offering on-demand and personalized
entertainment that is available on any screen[13]. The
company also states [14, p.4] that the shift from linear to
streaming video on demand (VOD) is happening all over the
world and the speed will increase with media and tech
giants launching their streaming services. As for the impact of streaming on traditional TV in the US, more than 500,000 consumers abandoned cable TV in the last quarter of 2017, with current estimates of 13.5 million households not subscribing to a traditional TV service, while the prediction is ‘a steady deterioration in cable and satellite subscriptions over the next couple of years’[23, p.95]. Similarly, digitalization and innovation challenge the role of public service media across Europe, but also emphasize the need for an independent and diversified public service offering [11], –‘we’re living in the age of audience revenue. For media companies, that means business incentives may soon align what with consumers want’[24, p.141].
In Sweden, globalization and digitalization have been the main drivers for a rapidly shifting TV market and media consumption. Linear TV continues to bleed in most age brackets, whereas online consumption continues to rise [18, pp.124-125]. Consumers are able to mix and match between plenty of digital video services, attracted mainly by premium programming, personalized user experience on SVODs, and also by sociability and interactivity on YouTube. Legacy TV incumbents are fighting back through online services, digital-first strategy, content and rights acquisition, and not the least through consolidations along the TV value chain. But it is certain the overall time spent on video consumption hasn’t grown at the same pace as content offering has, and the linear TV battle to reach and sustain the viewers has never been so fierce, especially when it comes to the steep migration of younger age brackets to online. Netflix and HBO Nordic have established a stronghold in Sweden, while other entrants joined the war: Apple TV+(November 2019) and Disney+ (September 2020).
The Parliamentary Public Service Committee report [15, p.13] indicated that while the rising accessibility to media content can be positive, it brings along fragmented media consumption patterns that can increase polarization and threaten social cohesion. The report stressed the importance of having a strong public service as a mean for the Swedish democracy, keeping the public well-informed and exercising constructive dialogues based on shared worldviews.
Public service broadcasting in Sweden is carried out by three companies: Swedish Radio (SR), Swedish Television (SVT), and Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company (UR). SVT started its first transmissions in 1954 from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, and it has pioneered a long online journey launching its on demand play service (SVT Play) in 2006. Today, SVT is still the biggest TV network in Sweden, with 35 % of the time spent
on linear TV[1, p.15]. Other major actors in Sweden are TV4 group, NENT group, and Discovery Networks. Yet, recent acquisitions and mergers between telecom and TV in Sweden (tele2-Comhem, Telia-TV4-Cmore) resulted in media powerhouses with more arsenal and integration to win the attention and time of consumers.
SVT Play has been at the forefront of the digital video offering of SVT and has managed to secure the third position–in a rather uphill battle–after YouTube and Netflix[1, p.44]. We have marked abundant studies on markets and audience research emphasizing shifts in TV consumption behaviors in Sweden. However, little is reported about the many current challenges or future uncertainties ahead of SVT Play, and what effects those may have on the service. Our study overviews current disruptions and general trends in TV consumption and narrows down to explore and gain a greater understanding about SVT Play in this transforming landscape to discuss that with the study’s expert participants. We want to answer the question: what are the main future challenges and opportunities for SVT Play and how to deal with those challenges and opportunities?
2. LITERATURE REVIEW AND BACKGROUND This chapter consists of three parts. We first review relevant theories and literature and then present summarized findings from reports on media and technology trends and disruptions that are reshaping the global TV market. Last, we examine recent trends in the Swedish market and narrow down to overview the position of SVT Play within that larger context.
2.1 Structural Shifts in the TV Industry
2.1.1 Convergence of Technology, Media, and Telecom.
Various parts of the world are witnessing waves of convergence of media and information systems, and integrations between different technologies, media, and telecom, resulting in the emergence of new strategies and business models. Initially, it is instrumental to touch upon three central terms: media convergence, media, and delivery systems (technologies).
Henry Jenkins described media convergence as ‘the flow of
content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation
between multiple media industries, and migratory behavior
of media audiences who will go almost anywhere in search
of the kinds of entertainment experience they want’. But he
argued that media convergence should not be attributed
primarily to technology advancements–availing multiple
media in one device–but rather to cultural shifts with consumers seeking new information[8, pp.2-3].
Media, according to Lisa Gitleman’s definition, is ‘socially realized structures of communication, where structures include both technological forms and their associated protocols’ [7, p.7]. Jenkins [8, pp.13-15] indicated that Gitleman’s definition works on two levels: a medium is a technology, and a medium is a set of social and cultural practices. He elaborated that the content of certain media may change, its audience may shift, and its ‘social status’
can fluctuate, but media are cultural systems that continue to exist, whereas delivery systems are technologies that are subject to change ‘history tells us that old media never die.
What dies are simply the tools we use to access media content…delivery technologies become obsolete and get replaced; media, on the other hand, evolve’. Jenkins argued that most of the discourse about media convergence can be summarized in what he calls The Black Box Fallacy:
….Sooner or later, the argument goes, all media content is going to flow through a single black box into our living rooms. If the folks at New Orleans Media Experience could just figure out which black box would reign supreme, then everyone can make reasonable investments for the future. Part of what makes the black box concept a fallacy is that it reduces media change to technological change and strips aside the cultural levels But despite the important role of social and cultural shifts in adoption to change–highlighted by Jenkins, it seems clear that recent media convergence is mainly moved by shifts in technology and digitalization, and the increased accessibility to the Internet. Initial observations suggest that those structural shifts lead–in many ways–to shifts in media consumption behaviors. Perhaps Jenkins also underestimated the backbox concept. Recently, a black box becomes a clear reality: mobile phones, Apple TV, and even a connected smart TV would qualify for one access convergent points for all media.
