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< Back New research network for VOD research methods 16 Oct 2024 A new website with all there is to know about Video-on-Demand (VoD) research methods Exciting news for all media researchers working on VOD: a new website has been launched for Video-on-Demand (VoD) research methods. This network is created by Ramon Lobato, Karin van Es, and Jannick Sørensen. The site aims to support researchers investigating VoD platforms and methodologies. 🌐 Although still under development, it’s already up and running at vodmethods.net . The network was born from the Innovative Methods for Video-on-Demand Research event on 12 September 2024. The event, organized by Karin van Es from Utrecht University and Ramon Lobato from RMIT University, gathered VOD researchers to discuss the latest methodological innovations in VoD studies. Tim Raats and Catalina Iordache were invited to present their research on a methodological toolkit. 💡 Discover more about the SRP Media researchers here . One of the outstanding features of the new website is the Reading list . This resource is a living document, updated with essential readings on a variety of themes related to VoD research. It’s designed to serve both experienced researchers and students, providing a comprehensive starting point for anyone diving into the complexities of VoD platforms and their societal impact. As the network grows, so will the reading list, which we hope will become a go-to resource for the entire community. 📚 Next to the reading list, make sure to have a look at the Toolkit , and keep an eye on the site as it continues to develop. This is just the beginning for what promises to be an invaluable resource for VoD research. Previous Next

< Back Public Service Media in the Age of Platforms PSM-AP Public service media (PSM) organizations have to compete with global streaming services (e.g. Netflix and YouTube), for audiences, revenue and talent. They have had to develop new on-demand services and online content that can only be delivered through the online systems owned by global platforms such as Google, Apple and Amazon. The PSM-AP project asks how PSM organisations, and the regulators and policymakers that legislate for and enforce their remits, are adapting to this new platform age, and how their responses might be altering the social and cultural values of PSM and its ability to operate in the public interest. It focuses on television, which remains at the heart of PSM. It asks how the new environment within which PSM organisations are operating might affect the values that underpin the production and distribution of TV programmes by PSM organizations, and the policy debates and regulatory structures that shape the remits and structures within which PSM organizations operate. The project will compare data gathered within and across six countries and 12 PSM organizations: Belgium (RTBF, VRT), Canada (CBC), Denmark (DR, TV 2), Italy (RAI), Poland (TVP), UK (BBC, Channel 4, S4C, ITV, Channel 5). Researchers on this project Catalina Iordache Guest Professor Tim Raats Associate Professor Consortium partners Aarhus University University of Leeds University of Warsaw Aarhus University 1/5 Tags Platforms, Media Policy Previous Next

< Back Report Published: How to Ensure Visibility and Prominence for Media Services of General Interest in Flanders 15 Jul 2025 Commissioned by the Flemish Minister of Media, this research report investigates findability, discoverability, and due prominence for audiovisual and auditive media services. We’re pleased to announce that the study conducted by Prof. Dr. Tim Raats , Dr. Adelaida Afilipoaie , Pieter Van der Elst , and Noëmie Forest for the Flemish Minister of Media and the Department of Culture, Youth and Media has now been officially published. The report, titled Study on appropriate prominence, visibility and findability for audiovisual and auditive media services of general interest in Flanders , is now available via the Department’s website. 📄 Read the full study (in Dutch) here: 👉 https://www.vlaanderen.be/publicaties/studie-omtrent-passende-aandacht-zichtbaarheid-en-vindbaarheid-voor-audiovisuele-en-auditieve-mediadiensten-van-algemeen-belang-in-vlaanderen The study addresses a pressing policy question: How can we ensure that audiovisual and audio media services of general interest remain findable, discoverable, and appropriately prominent in the digital media environment — and what additional policy measures might be needed in Flanders to achieve this? As part of our academic work on media policy and platform regulation, we developed this research as a contribution to the Flemish media policy agenda. The report: Maps the current Flemish landscape on the matter Compares with international practices and emerging regulatory approaches across Europe And formulates recommendations for a future-proof policy framework . We’re also pleased to see that the report has already had direct policy impact : it served as a reference work for the Department in drafting new plans around prominence and findability, which were approved by the Flemish Government in early July . These plans make Flanders one of the first smaller media markets in the EU to introduce a legal framework explicitly addressing prominence for media services of general interest — a notable development in the implementation of Article 7a of the EU Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD). This project reflects the broader media policy research of our SRP Media team at imec-SMIT. An academic publication on the topic of due prominence for media services of general interest — authored by Pieter, Adelaida, and Tim as part of Pieter’s ongoing PhD research on the platformization of public service media — is also forthcoming. Stay Tuned! https://www.srpmedia.be/team/adelaida-afilipoaie Previous Next

