MedieKultur. Journal of media and communication …, 1994
... 50 videnskabelige monografier og knap 400 originale artikler. Pä dan.sk er han introduceret i... more ... 50 videnskabelige monografier og knap 400 originale artikler. Pä dan.sk er han introduceret i Jens Christian Jacob-sen (red.): »Autopoiesis«, Po.liti.sk. ... Oversaettelsen er foretaget af John Cederstrom og Jens Rasmussen efter Soziale Sy-steme. ...
Critical Studies in Television: The International Journal of Television Studies
In recent years, media production studies have grown into a thriving field of research, which has... more In recent years, media production studies have grown into a thriving field of research, which has given rise to a discussion of the theoretical and methodological approaches it employs (Paterson et al, 2016; Frandsen, 2007; Bruun, 2010, 2016b). This article is a contribution to this development. The focal point is a discussion of how time and timing are important in media production research. The article points out that time is not just a matter of the amount of time that researchers have for their data collection. In production studies, the researcher constructs the object for analysis, and time is to be considered depending on the type of analytical object you are trying to create, on the temporality that is present in the production process behind specific genres and subject areas, and on the changes the media are undergoing. A particular aspect of time is timing, which has both a performative and a strategic dimension. The importance of time and timing will be illustrated with e...
This article presents findings from a study of how the public service television (PSTV) companies... more This article presents findings from a study of how the public service television (PSTV) companies DR and TV 2 in Denmark are changing their scheduling practices to address the competition from transnational streaming services. We focus on a comparative analysis of how television documentaries are scheduled and argue that the documentary genre is part of an editorial prioritisation of productions with high degrees of linguistic and national proximity targeting a mainstream audience. Furthermore, we argue that new scheduling practices support a merger of linear and non-linear modes of watching television indicative of a transformation in which the video-on-demand (VoD) services are the new entry points to PSTV. This transformation might be a vital part of how Nordic PSTV companies adapt to the changes in the television industry and to new viewing habits.
Based on findings from a production study, this article explores and discusses the impact of stre... more Based on findings from a production study, this article explores and discusses the impact of streaming on television scheduling. Especially within public service television companies, scheduling for traditional linear television is currently transforming into what this article terms trans-programming. This development makes the work of the schedulers more important as well as more difficult than ever. The article argues that this development is a result of the integration of linear channels and non-linear services within the companies’ portfolios, which is leading to a merger between linear and non-linear promotion and distribution strategies for the content. A trans-programme is being produced, and this is becoming the key competitive tool in the current transformation of the television industry. The focus on the trans-programme involve organisational changes, but in train with this it actualises new and familiar issues and dilemmas in the production culture involving commissioning...
In media production studies the qualitative research interview is frequently used as a tool in th... more In media production studies the qualitative research interview is frequently used as a tool in the generation of data, and thus in building the analytical object. However, the research contributions—including my own work—contain only to a very limited degree methodological reflections on what characterizes this kind of research interview and its application in the given analytical context. This somewhat paradoxical situation is particularly striking when compared with the situation in audience studies. Theoretical coherence and methodological transparency have been part of the quality demands for many years within this research tradition. On the basis of this difference between audience studies and production studies, the aim of the chapter is to help clarify what can be said to characterize the special configuration of the qualitative research interview genre when used in media production studies. I hope that this will help advance the validity of our research projects as well as the overall level of theoretical and methodological self-reflexivity of this growing and increasingly important research effort.
This article highlights political satire as part of a long tradition of satirical sketch comedy i... more This article highlights political satire as part of a long tradition of satirical sketch comedy in Danish public service television. Since the late 1990s, however, there have been major changes to this entertainment tradition. Taking these developments as a point of departure, this article argues that political satire has been trying to reinvent itself under these new conditions. By focusing more and more on the media themselves as the target for satirical ridicule, political satire is reshaping the ideological ambiguity typical of this entertainment tradition. In spite of these current efforts, political satire is presently a struggling branch of the satirical sketch comedy tradition in Danish public service television. Actually, in my opinion, because of the speed of news production and the distribution of news on the Internet, ordinary news production is integrating humor nowadays. The producers of news have developed an eye for comedy, and it is very difficult to match this kind of political satire produced in the news in a satirical program.-Mikael Bertelsen, television producer and spoof news anchor on Bertelsen-De Uaktuelle Nyheder [Bertelsen-News of No Current Interest] 1
Northern Lights: Film & Media Studies Yearbook, 2012
This article argues for a genre approach in the analysis of changing production cultures. It supp... more This article argues for a genre approach in the analysis of changing production cultures. It supports the fruitfulness of this approach using results from a study of satirical sketch comedy production in Danish public service television. The article outlines the paradigmatic changes to the production practices of satire in the period from 1999 to 2009, during which the competition in the Danish television system intensified. On the basis of these results, the article discusses an emerging production culture of ‘auteur-like’ entertainment suited to new media platforms used by the public service media, and driven by media-referential comedy. This production culture developed alongside a production culture of entertainment focused on versioning international television formats. This development indicates that multiple and relatively autonomous production cultures coexist within a larger television entertainment production system with very different consequences for the entertainment ou...
