Reconnecting with young audiences: Transmedia storytelling to transform public service television in Spain, France, Germany and the United Kingdom

Abstract

Introduction. European public service television corporations are making a big effort to reconnect with young audiences. The dramatic loss of young viewers (Ofcom, 2016) has forced TV operators to adapt to their strategies to the current convergent cultural environment. Methods: The first stage of the study involves a review of the literature on young audiences, transmedia storytelling and the public mission of European public service broadcasting in the digital age. Then, based on the contributions of literature and European regulation, the second stage involves the analysis of the most successful informative and entertainment transmedia products of European television channels, such as webdocs of “Lab.rtve.es”; “Guernika. Pintura de guerra” (2007), “A History of Scotland” (2008), “El ministerio del tiempo” (2015-2016), “Fais pas ci, fais pas ça”, “Sherlock” (2010-2017), “Doctor Who” (2005-2017), “EastEnders” (1985), “Goazen!" (2016) and “Alpha 0.7 - Der Feind in dir” (2010). Results and conclusions: The transmedia initiatives of European Public Service Broadcasters are few but represent a significant effort to integrate new narratives to the audiovisual public service and reconnect with young audiences.