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< Back Impressions of IBC 2025 15 Sept 2025 Ulysse’s Impressions of the International Broadcasting Convention 2025: Shaping The Future. Last Friday September 12, I visited IBC in Amsterdam, the world’s largest annual media and broadcasting conference, to present my new subtitling and translation software subtitle.ai at the EBU booth. Although being invited by Future Media Hubs as founder of Scribewave, I also wanted to share some reflections with the SRP Media audience. The first impression was sheer scale. With more than 116 000 m² (over sixteen football fields!), the RAI venue is almost unfathomable in size. Yet, despite the crowds, check-in was smooth, and within minutes I was wandering through one of the colossal halls. Exhibitors showcased everything from switch boxes and coax cables to cameras, rigs, and Media Asset Management (MAM) systems. Tech giants like Google, Nvidia, Amazon, and Microsoft dominated the floor, while I was glad to see a strong Belgian presence as well, with companies such as Mediagenix , Limecraft , and Cuez underlining the solid position of Belgium’s media technology ecosystem. As expected, Artificial Intelligence (AI) was the dominant theme, though a touch of “AI fatigue” was noticeable. Some exhibitors even highlighted their non-AI solutions as a differentiator. Still, AI was everywhere: from powering camera selection during sports broadcasts, to enabling multimodal media search, and supporting localization workflows. This naturally connects to my own pitch on AI-assisted subtitling. With subtitle.ai, I argued for a balance: maximizing automation while keeping editors firmly in control. Mine is not the only approach in this space: I noticed many competitors in the Future Tech Hall, each with their own take on the challenge of delivering professional, multi-language subtitles. The importance of subtitles is well documented, for example: Facebook found they increase viewing time by 25%, Verizon reported 80% higher completion rates, and Discovery discovered (sorry, bad pun) that subtitles increased overall views by 13%. Add to that the fact that 85% of social media videos are watched without sound, urging younger generations to default to using subtitles (or is it because of today’s often-mumbled dialogue in films and series?) and the case is clear. Subtitles don’t just boost engagement, they’re now a legal requirement too: since June 2025, the European Accessibility Act mandates closed captions for all content published in Europe. So how does subtitle.ai stand out? The software learns from your formatting guidelines (i.e. 42 CPL, two lines, natural breaks, speaker change indicators) to automate as much as possible, while still allowing editors to review and adjust quickly. Once finished, subtitles can be bulk-translated and auto-formatted into more than 90 languages. Because captions are generated at the word level, they can also be repurposed to create engaging social media highlights, with animated, colorful subtitles designed to capture attention. That was the core message of my pitch, delivered alongside a set of inspiring entrepreneurs and innovators in the media space: • Overtone: contextual intelligence for smarter brand placement in articles • Hypecast: a podcasting platform for internal business communication • SentiGeek: extracting usable insights from messy datasets • And last but not least: a live demo of an interactive audience feedback system from the founder of Pimp My Comedy I’m very grateful to VRT and Future Media Hubs for the opportunity to showcase my work, and thankful for the new connections with media professionals. While my first IBC experience was overwhelming in scale, it left me inspired and more enthusiastic than ever about the creative, inventive ways this industry is tackling its biggest challenges. Previous Next

< Back Tim Raats Associate Professor tim.raats@vub.be Most of us have grown up with public service broadcasting and linear television as the focal point for news, entertainment and TV drama. While television and public broadcasting still exist today, and still take up crucial positions in the European media landscape, the entire audio-visual constellation has – and is – changing at a rapid pace. My research interests lie on the crossroads of these changes and continuities. In my work, I combine policy research, production studies and media economics to analyse shifts in small audio-visual ecosystems. My expertise areas are public broadcasting policies and strategies on the on the one hand, (with specific attention for public broadcasting partnerships) and the sustainability of television industries in small markets, where I specialized in financing and production of TV drama. I currently lecture various media policy courses (political economy of the creative industries, media policy, EU Media Policy) at the Communication Studies Department of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. I obtained a PhD in 2014 on the role and position of public service media in a networked society. As a senior researcher at imec-SMIT, I have been involved in contract research for various stakeholders (including VRT, the Flemish Sector Council), either as researcher, lead researcher or supervisor. Recent projects I was involved in include MeCETES (2014-2016) which analysed patterns of film and TV distribution in Europe, a 2016 stakeholder evaluation of the Flemish Game Fund, and a study examining the effectiveness of support mechanisms for television in Flanders (2016-2017) (in collaboration with Econopolis). Visit my research profile

