From Broadcast Television to the Multiplatform Ecosystem: A Narrative Review on Innovation and Audiences in Digital Television Journalism

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31921/doxacom.3509

Keywords:

Television journalism, Digital transformation, transmedia strategies, narrative innovation, fragmented audiences, media business models

Abstract

The digital transformation of television journalism is not merely a technological shift but an integral reconfiguration of its narratives, structures, and business models. This narrative literature review, grounded in a reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022), examines how traditional television newsrooms respond to the demands of a fragmented media ecosystem governed by platform logics and digital metrics. Based on the analysis of 42 academic articles indexed in Scopus and Web of Science, three key axes were identified to explain this transition: (1) the consolidation of transmedia strategies and content segmentation aimed at connecting with new audiences; (2) the transformation of narrative formats and sustainable models that enable adaptation to digital environments; and (3) the development of a new narrative and organizational rationality in television, conceived as an innovation laboratory where technological experimentation, multiplatform production, and audience agency converge. The findings reveal that television journalism has not been displaced but is undergoing a structural transformation that combines inherited practices with emerging dynamics. Television is transforming into a hybrid, participatory, and data-driven ecosystem, and its reinvention reflects the current challenges faced by audiovisual journalism in post-broadcast contexts. This study offers an analytical framework to understand the reconfiguration of television journalism in the post-broadcast era.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Global Statistics ℹ️

Cumulative totals since publication
31
Views
8
Downloads
39
Total
Downloads by format:
PDF (Spanish) 6 PDF 2

Author Biography

  • Alberto Jesús Villar Campos, University of Lima, Peru

    The digital transformation of television journalism is not merely a technological shift but an integral reconfiguration of its narratives, structures, and business models. This narrative literature review, grounded in a reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022), examines how traditional television newsrooms respond to the demands of a fragmented media ecosystem governed by platform logics and digital metrics. Based on the analysis of 42 academic articles indexed in Scopus and Web of Science, three key axes were identified to explain this transition: (1) the consolidation of transmedia strategies and content segmentation aimed at connecting with new audiences; (2) the transformation of narrative formats and sustainable models that enable adaptation to digital environments; and (3) the development of a new narrative and organizational rationality in television, conceived as an innovation laboratory where technological experimentation, multiplatform production, and audience agency converge. The findings reveal that television journalism has not been displaced but is undergoing a structural transformation that combines inherited practices with emerging dynamics. Television is transforming into a hybrid, participatory, and data-driven ecosystem, and its reinvention reflects the current challenges faced by audiovisual journalism in post-broadcast contexts. This study offers an analytical framework to understand the reconfiguration of television journalism in the post-broadcast era.

References

Alberich Pascual, J., & Roig Telo, A. (Coords.). (2005). Comunicación audiovisual digital. Nuevos medios, nuevos usos, nuevas formas. Universitat Oberta de Catalunya.

Anastassiou, D. (1994). Digital television. Proceedings of the IEEE, 82(4), 510-519. https://doi.org/10.1109/5.282227

Bandrés, E., García-Avilés, J. A., Pérez, G., & Pérez, J. (2000). El periodismo en la televisión digital. Paidós.

Boczek, K., & Koppers, L. (2019). What’s New about WhatsApp for News? A Mixed-Method Study on News Outlets’ Strategies for Using WhatsApp. Digital Journalism, 8(1), 126–144. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2019.1692685

Bourdaa, M. (2014). This is not marketing. This is HBO: Branding HBO with transmedia storytelling. Networking Knowledge: Journal of the MeCCSA Postgraduate Network, 7(1),18-25. https://doi.org/10.31165/NK.2014.71.328

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2019). To saturate or not to saturate? Questioning data saturation as a useful concept for thematic analysis and sample-size rationales. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 13(2), 201–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2019.1704846

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2022). Thematic analysis: A practical guide. SAGE Publications.

Casado Ruíz, A. (2011). La realización de programas informativos en televisión. En A. Caseru Ripollés & J. Marzal Felici (Eds.), Periodismo en televisión. Nuevos horizontes, nuevas tendencias (pp. 104-121). Comunicación Social.

Chobanyan, K., & Nikolskaya, E. (2021). Testing the waters: TikTok’s potential for television news. World of Media Journal of Russian Media and Journalism Studies, 3, 62-88. https://doi.org/10.30547/worldofmedia.3.2021.3

Costera Meijer, I., & Groot Kormelink, T. (2019). Audiences for journalism. En T. P. Vos & F. Hanusch (Eds.), The International Encyclopedia of Journalism Studies (pp. 1-7). Wiley-Blackwell.

Drašković, B., & Kleut, J. (2012). Television audience in digital era: Research perspectives. Kultura, 135, 217-232. https://doi.org/10.5937/kultura1235217D

Fernández Parratt, S. (2001). El debate en torno a los géneros periodísticos en la prensa: nuevas propuestas de clasificación. Zer, 6(11). https://ojs.ehu.eus/index.php/Zer/issue/view/468.

Fidler, R. (1998). Mediamorfosis: comprender los nuevos medios. Granica.

Fincham, K. (2021). Business as usual: How journalism’s professional logics continue to shape news organization policies around social media audiences. Journalism Practice, 17(7), 1482–1499.