Recently, contributions to research in the growing field of media production analysis have stress... more Recently, contributions to research in the growing field of media production analysis have stressed the importance of form, representation and genre in the analysis of production processes and in the analysis of changes in a specific field of media production (Frandsen, 2007; Cottle, 2004; Ytreberg, 1999; Dornfeld, 1998). Consequently, production analysis seems to be moving from what can be termed as a socio-centric approach towards a more communicative and media-centric approach. The more communicative and media-centric approach has put weight and focus on the creative and innovative work of media producers. But it has also pointed to a discussion of how different genres demand different theoretical and methodological approaches in understanding the demands put to the producers. Frandsen (2007:51) argues that to a large degree the production process is structured by genre, and this means we need to understand the communicative intentions and characteristics of genre when deciding on the theoretical and methodological approaches to a specific production analysis. This paper aims to support that claim by introducing the motivation for as well as arguing a specific theoretical approach in an ongoing production analysis into the development of television satire in Denmark. Television satire has since 1968 been an important genre in the entertainment profile of public service television in Denmark (Bruun, 2007).
This article presents and discusses the changing conceptualizations of the audience at work in th... more This article presents and discusses the changing conceptualizations of the audience at work in the production culture of political talk shows in PSM (public service media) in Denmark. Based on findings from a case study of the Danish political talk show Debatten [The Debate], this article suggests that an audience-as-social-segments model seems to be emerging in the PSM organization DR. The model is used to manage the medium–viewer relationship in the portfolio of channels. The article argues that this audience-in-production model has two implications. First, it changes the staging of the implied receiver in the programmes. Second, it may be changing the relationship between the managerial level and the creative producers in the PSM organization, and it entails a nexus between genre, subject area and target groups. Finally, the article discusses the innovative potential and future challenges for PSM employing the audience-as-social-segments model.
MedieKultur. Journal of media and communication …, 1994
... 50 videnskabelige monografier og knap 400 originale artikler. Pä dan.sk er han introduceret i... more ... 50 videnskabelige monografier og knap 400 originale artikler. Pä dan.sk er han introduceret i Jens Christian Jacob-sen (red.): »Autopoiesis«, Po.liti.sk. ... Oversaettelsen er foretaget af John Cederstrom og Jens Rasmussen efter Soziale Sy-steme. ...
Critical Studies in Television: The International Journal of Television Studies
In recent years, media production studies have grown into a thriving field of research, which has... more In recent years, media production studies have grown into a thriving field of research, which has given rise to a discussion of the theoretical and methodological approaches it employs (Paterson et al, 2016; Frandsen, 2007; Bruun, 2010, 2016b). This article is a contribution to this development. The focal point is a discussion of how time and timing are important in media production research. The article points out that time is not just a matter of the amount of time that researchers have for their data collection. In production studies, the researcher constructs the object for analysis, and time is to be considered depending on the type of analytical object you are trying to create, on the temporality that is present in the production process behind specific genres and subject areas, and on the changes the media are undergoing. A particular aspect of time is timing, which has both a performative and a strategic dimension. The importance of time and timing will be illustrated with e...
This article presents findings from a study of how the public service television (PSTV) companies... more This article presents findings from a study of how the public service television (PSTV) companies DR and TV 2 in Denmark are changing their scheduling practices to address the competition from transnational streaming services. We focus on a comparative analysis of how television documentaries are scheduled and argue that the documentary genre is part of an editorial prioritisation of productions with high degrees of linguistic and national proximity targeting a mainstream audience. Furthermore, we argue that new scheduling practices support a merger of linear and non-linear modes of watching television indicative of a transformation in which the video-on-demand (VoD) services are the new entry points to PSTV. This transformation might be a vital part of how Nordic PSTV companies adapt to the changes in the television industry and to new viewing habits.
Based on findings from a production study, this article explores and discusses the impact of stre... more Based on findings from a production study, this article explores and discusses the impact of streaming on television scheduling. Especially within public service television companies, scheduling for traditional linear television is currently transforming into what this article terms trans-programming. This development makes the work of the schedulers more important as well as more difficult than ever. The article argues that this development is a result of the integration of linear channels and non-linear services within the companies’ portfolios, which is leading to a merger between linear and non-linear promotion and distribution strategies for the content. A trans-programme is being produced, and this is becoming the key competitive tool in the current transformation of the television industry. The focus on the trans-programme involve organisational changes, but in train with this it actualises new and familiar issues and dilemmas in the production culture involving commissioning...