The media convergence theory has been challenged by several writers. The authors in [6, pp.24-25]questioned the notion of technology, media, and telecom convergence while stating ‘convergence of networks, terminals and services was further expected to lead to a convergence of markets: it would no longer be self-evident where telecom markets ended, and media markets started’. They reasoned that media conglomerates will expand across the value chain, but others will move to niche markets. But the authors argued whether the term can withstand the
‘complexity’ of media development in the future. Yet, more
recent literature and developments–highlighted in the coming sections–suggest that convergence of networks, communications technologies, and content continue to drive reshaping the media scene.
2.1.2 Vertical and Horizontal Integrations.. A large amount of literature has been published on media convergence between parts of the traditional TV value chain. That chain comprises three main levels: production in the upstream position (e.g. independent and affiliated studios);
aggregation in the middle (e.g. broadcast networks and pay TV networks); and delivery or distribution in the downstream position (e.g. cable, DTH–direct-to-home, terrestrial) [12, pp.20-22]. The authors in [5, pp.2-3]
indicated two major waves of consolidations in the US TV industry. The first wave was propelled by regulations brought by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, facilitating convergence of broadcast, Telecom, and cable TV providers.
The second wave began in 2004 resulted in four operators controlling the US distribution market – i.e. Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Verizon, and AT&T. The authors pointed out that the strong position of cable was challenged mainly by video streaming services, and a new level of consolidation began with the Comcast acquisition of Time Warner Cable and the AT&T acquisition of DirectTV. They also argued that the highly fragmented European mobile and cable market is ‘likely to lead the third wave of consolidation in broadcasting and distribution’. The authors [5, pp.4- 8]identified three drivers behind the heating convergence of cable TV and telecom. The first driver is the impact of streaming services on pay TV subscriptions and the dropping growth margins for telecom operators both in the US and in the EU. The second driver is providing an inclusive package (mobile, TV, broadband) and reducing churn and cost of customer acquisition. The third driver is to achieve economies of scale, efficient operations, and more negotiation power for pay-TV operators to face the surging content and rights costs. The authors warned that although there is a strong business rationale behind mergers and acquisitions, failure to integrate different corporate cultures poses more questions than answers. They also highlighted that both horizontal and vertical integrations limit consumer’s choice and undermine diversity
2.1.2.1 The AT&T-Time Warner Merger. The merger of the
telecom and media giants AT&T and Time Warner
(completed in 2018) is considered the decade’s most debated
integration. The author in [20, p.2-5] highlighted that unlike
previous integrations in the media and telecom sectors, this
merger was a ‘pure’ vertical integration. She stated that
advancements in technology and connectivity have led to
the rise of over-the-top services (OTTs) impacting TV media and their revenues, as more and more consumers are either ‘cutting’ or ‘thinning’ their cable subscription and migrating to cheaper online SVOD alternatives. The author added that these disruptions have jeopardized the
‘gatekeeper’ role of cable operators and pushed traditional media to vertical integrations. The study also pointed out that while OTTs utilized their strong position in distribution and moved upstream the value chain into content creation, media companies used their strong position in content and moved downstream into distribution. The author mentioned that insights derived from big data allow OTTs to create optimal content, while their international reach and economies of scale can support fast recovery of sunk costs.
The study highlighted that emergence of OTTs presented new business models and disrupted the traditional TV value chain since they produce, aggregate, and distribute content
‘under the same roof’, and concluded that the AT&T-Time Warner merger was motivated by those shifts.
2.1.2.2 More Consolidations. Various reports mentioned that the concentration of media into a few conglomerates will impact the role of free and independent media that have been contributing to sustaining democracy and fostering societal dialogues. For example, the Future today Institute [24, p.140]emphasized that consolidations (recent examples include CBS-Viacom, Disney-Fox, AT&T-Warner Media) will continue, challenging the norms of diversity in press and media, and inflicting further pressure on legacy players,
‘media consolidation affects governments, businesses, and citizens everywhere’.
2.2 Shifting Consumption Habits
Other studies observed the changing TV consumption patterns in this changing landscape, e.g. mobile consumption, time shifting of media consumption, and binge-watching. The author in [3] highlighted that the digitalization and Internet are changing the supply and consumption of media. The author differentiated between the current wave of Internet developments, where the mass online video consumption is impacting the development of media, telecom and Internet industries, and a second wave where ‘Future Media Internet’ can present ‘the next generation of media and personalized content services’.
Another study [12, pp.52-53] highlighted that VOD and mobile video have created new consumption habits and
‘expectations’. The author mentioned that personalized TV scheduling, anywhere, and at any time has become a ‘de facto’ model, especially among the young audience, a ‘de- linearization’ that impacted traditional TV networks. The study also pointed out that the preference for time shifted
and pull-based consumption has lifted the challenge of
‘content discovery’ and curation–unlike the case with prescheduled linear TV– which was addressed by OTTs through automated recommendation engines that present personalized offerings for millions of consumers.
2.2.1 Time Shifting. It is good to mark that in [9, pp.12-13]
the author differentiated between catch-up services or time- shifting technologies– such as BBC iPlayer–that provide limited content with time-limited availability, and VOD services like Netflix and Hulu that offer more episodes and original content and use intricate recommendation systems as a competitive advantage. The study [2, pp.3228-29]
analyzed the effects of time shifting on TV consumption through a random experiment on first-time subscribing households to a TELCO entertainment bundle of 10 (commercial-free) premium channels. The study showed that access to time shifting has increased the overall TV consumption and did not affect the time spent on live TV due to a spillover effect of time shifting. 80% of the time shifted consumption is of content that was live during the last 48 hours.
