Television audience in European Minority Languages: Reality, demographic profile, and correlation

Aitor Castañeda-Zumeta; Iñaki Zabaleta-Urkiola; Tania Arriaga-Azkarate

doi:10.56418/txt.18.2.2024.1

Authors

Aitor Castañeda-Zumeta Universidad del País Vasco https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3887-7479
Iñaki Zabaleta-Urkiola Universidad del País Vasco https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6119-0598
Tania Arriaga-Azkarate Universidad del País Vasco https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3379-5044

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56418/txt.18.2.2024.1

Keywords:

Audiences, Television, Audience metrics, European minority languages, Minority language television, Television audience

Abstract

This article investigates the audiences of seven television stations of public ownership and general content and reach, broadcasting in Basque, Catalan, Frisian, Galician, Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Welsh languages. The study (2021-2022) focuses on the audiences' quantitative dimensions and demographic profile and their correlation with the concept of mutual linguistic intelligibility, defined as the degree of understanding between minority and majority languages. A worthy and original finding reveals that those channels with a high degree of mutual linguistic intelligibility get a notably higher share (10-15%) than those with a very low degree of mutual intelligibility (1-3% share). The comparison of the audience metrics of minority-language televisions with those of majority-language public channels discloses challenging results. Regarding demographic profiles, there are evident audience differences among the seven televisions. At the European level, women represent 52.8%, and on the age variable, 65% of the audience is over 55.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Akiley Msuya, E. (2024). Chasu: A Favoured Medium in Endearment and Amusement in Online Chats by Chasu Native Speaker Multilinguals in Tanzania. In Makananise, F. O. & Madima, S.E. (eds.), Decolonising Digital Media and Indigenisation of Participatory Epistemologies: Languages of the Global South (pp. 15). Routledge. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003496991

Bermejo, F. (2021). The Internet Audience. Peter Lang Verlag. https://www.peterlang.com/document/1103961

Browne, D. R. (2005). Ethnic Minorities, Electronic Media and the Public Sphere: A Comparative Approach, Euricom Monographs. Hampton Press.

Callejo Gallego, M. J. (2019). Investigación de audiencias: lost in transition. CIC. Cuadernos de Información y Comunicación(24), 155-173. https://doi.org/ https://doi.org/10.5209/ciyc.64636

Callejo, J. (2001). Investigar las audiencias: un análisis cualitativo. Paidós. https://books.google.es/books?id=z4QGAAAACAAJ

Carlson, M. (2018). Confronting Measurable Journalism. Digital Journalism, 6(4), 406-417. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2018.1445003

Charlotte Gooskens, Vincent J. van Heuven, Jelena Golubović, Anja Schüppert, Femke Swarte, & Voigt, S. (2018). Mutual intelligibility between closely related languages in Europe. International Journal of Multilingualism, 15(2), 169-193. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2017.1350185

Chikaipa, V. (2023). Preserving indigenous minority languages through community radio in development programmes in Malawi. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, 41(3), 298-314. https://doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2022.2128382

Cooper, R., & Tang, T. (2009). Predicting Audience Exposure to Television in Today's Media Environment: An Empirical Integration of Active-Audience and Structural Theories. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 53(3), 400-418. https://doi.org/10.1080/08838150903102204

Cormack, M., & Hourigan, N. (Eds.). (2007a). Minority Language Media. Multilingual Matters.

Cormack, M., & Hourigan, N. (Eds.). (2007b). Minority Language Media: Concepts, Critiques and Case Studies. Multilingual Matters.

BBC Charter (2016). Broadcasting. Copy of Royal Charter for the continuance of the British Broadcasting Corporation. Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport by Command of Her Majesty. Williams Lea Group. https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/about/how_we_govern/2016/charter.pdf

Ferré-Pavia, C., Zabaleta, I., Gutierrez, A., Fernandez-Astobiza, I., & Xamardo, N. (2018). Internet and Social Media in European Minority Languages: Analysis of the Digitalization Process. International Journal of Communication, 12(22).

Gooskens, C. (2013). Methods for measuring intelligibility of closely related language varieties. In R. Bayley, R. Cameron, & C. Lucas (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Sociolinguistics (pp. 195-213). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199744084.013.0010

Guo, M. (2018). How Television Viewers Use Social Media to Engage with Programming: The Social Engagement Scale Development and Validation. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 62(2), 195-214. https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2018.1451856

Hamelink, C. J. (2014). Global Communication. SAGE Publications. https://books.google.es/books?id=vPiICwAAQBAJ

Hanitzsch, T. (2009). Comparative Journalism Studies. In K. Wahl-Jorgensen & T. Hanitzsch (Eds.), The Handbook of Journalism Studies (pp. 413-427). Routledge.

