CresCine is thrilled to be part of the Media Industries conference in London from April 16th-19th 2024. 🎬 With over 400 delegates from 32 countries, this year’s event promises to be truly interdisciplinary.

We’re proud to feature the expertise of Manuel José Damásio, Cathrin Bengesser, Tim Raats, Ivana Kostovska, Jaka Primorac, Indrek Ibrus, Ulrike Rohn, and many more distinguished scholars and industry leaders.

From examining audience behaviors to dissecting the intricacies of media economics, our CresCine members are at the forefront of shaping the future of media research!

This article features the complete CresCine @Media Industries Conference programme. Not to be missed!

Manuel Damásio (Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias), Cathrin Bengesser (Aarhus Universitet), Tim Raats (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Ivana Kostovska (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Jaka Primorac (Institute for Development and International Relations), Indrek Ibrus (Tallinna Ülikool), Ulrike Rohn (Tallinna Ülikool), Raul Lobanov (Tallinna Ülikool), Vejune Zemaityte (Tallinna Ülikool), Jakob Isak Nielsen (Aarhus Universitet), Marius Øfsti (Aarhus Universitet), Sten Saluveer (Storytek).

16.04 - 11h15 - Panel Integrating Recommenders and Platformization in Small Media Markets’ Legacy Players  

Contextualizing the Use of Recommender Systems in Legacy Media Companies: Lessons for Small Market Research

Tim Raats (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) 

Room: BH(NE) -1.01

Looking into the different approaches of Flemish media companies’  uses of recommender systems, outlining key tensions and dilemmas for media strategists in small media markets.

17.04 - 14h - Roundtable Media Economics Research: Key Reflections for Future Scholarship 

Chair: Ulrike Rohn (Tallinna Ülikool) 

Tim Raats (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) 

M. Bjørn von Rimscha (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) 

Mercedes Medina (Universidad de Navarra) 

Tom Evens (University of Gent)

Room: BH(NE) 0.01 

Ahead of the publication of the De Gruyter Handbook of Media Economics, CresCine members and book editors Ulrike Rohn and Tim Raats, together with their co-editor Bjørn von Rimscha, will discuss the current stage and prospects of media economics research. In doing this, they are joined by two additional representatives from almost 50 authors in the volume. Together, they invite the audience to a broader discussion covering topics such as research methods, teaching media economics, the global scale of the scholarship, and industry/policy collaboration with the industry and policy-making.

17.04 - 14h -  Panel Producing, and Not Producing, for the Streaming Market 

Regulating Global Streaming Services: Transnationalism and Investment Policies in Europe

Ivana Kostovska (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

Room: BH(S) 2.03

In several European markets, regulations mandate global streamers to invest part of their revenues into local productions. This presentation will explore the effects of such regulations on global streamers in European markets and analyze the investment patterns of global streamers in films and series within those markets.

18.04 - 9h - Panel Film Programming and Festivals: Negotiating Access, Inclusion, And Participation

Cinema of small nations in international film festivals

Vejune Zemaityte (Tallinna Ülikool)

Room: BH(SE) 2.10

Vejune from Tallinn University will speak about the Cinema of Small Nations in International Film Festivals on the panel H5 dedicated to Film Programming and Festivals: Negotiating Access, Inclusion, and Participation held from 9:00 on April 18 in Room BH(SE) 2.10.

The talk examines the extent of festival participation of films from various origins and how that relates to home-country characteristics such as population and wealth, with the main focus on the inclusion of films from small countries in the programming of international film festivals. Large-scale quantitative analyses that inform this talk are performed on big data from the Cinando platform shared by Marché du Film - Festival de Cannes. This work originates from the larger projects CresCine, the Public Value of Open Cultural Data, and CUDAN, funded by the European Commission and the Estonian Research Council.

18/04 – 11h15 - Panel Assessing Competitiveness in European Film Industries

Types, Practices and Motivations of Domestic Film Audiences in Small Markets: A Qualitative Study Across Seven European Countries

Cathrin Bengesser (Aarhus Universitet) and Manuel José Damasio (Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias) 

Room: BH(SE) 1.05

Films from small countries face strong competition for audiences’ attention. Among the small countries/regions in Europe studied by the CresCine project, the share of domestic films in total cinema admissions varies greatly between up to 50% in Denmark to under 5% in Croatia, Ireland and Portugal. Through a media diary and interview study with 86 participants in the seven CresCine markets, we have explored audiences' opinions on domestic film and have found out that they are acutely aware of the small nation status and the limitations it brings to budgets, production values, genre supply and the creative pool. But domestic films that offer relatable stories, beloved talent and a connection to everyday conversation can overcome these challenges as long as audiences can discover them through promotion, word of mouth or encounters on digital platforms.

18.04 - 11h15 - Panel Assessing Competitiveness in European Film Industries

Exporting Film, Importing Work, and Public Support: Three Approaches to Keeping a Small Film Industry in Business

Marius Øfsti & Jakob Isak Nielsen (Aarhus Universitet)

Room: BH(NE) 0.01

All small film markets face one fundamental challenge; the local audience potential is too small to allow for a commercially self-sustainable local film industry. As a part of the CresCine project we have examined empirical data from seven small European film markets. In our panel we will present a model suggesting how different combinations of three approaches serve to compensate for this fundamental challenge: exporting film, importing work, and public support.

