UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Transformations of television systems: Implications for media content, political parties and political attitudes Arbaoui, B. Publication date 2014 Document Version Final published version Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Arbaoui, B. (2014). Transformations of television systems: Implications for media content, political parties and political attitudes. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:05 Oct 2021 Transformations of television systems Transformations Transformations of This thesis investigates the transformation of West-European television television systems systems since the onset of the liberalisation process through a systematic com- parison of 17 television systems between 1980 and 2008. The transformation Transformations of television systems Implications for media of West-European television systems is analysed through a dualistic approach content political parties by analyzing the changes in media structures along the related, but distinct and political attitudes dimensions of audience fragmentation and dependency on commercial income. Implications for media content The thesis investigates the consequences of these transformations for political political parties and content, political competition and political attitudes. The analysis shows that these transformations have increased sensationalism in news coverage. While political attitudes audience fragmentation compels political parties to pay more attention to the immigration issue in comparison to other issues, this fragmentation compels Uitnodiging them to differentiate themselves rather than to imitate the issue owner. Con- trary to common expectations, the analysis also shows that increased audience fragmentation and dependency on commercial revenues in television systems Voor het bijwonen van de are associated to higher instead of lower political trust. openbare verdediging van mijn proefschrift Transformations of television systems Implications for media content, political parties and political attitudes op vrijdag 21 februari 2014 om 10:00 uur in de Agnietenkapel aan de Oudezijds Voorburgwal 231 te Amsterdam. Bouchra Arbaoui [email protected] Paranimfen: Basje Bender Jesse Hoffman Bouchra Arbaoui Bouchra Arbaoui 200071-os-Arboui DEF.indd 1 03-01-14 10:45 Transformations of television systems Implications for media content, political parties and political attitudes ISBN: 978-94-6259-038-0 Cover illustration Selma de Haas Print Ipskamp Drukkers BV. www.ipskampdrukkers © Bouchra Arbaoui. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from the proprietor. Transformations of television systems Implications for media content, political parties and political attitudes ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam op gezag van de Rector Magnificus prof. dr. D.C. van den Boom ten overstaan van een door het college voor promoties ingestelde commissie, in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Agnietenkapel op vrijdag 21 februari 2014, te 10:00 uur door Bouchra Arbaoui geboren te Ksar Talalt, Marokko PROMOTIECOMMISSIE Promotor: Prof. dr. Wouter van der Brug Co-promotor: Dr. Philip van Praag Overige Leden: Dr. Peter Van Aelst Prof. dr. Kees Brants Prof. dr. Jan Kleinnijenhuis Prof. dr. Rens Vliegenthart Dr. Richard van der Wurff Faculteit der Maatschappij- en Gedragswetenschappen Foreword Writing this thesis was accomplished with the company and support of a lot of people. I would like to thank all of them and acknowledge how everyone has helped me in her own way during the process of writing this book. When I came to Amsterdam in the summer of 2000, the University of Amsterdam was a welcoming place to me. At the time, I did not know that it would become my home for more than 10 years. I would hereby like to thank my professors and lecturers in sociology (especially in the first and second year) who, through their teaching and enthusiasm, made me fall in love with social science. Professor Wouter van der Brug and Dr. Philip van Praag: I cannot thank you enough for your critical supervision, support and encouragement. Without your support it would not have been possible to reach this stage. Thank you. I would like to thank Lena van der Leije who assisted me with the data gathering for this project. I would also like to express my gratitude to Dr. Richard van der Wurff who, in the early stage of this project, provided me with information about data sources and was kind to spend some of his time discussing theoretical matters. My roommates! I am really glad that I met you. I was lucky to share my first room in the Bushuis with Eline and TJ. You were both very understanding and we shared a lot of friendly and supporting moments. I will always remember our warm conversations. Thank you for your friendship. In the second room in the Binnengasthuis I was lucky to meet Jesse and Basje. Jesse, your enthusiasm and intrinsic motivation are really heart-warming. Basje, your cheerfulness was the i sunshine in our room. I am glad and thankful for your friendship and I am very proud to have you as my ‘paranimfen’. I would also like to thank various colleagues with whom conversing in the corridors or during the lunch break was a continuous source of joy. I would particularly like to thank Jill for sharing my passion for (a lot of) food with me. Annemarie, thank you for your kind visits and invitations. Benno, Lutz and Matthijs, it was always nice to pop in to your room and share our interests in research and/or our similar worries and irritations. Last but not least, I would like to thank Ana for all the positive energy and friendship, Amber for the inspiration and friendship and Bas for his generous friendship. Younous and Hanane, thank you for your welcoming home and for bringing ‘tamazight’ and ‘tamazirt’ back to my house. Hein, Selma and Dalila, I do not know if I should thank you or say sorry that I was not always there for you. I only can say I love you. Hein: It goes without saying that without you, accomplishing this thesis would not have been possible. Thank you for bearing with me during difficult times during the writing of this thesis. I am sure we will share more joy and there will be more books to write in the years to come. Oxford, December 2013 ii Contents LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................................... VI LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................................ VII CHAPTER 1 CHANGING WEST-EUROPEAN TELEVISION SYSTEMS IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE: A THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL DISCUSSION ................................................................... 1 1.1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2. HISTORY OF WEST-EUROPEAN BROADCASTING IN A SNAPSHOT ................................................................ 4 1.3. THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE LIBERALISATION PROCESS IN TELEVISION SYSTEMS .................................................................................................................................................. 9 1.3.1. Convergence in broadcasting: do national comparisons still make sense?.......................... 9 1.3.2. The recursive nature of media structure: The intrinsic relations between supply and demand .......................................................................................................................................................................... 13 1.3.3. The relevance of advertising dependency as a characteristic of the television environment ................................................................................................................................................................ 18 1.3.4. The relevance of audience fragmentation ........................................................................................ 19 1.4. STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS ............................................................................................................................ 24 CHAPTER 2 CONVERGENCE OF WEST-EUROPEAN BROADCASTING SYSTEMS 1980-2008 ................... 27 2.1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................