Hanna, R., Rohm, A., & Crittenden, V. L. (2011). We’re all connected: The power of the social media ecosystem. Business horizons, 54(3), 265-273.

Hogan-Brun, G., & O’Rourke, B. (2018). The Palgrave Handbook of Minority Languages and Communities. Palgrave Macmillan UK. https://books.google.es/books?id=16V-DwAAQBAJ

Hogan-Brun, G., & Wolff, S. (2003). Minority languages in Europe: An introduction to the current debate. In G. Hogan-Brun & S. Wolff (Eds.), Minority languages in Europe: Frameworks, Status, Prospects (pp. 3-15). Palgrave MacMillan.

Igartua, J. J., & Badillo, A. (Eds.). (2003). Audiencias y medios de comunicación. Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca.

Vázquez-Herrero, J., González-Neira, A., & Quintas-Froufe, N. (2019). La audiencia activa en la ficción transmedia: plataformas, interactividad y medición. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, (74), 73–93. https://doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2019-1322

Jones, E. H. G., & Uribe-Jongbloed, E. (Eds.). (2012). Social Media and Minority Languages: Convergence and the Creative Industries. Multilingual Matters. https://books.google.es/books?id=NaVr-sc2BZQC.

Kirk, J., & Baoill, D. P. Ó. (Eds.). (2003). Towards our Goals in Broadcasting, the Press, te Performing Arts and the Economy: Minority

Languages in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and Scotland. Queens's University Belfast.

Lamas Alonso, C. (2010). La medición de audiencias en Europa. https://www.aimc.es/a1mc-c0nt3nt/uploads/2010/10/La_medicion_de_audiencias_en_Europa.pdf

Lema Blanco, I., & Meda González, M. (2016). Linguistic diversity and Communication rights: the role of community media in the promotion of regional or minority languages in Europe. Radio, Sound & Society Journal, 1(1), 26-41.

Manuel Puppis, R. M., Hilde Van den Bulck. (2024). Introduction to media and communication governance: from labelling to theorizing and practice. In R. M. Manuel Puppis, Hilde Van den Bulck (Ed.), Handbook of Media and Communication Governance (pp. 1-26). EE Elgaronline. https://doi.org/doi.org/10.4337/9781800887206.00008

Moring, T. (2014). Media Markets and Minority Languages in the Digital Age. Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe, 12(4), 34-53. http://www.ecmi.de/fileadmin/downloads/publications/JEMIE/2013/Moring.pdf

Rick Gladstone. (2017, 28 Jan.). The Questions That Could Reshape a Worried Europe in 2017. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/28/world/europe/europe-worries-populism-trump.html?ref=europe&_r=0

Riggins, S. H. (Ed.). (1992). Ethnic minority media : an international perspective. Sage Publications.

Rlindlof, T. (1988). Media Audiences as Interpretive Communities. Annals of the International Communication Association, 11, 81-107.

Ruggiero, T. E. (2000). Uses and Gratifications Theory in the 21st Century. Mass Communication and Society, 3(1), 3-37. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327825MCS0301_02

Sturgeon, N. (2016, 27-6-2016). Brexit: How could Scotland stay in the EU? BBC News. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-36643385

Valkenburg, P. M., Peter, J., & Walther, J. B. (2016). Media Effects: Theory and Research. Annu Rev Psychol, 67, 315-338. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-122414-033608

Webster, J. G. (1998). The audience. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 42(2), 190-207. https://doi.org/10.1080/08838159809364443

Zabaleta, I., Gutierrez, A., Ferré-Pavia, C., Fernandez, I., & Xamardo, N. (2019). Facts and transformations in European minority language media systems amid digitalization and economic crisis. International Communication Gazette, 81(3), 235-258.

Zabaleta, I., Gutierrez, A., Ferré Pavia, C., Fernandez, I., Urrutia, S., & Xamardo, N. (2013). Website Development and Digital Skill: The State of Traditional Media in European Minority Languages. International Journal of Communication, 7(2013), 1641-1666. https://doi.org/1932–8036/20130005

Zabaleta, I., & Xamardo, N. (2022). Economy and funding of European minority language media: Reality and impact of digitalization and economic crisis. Journalism, 23(5), 1149-1168. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884920954039

Zabaleta, I., & Xamardo, N. (2020). Economy and Funding of European Minority Language Media: Reality and Impact of Digitalization and Economic Crisis. Journalism, Pending publication/ argitaratzeko zain.

Zabaleta, I., Xamardo, N., Gutierrez, A., Urrutia, S., & Fernandez, I. (2013). Présence d’une absence : l’embauche et le salaire comme facteurs occultant la discrimination envers les femmes journalistes dans les médias européens en langues minoritaires. e-Migrinter, Dossier: Genre et imbrication des rapports de domination dans les médias des minorités ethniques(10), 14-33. https://doi.org/10.4000/e-migrinter.487