< Back Adelaida Afilipoaie Postdoctoral Researcher adelaida.afilipoaie@vub.be I am a senior researcher in the field of media policy, with an affinity for electronic communications networks and services, and online platforms. I am part of the Brussels-based imec-SMIT, Vrije Universiteit Brussel research group, more specifically part of the Media Economics and Policy Unit. In 2016 I graduated from my BA. in Media Studies and Television in the United Kingdom. After gaining theoretical knowledge and hands-on production experience in the media industry, I decided to pursue a MSc. in Communication Studies at the VUB in Brussels from which I graduated in 2018. Right after graduating I started working at imec-SMIT, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, where, by combining economic platform theories and media policy research, I conducted my PhD on the regulatory frameworks at the EU and Member States level, and their ability to address the online platform power concerns, which I finalized in 2023. Currently, I am conducting postdoctoral research for several projects (Fair MusE, ALGEPI and GMICP). Considering the domination of online platforms and their algorithms, these projects tackle the various concerns of the European music ecosystem, the impact of algorithmic gatekeepers on individuals’ epistemic welfare and the media markets concentration trends. When I am not involved in research, I am a guest lecturer for the Digital Media in Europe Master’s programme at the VUB and I act as a master’s thesis supervisor. During my time as a PhD candidate, I acted as a Teaching Assistant for the MSc. course European Media Markets and facilitated several workshops part of the now discontinued Postgraduate in Media Economics programme at the VUB (2018-2020). I have experience with European projects as I was a contributor to the SMART 2018/0066 study on the implementation of the new provisions in the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) and CNECT/2020/OP/0099 study on the Media Plurality and Diversity Online, both funded by the European Commission’s DG CNECT. Visit my research profile

< Back Interface real estate: Amazon Prime and visibility politics van Es, K., & Iordache, C. (2025). Interface real estate: Amazon Prime and visibility politics. Critical Studies in Television , 0 (0). https://doi.org/10.1177/17496020251375211 This paper investigates how Amazon Prime Video’s interface design affects content visibility, specifically analysing the prioritisation of Prime-included versus third-party content. Using the Vignette tool on French accounts, we conducted a mixed-methods analysis of homepage structures, including row hierarchies and title heatmaps across multiple user profiles. We find that while Prime Video shares common strategies with other services (e.g. own content prioritisation and burying the continue watching button), it distinguishes itself with a uniquely dense landing page layout featuring a large number of thumbnails and content rows. This design reveals deeper commercial logics shaped by Amazon’s integrated retail model. Previous Read the article Next

Doe mee aan het onderzoek en krijg een bol.com bon ter waarde van 50 euro! 1 . Jouw mening telt In deze unieke studie van de Vrije Universiteit Brussel en Play Media onderzoeken we hoe jij reclame beleeft. Jouw input helpt ons om de kijkervaring van de toekomst vorm te geven. 2 . Hoe verloopt het onderzoek? Tijdens het onderzoek kijken we naar twee aspecten: we vragen naar jouw persoonlijke ervaringen en we passen de reclameblokken mogelijks aan om te zien wat voor jou het beste werkt. Na je inschrijving ontvang je meer informatie over de volgende stappen. 3 . Beloning voor deelname Als bedankje voor je tijd en waardevolle inzichten ontvang je na afloop van het onderzoek een bol.com cadeaubon ter waarde van €50 als je het hele onderzoek hebt meegedaan. Vragen over het onderzoek? Neem contact op met ons op via jeroen.peeters@vub.be of iris.jennes@vub.be Voornaam Achternaam E-maladres Telefoonnummer E-mail van je Play account Inschrijven Jouw gegevens worden strikt vertrouwelijk behandeld volgens de GDPR-richtlijnen en enkel gebruikt voor dit onderzoek. Bedankt voor je inschrijving, we contacteren je binnenkort! Neem deel aan het onderzoek

< Back Catching the waves: The case of VRT's digital-first audio strategy Van der Elst, P., Iordache, C., & Raats, T. (2025). Catching the waves: The case of VRT’s digital-first audio strategy. European Journal of Communication . https://doi.org/10.1177/02673231251370877 European public service media (PSM) are increasingly embracing strategies that balance digital platform tactics and meeting the public remit. This article addresses how a small market PSM is repositioning itself in a media landscape dominated by global platforms, streaming services and legacy media adopting platformisation strategies. We examine platformisation at the Flemish broadcaster VRT through the lens of its digital audio strategy. The study combines document analysis and expert interviews. Results show a strategic shift towards more focus on user needs and habits; a branding strategy revolving around the VRT parent brand; a necessary yet precarious presence on third-party platforms; a legacy-driven content offering complemented by online-only commissioning; and a firm editorial grip on content curation. VRT's take on these strategic innovations highlights a series of key dilemmas for PSM to reconcile public remit delivery and competitiveness in a platformised media landscape. Public Service Media Previous Read the article Next