In media production studies the qualitative research interview is frequently used as a tool in th... more In media production studies the qualitative research interview is frequently used as a tool in the generation of data, and thus in building the analytical object. However, the research contributions—including my own work—contain only to a very limited degree methodological reflections on what characterizes this kind of research interview and its application in the given analytical context. This somewhat paradoxical situation is particularly striking when compared with the situation in audience studies. Theoretical coherence and methodological transparency have been part of the quality demands for many years within this research tradition. On the basis of this difference between audience studies and production studies, the aim of the chapter is to help clarify what can be said to characterize the special configuration of the qualitative research interview genre when used in media production studies. I hope that this will help advance the validity of our research projects as well as the overall level of theoretical and methodological self-reflexivity of this growing and increasingly important research effort.
This article highlights political satire as part of a long tradition of satirical sketch comedy i... more This article highlights political satire as part of a long tradition of satirical sketch comedy in Danish public service television. Since the late 1990s, however, there have been major changes to this entertainment tradition. Taking these developments as a point of departure, this article argues that political satire has been trying to reinvent itself under these new conditions. By focusing more and more on the media themselves as the target for satirical ridicule, political satire is reshaping the ideological ambiguity typical of this entertainment tradition. In spite of these current efforts, political satire is presently a struggling branch of the satirical sketch comedy tradition in Danish public service television. Actually, in my opinion, because of the speed of news production and the distribution of news on the Internet, ordinary news production is integrating humor nowadays. The producers of news have developed an eye for comedy, and it is very difficult to match this kind of political satire produced in the news in a satirical program.-Mikael Bertelsen, television producer and spoof news anchor on Bertelsen-De Uaktuelle Nyheder [Bertelsen-News of No Current Interest] 1
Northern Lights: Film & Media Studies Yearbook, 2012
This article argues for a genre approach in the analysis of changing production cultures. It supp... more This article argues for a genre approach in the analysis of changing production cultures. It supports the fruitfulness of this approach using results from a study of satirical sketch comedy production in Danish public service television. The article outlines the paradigmatic changes to the production practices of satire in the period from 1999 to 2009, during which the competition in the Danish television system intensified. On the basis of these results, the article discusses an emerging production culture of ‘auteur-like’ entertainment suited to new media platforms used by the public service media, and driven by media-referential comedy. This production culture developed alongside a production culture of entertainment focused on versioning international television formats. This development indicates that multiple and relatively autonomous production cultures coexist within a larger television entertainment production system with very different consequences for the entertainment ou...
Recently, contributions to research in the growing field of media production analysis have stress... more Recently, contributions to research in the growing field of media production analysis have stressed the importance of form, representation and genre in the analysis of production processes and in the analysis of changes in a specific field of media production (Frandsen, 2007; Cottle, 2004; Ytreberg, 1999; Dornfeld, 1998). Consequently, production analysis seems to be moving from what can be termed as a socio-centric approach towards a more communicative and media-centric approach. The more communicative and media-centric approach has put weight and focus on the creative and innovative work of media producers. But it has also pointed to a discussion of how different genres demand different theoretical and methodological approaches in understanding the demands put to the producers. Frandsen (2007:51) argues that to a large degree the production process is structured by genre, and this means we need to understand the communicative intentions and characteristics of genre when deciding on the theoretical and methodological approaches to a specific production analysis. This paper aims to support that claim by introducing the motivation for as well as arguing a specific theoretical approach in an ongoing production analysis into the development of television satire in Denmark. Television satire has since 1968 been an important genre in the entertainment profile of public service television in Denmark (Bruun, 2007).
This article presents and discusses the changing conceptualizations of the audience at work in th... more This article presents and discusses the changing conceptualizations of the audience at work in the production culture of political talk shows in PSM (public service media) in Denmark. Based on findings from a case study of the Danish political talk show Debatten [The Debate], this article suggests that an audience-as-social-segments model seems to be emerging in the PSM organization DR. The model is used to manage the medium–viewer relationship in the portfolio of channels. The article argues that this audience-in-production model has two implications. First, it changes the staging of the implied receiver in the programmes. Second, it may be changing the relationship between the managerial level and the creative producers in the PSM organization, and it entails a nexus between genre, subject area and target groups. Finally, the article discusses the innovative potential and future challenges for PSM employing the audience-as-social-segments model.
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Papers by Hanne Bruun