La Fi de l'etapa de creixement i l'entrada en la dimensió desconeguda

Abstract

Expansion in the Spanish media sector is over. At present, conventional media are on the threshold of a new era characterized by disorientation and uncertainty on all fronts. We are emerging from a period of sustained growth, in which free newspapers came into being and the audiovisual sector became deregulated, thus breaking the monopoly of public radio and television. It was a period that witnessed the formation of large multimedia groups, more interested in financial returns than in their social function. The new era is overshadowed by the present economic crisis, and the media with Spain in the lead have been seriously affected by the decline in publicity. Many businesses, unprepared for the steady decline in revenues, find themselves in a desperate situation which augurs severe consequences including staff and salary reductions, paralyzation of investment growth funds, the demise of certain newspapers, and the restructuring of other media. This new era is unpredictable; we have entered an unknown dimension.