Converging Technologies and Windowing Strategies
While the internet and digital convergence have engendered greater competition amongst television outlets and increased risks of piracy, they have also extended and enriched the availability of delivery platforms for television content and introduced new opportunities for intellectual property (IP) owners to develop overseas markets and to exploit their assets more effectively. This 18-month project, part of the RCUK-funded CREATe programme of research on copyright and changing business models (AH/K000179/1), has investigated how distribution strategies in the television industry are adjusting to the spread of digital platforms and devices. How is the transition to a digital multi-platform distribution environment affecting ‘windowing’ strategies for television content?
The central concern was to find out how strategies for distribution of television content via a series of exploitation windows are being re-shaped by the current transition to a more complex, multi-layered, competitive and globalized digital distribution environment. Fieldwork took place in 2015 and, focusing on the experience of a number of leading, successful UK television companies, the research questions addressed were:
- In what ways have the key considerations involved in planning the release sequence for television content changed in response to digitization and multi-platform delivery?
- To what extent are windowing strategies being re-shaped by greater opportunities surrounding international distribution?
- How are the changing dynamics of windowing affected content development?
Project findings have been disseminated widely. Further details below.
