Current state and challenges of science in today’s TV: A look on the interplay between supply and demand on European media markets

Authors

  • Markus Lehmkuhl Institute for Media and Communication Studies

Keywords:

Science in TV, Science Audiences, People-Meter-Data, Focus-Groups

Abstract

This study assesses the current state of science in TV and its future challenges. The assessments are based in substantial parts on a couple of comparative empirical media studies published in the last decade. The focus of these studies was either on the production of science contents in European TV, or on the reception of these contents by European Audiences. This paper integrates both perspectives into
a comprehensive picture in order to unlock the basic interplay between supply and demand of Science in TV. It is diagnosed that the supply of specialised programmes is predominantly dependent upon financially strong and conveniently structured public service channels, especially the presence of small public niche channels is key to explain the considerable differences of programme offers across Europe. It is further
diagnosed that the demand for these programmes by European audiences in general is not sufficient to stimulate production, of special relevance is the lack of appeal for younger viewers. We conclude by identifying main challenges TV producers face when trying to reach the largest possible audience.

Keywords: Science in TV, Science Audiences, People-Meter-Data, Focus-Groups

Downloads

Issue

Vol. 7 (2014)

Section

Dossier: Science on Television

License

The intellectual property of articles belongs to the respective authors.

On submitting articles for publication to the journal Actes d’Història de la Ciència i de la Tècnica, authors accept the following terms:
  1. Authors assign to Societat Catalana d’Història de la Ciència i de la Tècnica (a subsidiary of Institut d’Estudis Catalans) the rights of reproduction, communication to the public and distribution of the articles submitted for publication to Actes d’Història de la Ciència i de la Tècnica.
  2. Authors answer to Societat Catalana d’Història de la Ciència i de la Tècnica (SCHCT) for the authorship and originality of submitted articles.
  3. Authors are responsible for obtaining permission for the reproduction of all graphic material included in articles.
  4. SCHCT declines all liability for the possible infringement of intellectual property rights by authors.
  5. The contents published in the journal, unless otherwise stated in the text or in the graphic material, are subject to a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (by-nc-nd) 3.0 Spain licence, the complete text of which may be found at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/deed.en. Consequently, the general public is authorised to reproduce, distribute and communicate the work, provided that its authorship and the body publishing it are acknowledged, and that no commercial use and no derivative works are made of it.
  6. Actes d’Història de la Ciència i de la Tècnica is not responsible for the ideas and opinions expressed by the authors of the published articles.