2.2.2 Social and Mobile Shifting. Mobile consumption of video is another growing pattern. For example, the US consumer spent an average of five hours daily using a mobile device during 2019, and this leads streamers like Netflix, Amazon, and YouTube to offer temporary downloads of content for later offline viewing to ensure the consumer is hooked to their services [23, p.92]. The same report highlighted that live news streaming on social media platforms is increasing and is moved by more people watching content on their phones and computers, interest in live information, and easy access to live streaming. The impact of this shift on news media is whether or not to re- broadcast content streamed through social media and to decide what serves best ‘the public interest’ [23,p.96].
2.2.3 Binge-Watching. One common definition of binge- watching refers to longer watching sessions of serialized content. The author in [9, pp.7-8] examined that concept as a mainstream practice and argued that it offers ‘an entirely different media experience’ as consumers control their schedule and viewing behavior, once controlled by broadcasters. She mentioned that Netflix realized the high demand for DVD box sets of quality drama and availed a
‘binge-model’ when they launched their streaming service
in 2007. The author highlighted that Netflix’s binge-model
and personalized recommendation have become the
standard for publishing content on VOD services and is
partially linked with quality ‘binge-worthy’ sophisticated
storytelling that encourages this viewing protocol [9, pp.9-
15]. The author argued that binge-watching departs from the passive watching of ‘whatever’ is on the ‘low-brow’ TV medium and indicates a different deliberate consumption of quality content. This habit can denote a new way of consuming TV and ‘may even function as a linguistic alternative to ‘watching TV’[9, pp.18-19].
2.2.4 Personalized Entertainment and AI. As mentioned earlier in [3,9,12,13] a personalized entertainment offering is a core value for consumers and a major differentiator for streamers. VODs resort to advanced algorithms and machine learning to provide personalized user experience, optimal content recommendations, and improved quality of streaming. Thus, it is suited to present a brief about AI and some of its applications in this field.
The Big Nine [22, p.27] defines AI as ‘a system that makes autonomous decisions’ which imitates the human intelligence in understanding its surroundings and devising strategies to solve problems. According to Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos, problems we are solving with the help of AI were earlier ‘in the realm of sci-fi’. He mentioned that AI will
‘improve every business’, and machine learning presents countless values, including improved search results and product recommendations for customers[10]. The Future Today Institute explained that AI is growing and argued that ‘AI represents the next era of computing’. The report differentiated two types of AI, i.e. weak and strong, and clarified that examples of weak–or narrow–AI include text auto-complete functions and system recommendations such as that of Spotify and Amazon, while strong –or general–
AI systems can think and make decisions on their own like humans. The report added that machine learning is the part of AI that helps systems anticipate user’s behavior and make ‘real-time’ autonomous decisions, while deep learning is a new branch of machine learning, whereby systems learn through combining deep learning algorithms with
‘terabytes’ of data[23, pp.20-21].
The author in [4] emphasized that AI is changing the media and entertainment industry and major OTTs are investing heavily in this technology to understand the consumer’s new consumption preferences, offer personalized services and be ‘future-ready’. The article underlined that AI ‘is here to stay’. Using AI to create trailers is just an example of the capabilities of this technology, while content recognition and tagging facilitate search on management systems, and streamers like Netflix already rely on AI for personalized recommendations and also for optimized video quality and delivery. Deloitte Insights signified the promise of voice- enabled digital assistants for changing the way people interact and consume media. Early adoption of digital
assistants to control smart TV and searching for content is advanced mainly by the rapid improvements in AI processing and understanding the human language, where big tech companies are competing to be ‘the voice of consumer’[26, p.26].
2.3 Overview of Market Shifts and Video Consumption Trends in the US
In this section of the background chapter, we review trends in the US TV market. Our study does not aim to present a comparison between the US and Swedish TV markets.
Instead, we provide an overview of trends in an influential market that are affecting the Swedish TV market–among other markets to varying degrees–in several ways, e.g.
American international streamers, technologies, innovations, American content. American streamers and tech companies relate to direct implications on the structure of the TV market in Sweden as well as the market share and future of SVT and other local actors. Thus, it is suited to relate to those trends in this chapter. To preserve consistency in numbers in this section we examine two consecutive editions of Digital Media Trends reports from Deloitte Insights. Following is a brief about these two studies, (see Appendix C for more details about each study).
Digital Media Trends the 12th Edition had a panel of 2088 respondents. The survey provides insight into how five generations of US consumers are interacting with media, products and services, mobile technologies, and the Internet.
Data were collected in November 2017 and were weighted back to the US census to give a representative view of the average US consumer[25,p.3].
Digital Media Trends the 13th Edition had a panel of 2003 US consumers that was weighted back to the US census to give a representative view of the average US consumer.
Data were collected by an independent research company from December 2018 to February 2019[26,p.4].
It is good to note that findings from Deloitte Insights are used as a main source of insights among many institutes and organizations, and–not the least–are referred to in reports by other research institutes, e.g. [23],
2.3.1 The Surge of SVOD, Premium Original Content
Matters. Deloitte Insights in [25] observed that Americans
spent, ‘nearly as much time watching video as they do on
their jobs’, an average of 38 hours per week out of which 15
hours are streamed. The rise during the past years is
affecting the time spent on other media and is mainly
driven by streaming –55% of US households subscribe to
streaming services. The survey indicated that, in 2017,
SVODs overtook the time spent on free video on demand
services (FVODs). Consumers who strongly agreed in the survey, answered as follows: SVOD allows me to watch content when I want, it allows me to watch content without commercials, I value the quality of original content offered, it allows me to watch content on multiple devices. The report pointed out that award-winning original content drives this surge–54% of SVOD subscribers mentioned that they subscribed to watch quality original content. It also emphasized that traditional broadcasters would have to
‘rethink business models’ as they continue to face pressure from streamers, but also from technology entrants shifting from distribution to content creation, and from media companies that are going DTC. Figure 2.3.1.1 shows that in 2017 streaming reach has increased in all age brackets, and 48 % of all US consumers streamed TV content daily or weekly, compared with just 37 % in 2016. The challenge for streamers is how many subscriptions a consumer can keep and is willing and able to pay for; various subscriptions can be expensive and confusing, and consumers may ‘choose to scale back’ [25, pp.4-6].
