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< Back Public service algorithms: Balancing the scales between public mission and market pressures at the BBC and VRT. Iordache, C., Martin, D., & Johnson, C. (2025). Public service algorithms: Balancing the scales between public mission and market pressures at the BBC and VRT. MedieKultur: Journal of Media and Communication Research, 40(78), 59-80. https://doi.org/10.7146/mk.v40i78.147182 The public service media (PSM) shift to digital-first strategies has generated a rethinking of priorities in content production and distribution. This not only involves the integration of algorithms for the curation of their video-on-demand portals, but also a far-reaching reform at the organisational level. As personalisation through recommender systems is increasingly popularised by commercial streaming services, PSM are faced with a balancing act between market pressures and fulfilling their public mission. This article contributes to this discussion by investigating how public service algorithms are developed in practice in the cases of the BBC (UK) and VRT (Flanders-Belgium), and how their implementation is guided by the organisations’ remits. Through document analysis and semi-structured interviews conducted in 2024 with 16 PSM representatives, we discuss the ways in which market, policy, and organisational contexts inform the use of algorithms by the two organisations and suggest the need for a re-theorisation of public service algorithms. Public Service Media Previous Read the article Next

< 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

< Back Integrating discoverability and prominence in video-on-demand consumption choices. A qualitative user study in Belgium Iordache, C., Loisen, J., & Van Audenhove, L. (2023). Integrating discoverability and prominence in video-on-demand consumption choices. A qualitative user study in Belgium. International Communication Gazette . https://doi.org/10.1177/17480485231191898 As video-on-demand services have taken a central position in audiovisual distribution in European markets, over-the-top viewing has become increasingly popular. This shift has heavily impacted consumption patterns and exposure diversity, as they are reshaped by non-linear distribution and technological affordances. This article aims to integrate debates on discoverability and prominence within wider research on video-on-demand consumption. It does so by widening the existing focus on the strategies deployed by video-on-demand services to capture users’ contexts and actions in the consumption decision-making process. The framework is based on exploratory qualitative research conducted in Belgium through a diary study and in-depth interviews and can contribute to future audience research on video-on-demand consumption choices. We find that users discover and choose audiovisual content to consume on demand through a combination of formal and informal factors. These are grouped into four thematic categories, namely technological affordances, perceived offering, external ‘nudges’, and process. Platforms Previous Read the article Next

< Back Aina Errando PhD Researcher aina.errando@vub.be With a background in journalism, she has studied a master’s degree in Political Science: International and European Governance (VUB), an Advanced Master’s in European Integration (BSOG), and a Master’s in Digital and Data Journalism (Nebrija Univeristy). As a PhD researcher in the ALGEPI project (understanding ALGorithmic gatekeepers to promote EPIstemic welfare), she works analysing some of the most pressing challenges facing the media industry today. Her research focuses on algorithmic gatekeepers and media strategies, exploring why and how algorithms are designed to fit and influence media consumption. In an algorithmic media environment, it is crucial to understand which mechanisms help retain or regain trust in media as well as to assess how algorithmic gatekeepers can contribute to or hinder media diversity. Visit my research profile

< 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 What is Serendipity? An Interview Study to Conceptualize Experienced Serendipity in Recommender Systems Binst, B. , Michiels, L. & Smets, A. , 2025, (Accepted/In press).What is Serendipity? An Interview Study to Conceptualize Experienced Serendipity in Recommender Systems. Proceedings of the 33rd ACM Conference on User Modeling, Adaptation and Personalization Serendipity has been associated with numerous benefits in the context of recommender systems, e.g., increased user satisfaction and consumption of long-tail items. Despite this, serendipity in the context of recommender systems has thus far remained conceptually ambiguous. This conceptual ambiguity has led to inconsistent operationalizations between studies, making it difficult to compare and synthesize findings. In this paper, we conceptualize the user’s experience of serendipity. To this effect, we interviewed 17 participants and analyzed the data following the grounded theory paradigm. Based on these interviews, we conceptualize experienced serendipity as a user experience in which a user unintentionally encounters content that feels fortuitous, refreshing, and enriching. We find that all three components—fortuitous, refreshing and enriching—are necessary and together are sufficient to classify a user’s experience as serendipitous. However, these components can be satisfied through a variety of conditions. Our conceptualization unifies previous definitions of serendipity within a single framework, resolving inconsistencies by identifying distinct flavors of serendipity. It highlights underexposed flavors, offering new insights into how users experience serendipity in the context of recommender systems. By clarifying the components and conditions of experienced serendipity in recommender systems, this work can guide the design of recommender systems that stimulate experienced serendipity in their users, and lays the groundwork for developing a standardized operationalization of experienced serendipity in its many flavors, enabling more consistent and comparable evaluations. Recommender Systems Previous Read the article Next

< Back Ashley Amerson Product Manager This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Want to view and manage all your collections? Click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. Here, you can make changes to your content, add new fields, create dynamic pages and more. Your collection is already set up for you with fields and content. Add your own content or import it from a CSV file. Add fields for any type of content you want to display, such as rich text, images, and videos. Be sure to click Sync after making changes in a collection, so visitors can see your newest content on your live site. info@mysite.com 123-456-7890

< Back Brad Grecco Marketing Associate This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Want to view and manage all your collections? Click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. Here, you can make changes to your content, add new fields, create dynamic pages and more. Your collection is already set up for you with fields and content. Add your own content or import it from a CSV file. Add fields for any type of content you want to display, such as rich text, images, and videos. Be sure to click Sync after making changes in a collection, so visitors can see your newest content on your live site. info@mysite.com 123-456-7890

< Back Camilla Jones Content Manager This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Want to view and manage all your collections? Click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. Here, you can make changes to your content, add new fields, create dynamic pages and more. Your collection is already set up for you with fields and content. Add your own content or import it from a CSV file. Add fields for any type of content you want to display, such as rich text, images, and videos. Be sure to click Sync after making changes in a collection, so visitors can see your newest content on your live site. info@mysite.com 123-456-7890

< Back Kelly Parker HR Representative This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Want to view and manage all your collections? Click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. Here, you can make changes to your content, add new fields, create dynamic pages and more. Your collection is already set up for you with fields and content. Add your own content or import it from a CSV file. Add fields for any type of content you want to display, such as rich text, images, and videos. Be sure to click Sync after making changes in a collection, so visitors can see your newest content on your live site. info@mysite.com 123-456-7890

< Back Marcus Harris Account Director This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Want to view and manage all your collections? Click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. Here, you can make changes to your content, add new fields, create dynamic pages and more. Your collection is already set up for you with fields and content. Add your own content or import it from a CSV file. Add fields for any type of content you want to display, such as rich text, images, and videos. Be sure to click Sync after making changes in a collection, so visitors can see your newest content on your live site. info@mysite.com 123-456-7890

< Back Brian Chung VP Product This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Want to view and manage all your collections? Click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. Here, you can make changes to your content, add new fields, create dynamic pages and more. Your collection is already set up for you with fields and content. Add your own content or import it from a CSV file. Add fields for any type of content you want to display, such as rich text, images, and videos. Be sure to click Sync after making changes in a collection, so visitors can see your newest content on your live site. info@mysite.com 123-456-7890