< Back Challenges and requirements for implementing due prominence: aligning stakeholder interests in Flanders Van der Elst, P., Afilipoaie, A., & Raats, T. (2025). Challenges and requirements for implementing due prominence: aligning stakeholder interests in Flanders. Frontiers in Communication, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1569132 Since the introduction of Article 7a in the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), which enables Member States to impose measures that ensure prominence of general interest services on user interfaces, discussions within media policy on the need of these measures have increased markedly. In Member States such as Germany, France, Italy and Ireland, commitments were already imposed on players offering user interfaces to audiovisual—and in some cases also audio—media services and content of general interest. This article presents the findings of a study examining the desirability and feasibility of implementing due prominence measures in Flanders (Belgium). The research adopts a media policy analytical approach and examines the (i) positions of the different stakeholders on the desirability and feasibility of a revised prominence regime, (ii) the extent to which interests across different stakeholders can be aligned and (iii) the considerations governments need to take into account when developing due prominence measures in Member States. The research is based on a stakeholder consultation conducted with broadcasters, television distributors, streaming services and hardware manufacturers operating in the Flemish market. The research is complemented with interviews with representatives of different market actors. The study identifies considerable oppositional logics between broadcasters and hardware manufacturers and raises challenges in defining the scope of ‘general interest’, the addressees of prominence measures, contextual factors such as markets size and path-dependency in media policy, and the commensurability between different existing legal frameworks at the national and EU level. The authors argue for clearer, more explicit guidelines at the EU level regarding the interpretation of Article 7a. Stakeholders Previous Read the article Next

< Back Intended, afforded, and experienced serendipity: overcoming the paradox of artificial serendipity Smets, A. Intended, afforded, and experienced serendipity: overcoming the paradox of artificial serendipity. Ethics Inf Technol 27 , 33 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-025-09841-6 Designing for serendipity in information technologies presents significant challenges for both scholars and practitioners. This paper presents a theoretical model of serendipity that aims to address this challenge by providing a structured framework for understanding and designing for serendipity. The model delineates between intended, afforded, and experienced serendipity, recognizing the role of design intents and the subjective nature of experiencing serendipity. Central to the model is the recognition that there is no single definition nor a unique operationalization of serendipity, emphasizing the need for a nuanced approach to its conceptualization and design. By delineating between the intentions of designers, the characteristics of the system, and the experiences of end-users, the model offers a pathway to resolve the paradox of artificial serendipity and provides actionable guidelines to design for serendipity in information technologies. However, it also emphasizes the importance of establishing ‘guardrails’ to guide the design process and mitigate potential negative unintended consequences. The model aims to lay ground to advance both research and the practice of designing for serendipity, leading to more ethical and effective design practices. Previous Read the article Next

< Back New report of the Fair MusE project 1 Nov 2024 New report "From Value Networks for Recorded Music to Music Ecosystem" The latest report from the Fair MusE Project - "From Value Networks for Recorded Music to Music Ecosystem" - dives deep into how Music Streaming Services (MSS) and User-Generated Content (UGC) platforms are reshaping the music industry’s value landscape. This shift in the industry is about more than just a digital transformation; it's fundamentally changing how power, access, and revenue flow through the music ecosystem. A New Layer of Gatekeeping With the rise of MSS platforms like Spotify and UGC platforms like YouTube, traditional routes for accessing and promoting music have been redefined. These platforms now serve as powerful gatekeepers, determining which artists and tracks gain visibility. This influence reshapes who has control over exposure and, ultimately, success. Rather than simply distributing music, these platforms filter content through algorithms, strategically showcasing certain songs while others remain hidden, based on complex calculations that prioritize user engagement and platform profits. Navigating and negotiating the new landscape Despite the power of these platforms, traditional stakeholders, particularly major record labels, are finding ways to adapt. Labels are leveraging their vast artist rosters and music catalogues to secure valuable partnerships with MSS and UGC platforms. By doing so, they maintain a degree of influence over what listeners see and hear, reinforcing the competitive dynamics in the industry. The relationships between labels and streaming platforms can be seen as a balancing act, as both sides negotiate control, exposure, and revenue shares. A shift from value networks to a music ecosystem Approaching the music industry as an interconnected ecosystem reveals the complex interdependence between streaming and UGC platforms, labels, artists, and audiences. This ecosystem perspective helps contextualize the ongoing evolution, but it also exposes fairness concerns. For example, algorithmic curation tends to spotlight content from major labels, reinforcing their dominance. The current payout models on platforms like Spotify and YouTube often favor big players, leaving smaller artists and independent labels in a more precarious position. ➜ Full Report If these insights spark your interest, the Fair MusE report also has a systematic review of academic literature on music streaming including case studies on both Spotify and YouTube. For the full tracklist of findings and analysis, check out the complete Fair MusE report: https://fairmuse.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/D3.1_Value-Networks.pdf Previous Next