Figure 2.3.1.1: Daily/weekly reach growth of streaming activity. How frequently do you stream television programming?. Source: printed with permission from Deloitte Digital media trends survey, 12th edition. 2018 Deloitte Insights.
2.3.2 More are Cutting the Cord. The authors in [25]
mentioned that when consumers can access the freedom of watching the content they want, at the time, and on the device they want with streaming services, they are reconsidering the value of pay TV (satellite or cable) subscriptions. IPTV penetration has dropped from a stable position around 75% over the past years, to 63% in 2017.
Within the respondents who no longer have a pay TV subscription, 27% ‘cut the cord’ during 2017, shown in Figure 2.3.2.1, and 16 to 22% of Generations Z, Millennials, Generation X households never had pay TV subscription and are ‘probably unlikely to do so in the future’[25, p.7].
The authors also clarified that the main reasons behind cord-cutting are dissatisfaction with pay TV, the comfort of streaming services, a strong appetite for original content,
the value for the dollar, and affordability. The study pointed to another challenge: 56% keep their pay TV only because it is packaged with their home Internet connection, and underlined those subscribers might be encouraged to leave pay TV when 5G connectivity is widely available [25, p.8].
Figure 2.3.2.1: Households that have cut the cord on pay TV during 2017. You indicated you and/or your household do not currently have a pay TV service. Please tell us when you canceled your pay TV service. Source: printed with permission from Deloitte Digital media trends survey, 12th edition. 2018 Deloitte Insights.
2.3.3 Generation X Joins Digital Savvy. The survey highlighted that 64% of Generation X had a streaming service, shown in Figure 2.3.3.1. The rising digital media adoption and the rising ‘disposable income’ of Generation X, challenge pay TV providers to hold them in, and presents an opportunity for streamers [25, pp.10-11].
Figure 2.3.3.1: Generations Z, millennials, and X fuel the rise of SVOD. Does your household subscribe to a streaming video service? Source: printed with permission from Deloitte Digital media trends survey, 12th edition.
2018 Deloitte Insights.
2.3.4 More Binge-watch More. The Digital media trends
survey pointed out that consumption of long-form content
on mobile phones has increased dramatically, with
generation Z, millennials, and generation X, due to
streaming services and unlimited data plans. Binge-
watching has also increased: 91% of generation Z, 86% of
millennials, and 80% of generation X say they binge-watch,
and also the number of episodes they consume has
increased [25, p.12]. Figure 2.3.4.1 shows that millennials binge around 7.5 episodes of a TV series in one go.
Figure 2.3.4.1: Generations Z, millennials, and X are heavy binge-watchers. When binge-watching, what is the average number of episodes you view in a single sitting?. Source:
printed with permission from Deloitte Digital media trends survey, 12th edition. 2018 Deloitte Insights.
2.3.5 Personal Data and Personalization. The Digital media trends survey indicated that consumers are willing to share personal data in exchange for value–premium content, personalized experience, relevant ads– but they want control. The authors highlighted that consumers have always been communicating to markets what they want and are willing to pay for services they value–with money, time, or data. This value-trade represents an exceptional business opportunity ‘companies that have aligned their offerings to meet these consumer values have been wildly successful’
[25, p.16].
2.3.6 Video Streaming Surpasses Pay TV. Deloitte Insights’
following year survey [26] indicated that, for the first time, streaming has become the ‘preferred’ way to consume video in the US: overall respondents who have at least one SVOD are 69%, versus 65% who have a pay TV subscription, while for millennials it is 88% versus 51% respectively. However, traditional pay TV still has a strong presence: 43% of all households still have both to access live TV, news, sports, and TV shows that are available on traditional pay TV networks[26, p.3]. The survey indicated that the number of SVOD subscribers who said ‘they subscribed to access original content’ increased from 57% in 2018 to 71% in 2019.
The authors emphasized that streamers are spending billions of dollars to differentiate with award-winning original content and are excelling in this mission–Netflix was on top of the 2018 Emmy awards with 112 nominations and tied with HBO, 23 winnings each [26, p.5].
2.3.7 Featured Drawbacks of Streaming. The authors in [26]
highlighted that the ‘freedom’ of choosing among a
multitude of video streaming services has its shortcomings and clarified that the studios are increasingly pulling back their content and launching their DTC services. Although original content is the main reason for subscribing to a streaming service, a ‘broad library’ of content is also important: 57% of consumers feel frustrated ‘when shows disappear from libraries on streaming services’. Another problem lifted in the survey was the ‘discovery difficulties’:
48% said ‘it is harder to find the content they want to watch when it is spread across multiple services’ and 43% of consumers said ‘they give up on the content search if they cannot find it in a few minutes’. Spreading personal and financial information across multiple subscriptions is also becoming a worry as consumers fear ‘identity theft, financial loss, and the use of sensitive data without their authorization’ and they want to be in control. [26, pp.7-8]
2.4 Overview of Market Shifts and Video Consumption Trends in Sweden
Having presented an overview of major US trends, we now move to discuss the Swedish market. We first present a brief on the Swedish public service main challenges in this shifting landscape and then elaborate on the TV consumption trends in Sweden and narrow down the focus to the position of SVT Play. The main quantitative data reviewed in the following sections of this chapter are taken from SVT as well as from MMS, Ungdomsbarometern, The Swedish Internet Foundation, and Nordicom. Some numbers might slightly vary between different studies depending on methods and time of study, but general trends remain the same. We refer to these studies to highlight different aspects and gain a better understanding of the Swedish TV market and the position of SVT Play. Below is a brief about each study (see Appendix C for more details).