18.04 - 14h - Panel Challenges to Audience-making 

Audience Measurement in the Era of Multiplatform Television. Case of Estonian Public Broadcasting

Raul Lobanov (Tallinn University)

Room: BH(SE) 2.09

Raul Lobanov from Tallinn University will speak about Audience Measurement in the Era of Multiplatform Television, presenting a case study from Estonian Public Broadcasting. The presentation will be part of panel J4, "Challenges to Audience-making", beginning at 2pm on April 18th in room BH(SE) 2.09.

The talk explores the feasibility of utilizing comparative analysis across various televisual viewing modes as a practical measurement tool for the media industries. To achieve this, a unique dataset of viewership data of audiovisual programmes from Estonian Public Broadcasting was developed. The analysis integrates three key elements: four distinct viewing modes (scheduled live viewing on TV, scheduled live viewing from the web, time-shifted viewing on TV, and viewing on VOD platforms), viewership statistics for each viewing mode, and metadata describing the viewed content (such as content type, country of origin, production year, and channel of release). This research is part of the project "Public Value of Open Cultural Data", and is funded by the European Commission and the Estonian Research Council.

18.04 - 15h15 -  Panel Reassessing the Production, Business and Ownership of News Media

Chair: Ulrike Rohn (Tallinna Ülikool)

Room: BH(S) 2.03

Roberta Carlini and Jan Erik Kermer (both European University Institute) Media Economic Sustainability and Media Pluralism in Europe in the Digital Era: Evidence from the Media Pluralism Monitor

Paul Clemens Murschetz (Murschetz Media Consulting) and Yaoyao Ding (Macau University of Science and Technology / Purple Academy of Culture and Creativity, Nanjing University of the Arts) Re-Examining Path Dependency in the Digital Age: The Evolution of Business Models in News Media

18.04 - 16h15  - Panel Delivering on Public Values in Media Organizations

Chair: Catherine Johnson (University of Leeds)

Room: BH(NE) 0.01

Gillian Doyle and Kenny Barr (both University of Glasgow) Public Value in the Digital Era: PSM as Critical Media Infrastructure

Indrek Ibrus and Ulrike Rohn (both Tallinna Ülikool) Development of a New Quantitative Approach in the Study of Public Value Creation by Public Service Media

Mathilde Sanders (Universiteit Utrecht) Embedding Public Value Creation in a Public Online Social Network: A Scenario-Based Approach

18.04 - 16h15 - Panel Delivering on Public Values in Media Organizations  

Development of a New Quantitative Approach in the Study of Public Value Creation by Public Service Media

Indrek Ibrus (Tallinn University)

Room: BH(NE) 0.01 

In this paper, we propose a new methodological approach for studying public value creation by Public Service Media using data from broadcasters’ broadcast management systems (BMS). We demonstrate how BMS data can be studied using decades-spanning television programming datasets acquired from Estonian and Finnish Public Broadcasters. We exemplify potentials by studying their programming diversities (across TV and VOD) and commissioning and external collaboration patterns. We suggest that programme and industry collaboration indicators serve as initial measurable markers for dynamic public value generation by PSM. At the end of the paper, we demonstrate further potential uses of BMS data for researching value creation by PSM.

19.04 - 9h -  Panel Podcasting Practices

Chair: Ulrike Rohn (Tallinna Ülikool)

Room: BH(S) 1.01

Danielle Yusufov (University of Haifa) ‘I Feel the Urge to Make My Voice Heard’: The Expression of One's Voice as a Key Factor in the Creative Process of Israeli Women Podcasters

Concha Edo (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) and Elvira García de Torres (Universidad CEU-CH de Valencia) Investigative Journalistic Reporting in Podcast Format Comes to VOD Series: Truth Be Told

Anthony Baldry (Università degli Studi di Messina) and Nicoletta Vasta (Università degli Studi di Udine) Back to the Roots and Beyond: Multimodal (Dis-)Continuities and Genre Innovations in Podcasting

Jakob Dybro Johansen (Danmarks Medie- og Journalisthøjskole) Deep Dive News Podcasts: Variations in Form Across Media Systems and Types of Publishers

19/04 – 13h - Roundtable CresCine: Increasing the International Competitiveness of the Film Industry in Small European Countries

Chair: Manuel Damásio (Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias)

Room: BH(S) 2.03

Ulrike Rohn (Tallinna Ülikool)

Jakob Isak Nielsen (Aarhus Universitet)

Sten Saluveer (Storytek)

Manuel Damásio (Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias)

Jaka Primorac (Institute for Development and International Relations)

Ivana Kostovska (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

Roundtable with different representatives of CresCine on the project’s objectives and key findings so far. General presentation and discussion of the outcomes and preliminary findings of the Crescine Horizon project.

Read more about each Consortium member here.