< Back LLMs and Recommenders Ulysse Maes PhD Researcher My four-year PhD program embarks on an insightful journey to explore the influence of foundational models, particularly Large Language Models (LLMs), on recommender interfaces. This research aims to bridge the gap between cutting-edge technology and user-centric design, focusing on how AI can enhance the user experience in recommender systems, thereby contributing to the rapidly evolving field of intelligent user interfaces, The first phase of my research delves into the transformative role of LLMs in shaping more interactive and engaging recommender user experiences. Here, I map out how these advanced models can redefine user interaction, making it more intuitive and appealing. Central to this phase is not only the exploration of the potential of LLMs but also a critical examination of the risks involved. Ensuring the ethical application of these technologies in real-world scenarios is a cornerstone of my study, as it balances innovation with responsibility. Shifting gears in the second phase, the research will pivot towards the creation and evaluation of user interfaces. This phase is dedicated to experimenting with novel layout and presentation patterns, rigorously assessing them both quantitatively and qualitatively. The goal is to uncover design strategies that align with the diverse objectives of various stakeholders in the recommender system domain. By intertwining state-of-the-art AI research with the underexplored realm of user interaction in recommender systems, my project aims to make significant contributions to the discourse on ethical AI applications. The insights gained are expected to fuel discussions around AI ethics in recommender systems and inspire professionals to adopt more user-friendly and effective design patterns. Ultimately, this research seeks to set a new benchmark in how we integrate generative AI technologies into user interfaces, ensuring they are not only advanced but also ethical and user-centric. Publications Not One News Recommender To Fit Them All: How Different Recommender Strategies Serve Various User Segments 22/09/2025 GenUI(ne) CRS: UI Elements and Retrieval-Augmented Generation in Conversational Recommender Systems with LLMs 08/10/2024 Supervisors Annelien Smets Research Professor Tim Raats Associate Professor Related news 2 Impressions of IBC 2025 Ulysse’s Impressions of the International Broadcasting Convention 2025: Shaping The Future. 2 Looking back at IUI 2025 Ulysse attended the conference and presented at the AXAI workshop 2 Looking back at RecSys 2024 Sharing our reflections on the ACM RecSys Conference 2024 Previous Next

< Back Dongxiao Li PhD Researcher dongxiao.li@vub.be We are surrounded by a technologically evolving media world where journalism agencies and media firms are increasingly utilizing innovative technologies like artificial intelligence(AI) to improve the production efficiency and meet our personalized requirements. For a media organization, how to use the technologies to optimize the informative value and its commercial benefits? And for the media industry, how to reach a win-win situation among the main stakeholders including the media firms, the users, the technology developers, and the government, so as to boost the social welfare? Those questions intrigued me to carry out researches on illustrating the relations between the technology, the media industry and the human at different socioeconomic dimensions by both qualitative methods like interview and case study, and quantitative approaches including survey and online data analysis. After achieving the Bachelor’s degree of Economics (Shandong University, China), I worked as an overseas engineering project manager for years in other countries like India and Malaysia, which helped me gain the ability of project management as well as the vision of inter-culture communications. Then I found my enthusiasm in media study and pursued the Master’s Degree of Communication (Tsinghua University, China) with the thesis on AI adoption in the media and creative industry. Having an educational background where economics and communication converge, I am also interested in the economic communication, especially on how the business news could be better accepted via digital technologies like AI and VR. Visit my research profile

< Back Pieter Ballon Full Professor pieter.ballon@vub.be Professor Pieter Ballon is Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences, director of imec-SMIT and Vice-Rector of Research at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. He is also co-founder of the European Network of Living Labs and of the Hannah Arendt Institute. Prof. Ballon holds a PhD in Communication Sciences and an MA in Modern History. He is the co-founder of the European Network of Living Labs, the Open Agile Smart Cities network and the Hannah Arendt Institute. From 2017 to 2021, he was the VUB Academic Chair on Smart Cities. His expertise lies in Digital Platforms, Business Model Innovation and Smart Cities, on the subject of which he has a.o. published the popular book “Smart Cities : hoe technologie onze steden leefbaar houdt en slimmer maakt” . Visit my research profile