The Swedish Media Barometer (Mediebarometern) 2019 survey measures the daily reach of different media among a random ratio selection sample of 6011 participants of the population in Sweden between 9 and 79 years old. The sample is drawn from the Swedish Population Register. The survey took place in February-June and August-December 2019[16. pp.1-5]. Respondents with a university degree were over represented in the study. Also, since the study is conducted in Swedish, the part of the population that does not speak Swedish was ‘severely under represented’[16.
p.9]. Mediebarometern is a yearly survey that has been
carried out by the Nordic Information Centre for Media and
Communication, (Nordicom) at Gothenburg University
since 1979, ‘which makes the survey the oldest of its kind in
the world’. Also, the sample size of this survey is the largest
amongst other studies.
The Swedes and the Internet (Svenskarna och internet) is a yearly survey of the Swedish Internet Foundation. The survey is designed according to a revolving panel design.
The samples are drawn from the Swedish Population Register and Marknadsinformation to include a representative sample of the population. Participants in the 2019 study were divided into age groups starting from 12+
years with no upwards age limit. In this study, 1,701 people (57%) participated in the survey via an online survey and 1,302 (43%) via telephone. The 2019 survey was conducted in February and March 2019 [18, pp.164-65]. It is good to mark that the 16-25 age group was slightly over represented (16.4% in the study, versus 13.5% as per SCB) which stood out among other slightly over or under-represented segments. Svenskarna och internet provides insights on the Internet habits of people in Sweden, how the Internet usage is developing, and the digitalization of society.
MMS measures the consumption of video and delivers daily viewing figures for TV and online. The TV panel consists of 3000 households with TV meter (people meter) installed on every working TV set in every household. In addition to the whole household getting a certain weight, each member of the household is weighted to reflects how many in the population this individual's TV viewing represents. The period for this annual report, MMS TVÅret-2019, is 2018- 12-31/2019-12-29. It is noteworthy that using people meter provides accurate time spent and reach numbers, compared to numbers derived by other methods, e.g. surveys or interviews. It is also important to mark that this report gauges consumption and access of media based on data derived throughout the whole year, which allows for more detailed insights on–for example– daily, weekly, quarterly patterns or growth.
The Youth Barometer (Ungdomsbarometern) is a leading research institute that studies the youth in Sweden and tracks their habits and changing behaviors. The Ungdomsbarometern – Rörligt Innehåll 2020 study [21] was conducted online among 4.261 participants nationally representative sample, of ages 15-49, between 18 November and 2 December 2019. The institute has core expertise in market research for 15-30 years age groups, but extends to older age groups as well. Ungdomsbarometern provides insights for various sectors, e.g. government agencies, interest groups, media houses, consumer goods companies.
The research and reports of Ungdomsbarometern spans education, work-life, society and lifestyle, digitalization and communication, brands, and consumption.
2.4.1 SVT Strategic Goals. The Parliamentary Public Service Committee report [15, p.14] emphasized that public service
is challenged by declining numbers in public trust as well as increasing pressure from competition and it is critical that public service succeed in catering to all citizens in Sweden.
The report noted that digitalization and globalization are the main drivers behind the fast shifts in the media scene. The authors underlined that the growing market share of global streamers, like Netflix, imposes new game rules for local actors since such players operate on a global scale with investments beyond the reach of national players.
The report emphasized that these developments have increased the pressure on SVT and other actors to improve both the ‘quantity and quality’ of their offering[15, pp.33- 37]. The authors also highlighted that consumers are recently able to access an increasing number of media over the Internet and can choose when, where, and how to consume media. But they emphasized that while this is positive, it can also contribute to differences in media consumption and access to information and it can lead to polarized opinions and worldviews [15, p.38]. The report underlined that the shifting viewing habits and competition on the audience’s time pose many challenges for public service, related to technical and content aspects for reaching the audiences, especially younger age groups [15, p.48]. In 2019, the public trust and social value numbers of SVT have stabilized among the audience, while the time spent, and personal value numbers have increased. But these numbers varied between different age groups–social value numbers and personal value numbers were lower among the 20-39 years group, 57%, and 47% respectively, compared to 68%
and 59% among 16-80 years [19, pp.53-57].
2.4.2 The Internet and Online Consumption. Svenskarna och internet 2019 indicated that 98% of the Swedish households have access to the Internet (rising from 85% in 2010), 95% of the population uses the Internet, and 91% uses the Internet daily. The survey indicated that access to fiber increased to 57% in 2019 from 48% in 2017, the number of connected devices in the household also increased, and access to mobile broadband increased to 32% from 27% in 2017 [18, pp.7-8]. In the following sections, we discuss mainly average daily time spent and average daily reach figures to present a consistent overview–reach refers to the percentage of consumers who access a certain medium or content at least once during a certain period (day, week, month) [16, p.11].
Figure 2.4.2.1 presents the reach growth of online video
since 2007, whereby the daily reach more than doubled
between 2015 and 2019. This increased consumption is
throttled by younger audiences as 7 in 10 between 12–25
years watch video over the Internet daily, compared to 1 in 10 of the 65+ years of Internet users [18, p.129].
Figure 2.4.2.1: Online video reach: percentage of Internet users (12+ years) who watch video/film on the Internet.
