242 | 28, pp. 241-260 | doxa.comunicación

January-June of 2019

New audiovisual consumption habits among minors: approximation through the analysis of survey data

ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978

1. Introduction

Thirteen years ago, Peñafiel, Fernández de Arroyabe and López (2005: 125) stated that “the audience is increasingly prepared to encode the messages it receives and to break with the unilateral reception system that has prevailed in television”.

Despite the amount of time that has passed, this statement is more valid than ever. The forecasts of various scholars in the early stages of this new development have now become a well-established reality. Nowadays, audiovisual consumption is not limited to linear television, as there has been a change in the habit of using video content, as evidenced by the Annual Report on the Digital Content Sector in Spain (Muñoz López, 2017) (Informe Anual del Sector de los Contenidos Digitales en España), which indicates that subscription (Subscription Video On Demand, SVOD) has been consolidated since 2015 as the main model of consumption of this type of content.

Thus, according to Izquierdo Castillo (2017):

(...) the changes resulting from technological convergence on linear television make it mandatory to re-classify it as a means of distribution in combination with other platforms, mainly Internet (Caldwell, 2006; Creeber and Hills, 2007; Meikle and Young, 2008). This directly affects content, which is conceived from the very outset with a 360-degree distribution strategy in connection with other platforms (Parker, 2007). (...) This also implies the decoupling of content from the channel, and more significantly, from an industry (p. 32).

The development of video on demand (VOD) has been possible, according to Clares-Gavilán and Medina-Cambrón (2018: 911), thanks to structural and circumstantial changes, together with a series of associated factors of high influence. This

Abstract:

The arrival of Netflix in 2015 promoted the presence of other communication groups in Spain through online platforms. The situation accelerated in 2016 and a clear tendency toward the consumption of non-linear content could be observed. Therefore, the main objectives of this study are to gain knowledge regarding the audiovisual consumption of young people between 14 and 17 years of age and to study the role of users on these platforms. A structural methodology has been used that is based on the following: a bibliographic review, exploratory studies to determine these changes, and surveys of students lower and upper Secondary Educacion. The results of this research have allowed us to determine the consumption patterns of minors, the genres that predominate, the platforms they use most, and whether they are content prosumers.

Keywords:

Digital vulnerability, video on demand, non-linear television, audiovisual consumption, OTT platforms.

Resumen:

La llegada de Netflix en 2015 propició que otros grupos de comuni-cación tuvieran presencia en España a través de plataformas onli-ne. La situación se aceleró en 2016 y comenzó a observarse una ten-dencia clara hacia el consumo de contenidos no lineales. Por ello, este trabajo tiene como objetivos principales conocer el consumo audiovisual de los jóvenes entre 14 y 17 años y estudiar el rol de los usuarios en estas plataformas. Se utiliza una metodología estruc-tural basada en: revisión bibliográfica, estudios exploratorios para determinar estos cambios y encuestas a alumnos de ESO y Bachille-rato. Los resultados permiten determinar cuáles son los patrones de consumo de los menores, qué géneros predominan, qué plataformas utilizan más y si son prosumidores de contenidos.

Palabras clave:

Vulnerabilidad digital, vídeo bajo demanda, televisión no lineal, consumo audiovisual, plataformas OTT

Received: 18/11/2018 - Accepted: 08/05/2019

Recibido: 18/11/2018 - Aceptado: 08/05/2019