< Back Challenges and opportunities for recommender systems in media markets Ranaivoson, H., Smets, A. & Ballon, P. (2024). Challenges and opportunities for recommender systems in media markets. In U. Rohn, M. Rimscha & T. Raats (Ed.), De Gruyter Handbook of Media Economics (pp. 215-228). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110793444-015 Recommender systems have become omnipresent in media markets, fromproduction to distribution and consumption. What is often overlooked, however, isthat the multi-sided nature of contemporary media markets implies that recom-mender systems need to balance the needs and requirements of actors on differentsides of these markets, such as content providers and end-users. Starting from an overview of the rapidly growing literature on recommender systems in media mar-kets, and emphasizing their multi-sided nature, we first describe the main typologies of recommender systems and analyze how various stakeholders might adopt particular strategies to have these systems create novel market opportunities. Then, we discuss media market dilemmas that result from these stakeholders’ often competing objectives in terms of biases, notably filter bubbles, management dilemmas, and is-sues around privacy and transparency. We argue how revisiting these concerns from a multi-stakeholder perspective opens up new angles to understand recommender systems’ impact on contemporary media markets. Recommender Systems Previous Read the article Next

< Back Calling all music lovers! 28 May 2024 Help us by providing your music listening data Your playlists have the power to drive change. By donating your favourite tunes to the Fair MusE project, you're not just sharing good vibes – you're supporting artists who deserve fair recognition and compensation! SMIT , the research group at imec & VUB, is part of a wider interdisciplinary team of academic and industry partners whose mission is to raise awareness about how music algorithms, data collection, and exploitation models of social media and streaming platforms influence music creators and audiences. In a nutshell, the three-year Horizon EU funded project aims to promote fairness for a more sustainable and competitive music ecosystem in Europe. If you are a user of Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube Music, be part of the change and donate your music streaming data here ! Let's build a more inclusive and equitable music industry, one playlist at a time! For more information you can reach out to info@fairmuse.eu . For updates stay tuned on LinkedIn . Previous Next

< Back Media policymaking and multistakeholder involvement: Matching audience, stakeholder and government expectations for public service media in Flanders Van den Bulck, H. & Raats, T. (2023). Media policymaking and multistakeholder involvement: Matching audience, stakeholder and government expectations for public service media in Flanders. European Journal of Communication , 38 (2), 132-147. https://doi.org/10.1177/02673231221112199 This contribution analyzes government, opposition, public service media, media stakeholders and audience views regarding the role and remit of public service media in the run-up to and their impact on the renewal of the 2021–2025 management contract between public broadcaster VRT and the Flemish Government. Results show that, despite a shifting media ecosystem and academics and government pushing for fundamental reform, audiences and most stakeholders’ views stick to a centralised, broad and multiplatform public media institution. Moreover, they expect public service media to solve ever more media and societal issues (e.g. fake news) within a shrinking budget. The case illustrates how mature, evidence-based multistakeholderism pushes public service media to meet an increasingly challenging set of expectations, hampers both public service media and government to build a well-balanced, long-term vision of public service media's role and, instead, pushes them to pursue their own agenda. Lastly, an evidence-based process also suffers from issues of validity of the data. Stakeholders, Platforms, Public Service Media Previous Read the article Next

< Back Join us at DBWRS 2023 15 Aug 2023 Get inspired at the first Dutch-Belgian Workshop on Recommender Systems Get ready for the first Dutch-Belgian Workshop on Recommender Systems (DBWRS)! On 14 and 15 December 2023, researchers and practitioners gather in the beautiful city of Antwerp for a two-day workshop to to explore and discuss the latest advancements, challenges, and opportunities in the field of recommender systems. DBWRS is a collaborative event bridging diverse field such as computer science, data science, artificial intelligence, psychology, communication, and more! Together we spark innovative and interdisciplanary approaches that enhance user experiences, empower perzonalization and contribute to the growing field of recomemnder systems. We invite you to join us at DBWRS 2023! Share your insights, connect with other researchers and practitioners and get inspired by experts. See you in Antwerp on 14 & 15 December 2023. www.dbwrs23.be Previous Next