Source: printed from Svenskarna och internet 2019.
However, this increased consumption of online video did not add up to the overall time spent on video (moving image). Instead, it was accompanied by the declining share of linear TV presented in figure 2.4.2.2.
Figure 2.4.2.2: Moving image developments: average time spent per day and per person (16-66 years) on all video.
Source: adapted with permission from MMS-TV-året 2019.
MMS indicated that between 2010 and 2019, the overall average daily reach of linear TV dropped from 70% to 56%, the overall average daily time spent dropped from 160 to 127 minutes, while among younger age groups the decline was even steeper, e.g. the average daily time spent for 15-24 age group dropped from 100 minutes to 29 minutes the same period [1, pp.11-12]
2.4.2.1 The TV Value Chain in Sweden. Besides the traditional radio and TV, Swedes can access an unprecedented number of options and content over the Internet, including streaming services–made possible through digitalization and new communication technique [15, p.34]. Although traditional TV still has a strong position, 57% of 16+ years access traditional TV daily, more
and more consume video over the Internet [18, pp.124-125].
Figure 2.4.2.1.1 illustrates the current Swedish TV value chain. The outline highlights that actors in the traditional structure (content, aggregation, and distribution) can bypass the chain and reach consumers directly through the Internet.
Figure 2.4.2.1.1: An outline of the television industry value chain in Sweden 2020
2.4.3 Divergent Consumption across Age Groups.
2.4.3.1 Moving Image: Daily Reach. Mediebarometern highlighted that, in 2019, of the overall population between 9 and 79, 90% had a daily reach to a form of moving image.
While traditional linear TV had the highest daily reach with 58%, streaming services (SVODs, FVODs, AVODs: ad- supported video on demand), apart from YouTube, followed with 47% daily reach, and YouTube came third with 41%
daily reach [16, p.34]. The survey marked the divergent behaviors among younger and older audiences whereby streaming services were preferred among 9-44 age groups over linear TV, but for the 45-69 groups, it was the opposite.
Extreme divergence can be marked in figure 2.4.3.1.1: for
the 15-24 group, YouTube had the highest daily reach (80%),
followed by streaming (65%)–the highest reach for
streaming services among all age groups– and last linear
TV (35%). For the 65–79 group, linear TV had the highest
reach (89%), followed by streaming (22%)–the lowest reach
for streaming services among all age groups– and last
YouTube (11%).
Figure 2.4.3.1.1: Moving image: average daily reach, 9–79 years, 2019 (percent). *All forms of moving image, including those not presented in the figure. Source:
adapted with permission from Mediebarometern 2019 (Nordicom: Gothenburg University).
2.4.3.2 Moving Image: Time Spent-Linear TV, Streaming TV, YouTube. In 2019, the overall population between 9 and 79 spent daily an average of 120 minutes on linear TV, 58 minutes on streaming services, and 34 minutes on YouTube [16, p.38]. Similar to the daily reach patterns, there was a clear correlation between younger age groups and the time spent on streaming services and YouTube.
Figure 2.4.3.2.1 shows that age group 15-24 spent the highest time on streaming among all age-groups, higher than their time spent on linear TV (92 minutes and 89 minutes respectively), while age-group 65-79 spent 146 minutes–the highest time spent on linear TV among all age groups–and 27 minutes on streaming.
Figure 2.4.3.2.1: Moving image: average daily time spent, 9–79 years, 2019 (minutes). Source: adapted with permission from Mediebarometern 2019 (Nordicom:
Gothenburg University).
2.4.3.3 The Viewers’ Choice for Exploring Content. The Ungdomsbarometern survey highlighted that when consumers (15-49 years) were asked which service they would choose to explore when they do not know what to watch, SVODs–like Netflix, HBO Nordic, Viaplay, Cmore–
continued to gain grounds and were the service of choice for the majority in 2019 [21, p.10]. Figure 2.4.3.3.1 shows that as SVOD grew on ‘explorative viewership’ from 26% to 35% between 2017 and 2019, preference for linear TV dropped from 32% to 22%, and free streaming services–like SVT Play, TV4 Play, Viafree, Dplay– dropped from 13% to 10% during the same period.
Figure 2.4.3.3.1: SVOD is the main choice for ‘explorative’
viewership, average total 15-49 years. *SVOD (e.g. Netflix, HBO Nordic) free play services* (e.g. SVT Play, TV4 Play).
Question: if you do not know what you are going to watch, where do you turn to first? Source: adapted with permission from Ungdomsbarometern-Rörligt Innehåll 2020.
The survey indicated that this explorative viewership preference varied widely across age groups. For 15-24 years, preference was for YouTube/ SVOD, for 25-44 years SVOD, whereas for 45+ years it was linear TV. The authors of the report emphasized that the biggest change between 2018 and 2019 was the shift of the 40-44 age group from linear TV to SVOD and anticipated the next age bracket (45+) is likely to shift habits thereafter [21, pp.11-12].
2.4.3.4 Pay TV versus Streaming Subscriptions in Households. MMS marked that between 2015 and 2019, the overall reach of play services–AVOD and broadcast video on demand (BVOD)–grew by 28%, play services excluding YouTube grew 18%, whereas SVOD grew by 123% pushing the overall growth of online consumption [1, p.36]. The Mediebarometern indicated that, in 2019, 63% of the population 9-79 in Sweden had access to a video streaming subscription at home, and half the population had access to a pay TV package[16, p.112]. As illustrated in figure 2.4.3.4.1, access to video streaming subscriptions was highest among younger age groups (9-44), and access to pay TV was lowest for the 15-44 age groups. It is also interesting to mark that the 45-64 age group had the same access to video streaming subscription as it had for pay TV (60%), leaving the 65-79 the only age group that is lagging behind this high streaming subscription penetration.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Total(9-79) 9–14 years 15–24 years 25–44 years 45–64 years 65–79 years
Moving image total* TV total Linear TV
Streaming TV YouTube
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
Total(9-79) 9–14 years 15–24 years 25–44 years 45–64 years 65–79 years Linear TV Streaming TV YouTube
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Turn to SVOD* Turn to YouTube Turn to linear TV Turn to free play
service* Turn to others Not sure/don’t know 2017 2018 2019
Figure 2.4.3.4.1: Pay TV/Streaming subscription: household access, 9–79 years, 2019 (percent). Source: adapted with permission from Mediebarometern 2019 (Nordicom:
Gothenburg University).
