The Digital Transformation of the Basque Public Television: New Audiences and OTTs

Abstract

The aim of this research is to analyze the digital transformation of the Basque Public Radio and Television (EITB) to face declining audiences and the competition of streaming platforms. The Basque television has witnessed the digitization process of the European Union and the loss of protagonism of traditional television due to the arrival of Over-The-Top platforms. Public Service Media (PSM) in Spain, including the Basque Public Television, have lost almost half of their audiences since 2004. In order to survive and target new audiences, the Basque Television has been forced to adopt different multiplatform and distribution strategies and focus on digital contents. What are the digital innovations implemented by the Basque Television? Have they been able to stop the audience drain? What results have been achieved by the new multiplatform and distribution initiatives? To answer these questions, this research analyzes data of social media and mobile applications, and the creation of the new EITB’s OTT Primeran. This work concludes that the Basque Television’s social media and mobile apps have experienced a significant increase of users, but audiences have not fully recovered and the competition of OTT platforms continues.