< Back Jeroen Peeters Senior Researcher Manager Jeroen.peeters@vub.be Jeroen holds a PhD in Political Communication (University of Antwerp, 2022). His doctoral research explored the critical role of issue selection in political social media communication, examining both what politicians choose to highlight and what content citizens prefer to see. This comprehensive approach provided valuable insights into the digital political sphere. After his PhD, Jeroen worked as a researcher for a major media company. Jeroen works as a Senior Researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) within the Media Economics and Policy unit at SMIT. His research interests focus on video streaming services and recommender systems in Flanders. He is the research manager for 2 projects. De Proeftuin tries to gain fundamental insights into user behaviour of streaming consumers. The project wants to strengthen the offer, positioning, visibility and discoverability of Flemish streaming platforms in order to improve the overall experience users have with these platforms. The Serendipity Engine project sets out to support societal stakeholders in designing recommender systems to foster serendipity in public contexts. Visit my research profile

< Back Hanne Vandenbroucke PhD Researcher hanne.vandenbroucke@vub.be Hanne Vandenbroucke joined imec-SMIT-VUB in May 2023 as a PhD- researcher on the topic of recommender algorithms and news personalization in the Flemish news media industry. She followed a unique Bachelor’s trajectory combining Languages and Linguistics with Communication Sciences at KU Leuven. I have completed the Master’s degree in Communication Sciences cum laude at KU Leuven and extended this master with an extra semester abroad at Universidad Camilo José Cela in Madrid. After graduating Hanne gained experience working as a marketing manager in the field of digital education. Visit my research profile

< Back Rethinking Transparency in Public Service Media: a multidimensional framework for better governance Van den Bulck, H., Horowitz, M., & Raats, T. (2025). Rethinking Transparency in Public Service Media: a multidimensional framework for better governance. Frontiers in Communication , 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1569363 Transparency has become a cornerstone of public service media (PSM) governance yet it remains inconsistently understood and applied. Increased scrutiny from various stakeholders has resulted in a need for actionable and meaningful transparency. Scholarly evidence highlights transparency’s benefits and risks, including potential misuse, as illustrated with current examples from Finnish PSM organization Yle and tVRT in Flanders (Belgium). This brief provides a multidimensional framework for actionable transparency efforts that allow PSM to move beyond ad hoc, reactive and partial approaches by elaborating key dimensions of transparency about what, when, how, by whom and to whom, transparency is required. Recommendations include fostering transparency practices that are meaningful and resistant to weaponization and politicization, developing participatory governance models, and leveraging transparency as a tool for organizational resilience. Public Service Media Previous Read the article Next

< Back Not that personal: A qualitative study of personalization practices on six European public streaming service Münter Lassen, J., Iordache, C., Martin, D., Bruun, H., Świtkowski, F., Nucci, A., & Johnson, C. (2026). Not that personal: A qualitative study of personalization practices on six European public streaming service. Television & New Media , 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1177/15274764251415356 This article presents key findings from a comparative empirical study of content recommendation on the audiovisual streaming services of six European public service media (PSM) organizations. Due to growing competition with international subscription streaming services, the editorial practices of PSM are developing, combining editorial curation with algorithmic recommendations. Contributing to the fields of PSM, platformization and scheduling studies, the article presents findings from a qualitative reverse engineering approach to interface analysis. We document how the majority of the services exercise what we characterize as light personalization, and we highlight explanations for why the degree of personalization on the PSM streaming services, in most cases, is still limited. The comparative approach enables us to identify the factors most commonly at play across diverse national contexts. The article adds to theoretical debates about how personalization is constructed in a PSM context and discusses whether algorithmic personalization conflicts with PSM values. Platforms, Recommender Systems Previous Read the article Next

< Back Presenting VRT's digital first strategy 20 Jun 2024 Preliminary findings of Pieter's case study: The digital-first strategy of VRT In the span of a month, Pieter Van der Elst got to present his PhD work-in-progress at two different international conferences. First, he participated in the RIPE conference held in Lisbon from 16 til 18 May 2024. The RIPE conference is dedicated to research on Public Service Media (PSM) for innovation and sustainability. In a paper presentation about his case study on Flemish public broadcaster VRT's digital-first audio strategy, he outlined the innovative approaches VRT has adopted to adjust their operations to the platform era media landscape. The RIPE conference brings together established and junior researchers working on the topic of Public Service Media in the digital age. A perfect match with Pieter's work to present the preliminary findings, gather valuable feedback, and have some interesting discussions. Pieter's next stop was the workshop on 'Television Strategies in an On-Demand Driven Media Culture', at the Danish Aarhus University. In the two-day gathering on 13 and 14 June 2024, Pieter presented the VRT case study to academics and industry representatives, in hopes of enriching their work on television with his learnings and take-aways on digital audio. Previous Next