Not only SVOD took over pay TV subscription share, but the stacking of SVOD subscriptions per household has also increased [1, p.38]. Figure 2.4.3.4.2 illustrates the number of consumers who have access to more than one SVOD service has more than doubled between 2015 and 2019, and the majority of consumers have access to at least two subscriptions in 2019.
Figure 2.4.3.4.2: Stacking of SVODs: Share of 9-99 years who have access to SVOD service/s. Source: printed with permission from MMS-TV-året 2019
2.4.4 Overview of SVT Linear Channels.
2.4.4.1 SVT Linear TV: Daily Reach. The Mediebarometern survey marked that among linear channels during 2019, SVT1 had the highest daily reach (40%) for total population 9-79, followed by, the biggest commercial channel, TV4 (37%), SVT 2 (24%), Kanal 5 (12%), while other channels had a reach below 10% [16, p.40], see figure 2.4.4.1.1. The authors in [1, p.14] stressed the importance of big formats as the main driver for viewership. Among the highest viewed programs on TV, SVT1 came in the top 5 (Melodifestivalen 19 Final, Kalle Anka och hans Vänner, På
Spåret, Eurovision Song Contest, Årets Julvärd 2019), and in total had 7 of the top 10 list in 2019.
Figure 2.4.4.1.1: 2019 Daily reach of top 9 TV channels, 9- 79, 2019 (percent). Source: adapted with permission from Mediebarometern (Nordicom: Gothenburg University).
The five channels of SVT combined (SVT1, SVT2, SVT Barn, SVT24, and Kunskapskanalen) had a 44% daily reach [16, p.41]. Across genders, SVT2, Kunskapskanalen, and SVT24 had higher reach for males, but for TV4 it was the opposite. Lower reach for linear TV among younger audiences was also exhibited as the reach of SVT linear channels combined was lowest among the age group 15-24 (19%), and highest among the 65-79 group (78%), a similar pattern can be also marked with TV4, see table 2.4.4.1.1.
Table 2.4.4.1.1: TV Channels: daily reach%, 9–79 years, 2019
Source: adapted with permission from Mediebarometern 2019 (Nordicom: Gothenburg University).
2.4.4.2 SVT broadcast: A Rapidly Aging Audience. MMS underlined that for linear TV, time spent and reach are both declining in all age groups, apart from the 60+, and the divergence of consumption patterns among younger and older age groups becomes bigger [1, p.16]. This bleeding on almost all age groups has left the medium with an increasingly aging audience. The department of Audience and Offering Analysis at SVT (SVT Publik- och Utbudsanalys) highlighted that for every year that passes, the audience of SVT1 ages a year, and the median age for
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Total(9-79) 9–14 years 15–24 years 25–44 years 45–64 years 65–79 years Streaming Subscription Pay TV subscription
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
SVT1 TV4 SVT2
Kanal 5 TV3 TV6 Kunskapkanalen
SVT Barn SVT 24
SVT Total SVT1 SVT2 Kunskapskanalen SVT Barn SVT24 TV4
Total(9-79) 44 40 24 8 4 3 37
Females 44 40 19 7 5 2 40
Males 44 40 28 9 4 4 35
9–14 years 28 17 6 3 15 1 25
15–24 years 19 17 6 3 2 1 22
25–44 years 25 20 10 3 7 2 23
45–64 years 57 53 33 11 3 3 46
65–79 years 78 75 48 18 2 7 62
the audience on SVT1 in 2019 was 69 years, the highest among linear TV, marked in figure 2.4.4.2.1. The report indicated that having a ‘mature’ audience is a prerequisite to attain the reach and high time spent for broadcast, but alarmed that reaching families and younger audiences has been in decline, whereas the viewership of young and young adult age groups has never dropped as it did in 2019.
SVT today has no regrowth of viewership [19, p.7].
Figure 2.4.4.2.1: Median age for the viewers of linear TV.
Source: printed with permission from Publikutfall 2019, SVT Publik-och Utbudsanalys-MMS
Despite the reach increase for SVT online, the overall reach of SVT (online and linear TV) continued to drop, due to the falling reach of its linear channels, and this decline was steeper among young and young adults[19, p.43].
2.4.5 Overview of SVT Play. The Ungdomsbarometern marked that apart from YouTube, viewers of AVODs (Viafree, Dplay, TV4 Play) often know what they want to watch when they start the service, highlighted in figure 2.4.5.1. In comparison, Netflix and YouTube are the only services that ‘magically succeed in both; to be explorative and get the viewers to stay longer– adding up many more minutes’[21, p.23].
2.4.5.1 SVT Play: Daily Reach. The average daily reach of video streaming in 2019 for the total population 9-79 was 47%. Figure 2.4.5.1.1 shows that, with 29%, Netflix had the highest reach among streamers. SVT Play came second with 19%, Viaplay/ViaFree and C More/TV4 play had 10% each, while HBO Nordic had a daily reach of 6% [16, p.44].
Figure 2.4.5.1.1: Streaming services: daily reach, 9-79, 2019 (percent). Source: adapted with permission from Mediebarometern 2019 (Nordicom: Gothenburg University).
However, across different age groups, streamers had their highest daily reach numbers among the 15-24 age group, see figure 2.4.5.1.2, whereas–like SVT linear channels– SVT Play fell short in reaching this group, and instead had the highest reach among streamers in the 65-79 age group [16, p.44].
Figure 2.4.5.1.2: Streaming Services: daily reach, 9–79 years, 2019 (percent). *All streaming services, including those not presented in the figure. Source: adapted with permission from Mediebarometern 2019 (Nordicom:
Gothenburg University).
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Netflix SVT Play
Viaplay/Viafree C More/TV4 Play
HBO Nordic Dplay
Amazon Prime UR play
Strive Others
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Total(9-79) 9–14 years 15–24 years 25–44 years 45–64 years 65–79 years Total* Netflix SVT Play Viaplay/Viafree C More/TV4 Play
Figure 2.4.5.1: Explorative consumption on YouTube and Netflix goes hand in hand with more time spent than intended.
Questions: How often do you know what you want to watch when you start [X]? How often you watch longer than you have planned when you watch [X]? Source: adapted with permission from Ungdomsbarometern-Rörligt Innehåll 2020.
2.4.5.2 SVT Play: Time Spent. MMS reported that the average daily time spent on SVT Play for the total population (9-99 years) was 10% of the total time spent online in 2019[1, p.44]. SVT Play had the third position after YouTube and Netflix, as highlighted in figure 2.4.5.2.1, and remained a clear leader among all other national streamers (40% bigger than the second local streamer Viaplay).
Figure 2.4.5.2.1: Top 10- Online Video daily time spent percentage (9-99 years) *moving image. Source: adapted with permission from MMS-TV-året 2019.
2.4.5.3 SVT Play: Reach Growth. When it comes to weekly reach growth –apart from YouTube– SVT Play was the biggest streamer in Sweden in the last quarter of 2019. But SVT Publik- och Utbudsanalys [19, pp.24] also pointed out that the growth rate of SVT Play was lower than that of other streamers, while that growth is characterized by a steep seasonal curve seen in figure 2.4.5.3.1.
Figure 2.4.5.3.1: SVT online and SVT Play weekly reach (percent) quarterly growth for 9-99 years, 2015-2019.
Source: printed with permission from Publikutfall 2019, SVT Publik-och Utbudsanalys- MMS
YouTube 25%
Ne,lix 23%
SVT Play 10%
ViaPlay 6%
CMore Play 4%
TV4 Play 4%
Instagram*
4%
Facebook*
4%
HBO Nordic 3%
Twitch 3%
Others 14%
Finally, as we have seen throughout the above sections, studies about TV consumption are abundant. The Swedish TV market and consumption are undergoing profound and fast transformations. But, little is known about future dynamics, and current challenges are many, and these have not been studied yet. We have seen that while broadcast continues to lose ground, SVT Play is still in a leading position among local streamers. However, the divergent consumption on the service, its weaker position among 15- 24 years, and the steep growth of other streamers–
spearheaded by Netflix–remain among many challenges for the service to stay relevant for all audiences.
To gain a better understanding of the future of SVT Play, we discussed topics based on findings from this chapter with participants from SVT and other experts that have extensive expertise in these topics. Methods of our study are presented in the next chapter and our results are reported and discussed thereafter.
3. METHODS
The study follows a flexible design. Relevant literature was reviewed as a starting point to support a more detailed design and qualitative data collection and to gain a better understanding of recent developments, see figure 3.1. State of the art studies and reports have been examined thoroughly and relevant findings were presented within the literature review and background to map out general trends and define the scope of this study. Initial findings were then wrapped among the inquiries discussed with the participants of this study.
Figure 3.1: Framework for the research design
Relevant internal reports at SVT were also examined, but the main instrument used for data collection was in-depth interviews with a checklist of topics and questions to be
covered. The exact wording and order of the open questions varied based on the flow of each interview. Additional follow-up questions were asked as needed.
Sampling included expert personnel from key positions at SVT as well as other media experts with diverse expertise from various actors in Sweden and the Nordics who have extensive knowledge about the topic, see table 3.1.
Table 3.1 Participants background and ID reference
We led systematic procedures, followed a code of conduct with all participants in this study, and obtained informed consent for participation. We used the English language in all our correspondence and all interviews. All interviews have been recorded and side notes have been taken. Data were collected between February and May 2020. After the initial interviews, we evaluated the adequacy of data and analyzed common patterns that stood out as clear themes and refined our questions as the data collection and analysis progressed. The total time of interviews amounted to 15,12 hours from ten interviews with an average of 91 minutes per interview. Data collected were transcribed, analyzed, coded, condensed and categorized into major themes and sub-themes, summarized, and reported in this study.
The quantitative data reviewed in this study are taken from SVT and different entities that research and publish media reports and statistics, including Deloitte Insights, MMS, Ungdomsbarometern, The Swedish Internet Foundation, and Nordicom (see Appendix C for more details about each study used). These institutes were contacted and permissions to refer to insights and figures from their reports in our study were obtained as applicable. While some numbers might slightly vary between different studies depending on the methods and time of a study, general trends remain the same.
4. RESULTS
The analysis of data collected from the interviews is structured in eight interconnected recurrent themes. Each theme contains subthemes and concepts presented in its subheadings, see figure 4.1
Participant ID Participants Background
A Key personnel at SVT
B Key personnel at SVT
C Key personnel at SVT
D Key personnel at SVT
E Media researcher, lecturer, author F Senior Consultant, media and markets G Media& telecom expert