Gambarato, R., & Tárcia, L. P. T. (2016). Transmedia Strategies in Journalism: An analytical model for the news coverage of planned events. Journalism Studies, 18(11), 1381-1399. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670x.2015.1127769

García-Avilés, J. A., Carvajal Prieto, M., & Arias Robles, F. (2018). Implantación de la innovación en los cibermedios españoles: análisis de las percepciones de los periodistas. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 73, 369-384. https://doi.org/10.4185/rlcs-2018-1260

García-Avilés, J. A. (2020). Reinventing television news: Innovative formats in a social media environment. En J. Vázquez-Herrero, S. Direito-Rebollal, A. Silva-Rodríguez, X. López-García (Eds.), Journalistic Metamorphosis. (pp. 143-155). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36315-4_11

García-Avilés, J. A. (2021). Review article: Journalism innovation research, a diverse and flourishing field (2000–2020). El Profesional de la Información, 30(1). https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2021.ene.10

García-Orosa, B., López-García, X., & Vázquez-Herrero, J. (2020). Journalism in Digital Native Media: Beyond Technological Determinism. Media and Communication, 8(2), 5–15. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v8i2.2702

García-Perdomo, V. (2020). Re-digitizing television news: The relationship between TV, online media and audiences. Digital Journalism, 9(2), 136-154. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2020.1777179

Gifreu-Castells, A. (2013). El documental interactivo como nuevo género audiovisual. Estudio de la aparición del nuevo género, aproximación a su definición y propuesta de taxonomía y de un modelo de análisis a efectos de evaluación, diseño y producción. [Doctoral dissertation, Universitat Pompeu Fabra]. ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335243633

González-Neira, A., Vázquez-Herrero, J., & Quintas-Froufe, N. (2021). Convergence of linear television and digital platforms: An analysis of YouTube offer and consumption. European Journal of Communication, 37(4), 426–442. https://doi.org/10.1177/02673231211054720

Greenhalgh, T., Thorne, S., & Malterud, K. (2018). Time to challenge the spurious hierarchy of systematic over narrative reviews? European Journal of Clinical Investigation, 48(6). https://doi.org/10.1111/eci.12931

Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1994). Competing paradigms in qualitative research. En N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 105–117). Sage. Recuperado de https://www.academia.edu/33201743/Competing_Paradigms_in_Qualitative_Research_Guba_and_Lincoln_1994_Spanish_pdf

Gutiérrez, F., Islas, O., & Arribas, A. (2018). Hacia una nueva ecología mediática. Hacia un nuevo inventario de efectos. Controversias y Concurrencias Latinoamericanas, 10(16), 11-21. https://sociologia-alas.org/CyCLOJS/index.php/CyC/article/view/50

Hill, S., & Bradshaw, P. (2019). Mobile-First Journalism: Producing News for Social and Interactive Media. Routledge.

Ivars-Nicolás, B., & Zaragoza-Fuster, T. (2018). Lab RTVE: La narrativa transmedia en las series de ficción. Revista Mediterránea de Comunicación, 9(1), 257-271. https://doi.org/10.14198/MEDCOM2018.9.1.20

Jódar-Marín, J. Á. (2019). Los nuevos formatos audiovisuales en los cibermedios: del reportaje televisivo al videonews. Communication & Society, 32(4), 63-75.

Klimeš, D. (2023). Tracking digital audiences in the disrupted public sphere. The journey of Czech audiences from television to social media. En M. Prostináková Hossová, M. Martovič & M. Solík (Eds.), Marketing identity: AI - the future of today (pp. 202-214). University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava. https://doi.org/10.34135/mmidentity-2023-21

Kolosova, A. A., & Poplavskaya, N. V. (2018). Transmedia storytelling as a new format in the modern media landscape. En I. B. Ardashkin, N. V. Martyushev, S. V. Klyagin, E. V. Barkova, A. R. Massalimova, & V. N. Syrov (Eds.), Research Paradigms Transformation in Social Sciences (vol 35, pp. 589-595). Future Academy. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2018.02.69

Derhy Kurtz, B. W. L. (2014). Introduction: Transmedia practices: A television branding revolution. Networking Knowledge: Journal of the MeCCSA Postgraduate Network, 7(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.31165/NK.2014.71.326

Li, C., Ali, S., Rizal, A. R. B. A., & Xu, J. (2024). A Bibliometric Analysis of Media Convergence in the Twenty-first Century: Current Status, Hotspots, and Trends. Studies in Media and Communication, 13(1), 313-331. https://doi.org/10.11114/smc.v13i1.7236

Livingstone, S. (2004). The challenge of changing audiences or, what is the audience researcher to do in the age of the internet? European Journal of Communication, 19(1), 75-86. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323104040695

Loosen, W., & Schmidt, J.-H. (2016). Between proximity and distance: Including the audience in journalism (research). En S. Eldridge II, & B. Franklin (Eds.), The Routledge Companion to Digital Journalism Studies (pp. 354–363). Routledge.

Loosen, W., Reimer, J., & Hölig, S. (2020). What journalists want and what they ought to do (In)congruences between journalists’ role conceptions and audiences’ expectations. Journalism Studies, 21(12), 1744–1774. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2020.1790026

Macek, J. (2020). Uses genres and media ensembles: A conceptual roadmap for research of convergent audiences. En P. Szczepanik, P. Zahrádka, J. Macek, & P. Stepan (Eds.), Digital Peripheries. The Online Circulation of Audiovisual Content from the Small Market Perspective (pp. 245-258). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44850-9_14

Martínez-Costa, M.-P., Amoedo-Casais, A., & Moreno-Moreno, E. (2022). The value of podcasts to journalism: Analysis of digital native media brands’ offerings, production and publishing in Spain. El Profesional de la Información, 31(5), Artículo e310503.https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2022.sep.03

Neira, E., Clares-Gavilán, J., & Sánchez-Navarro, J. (2021). New audience dimensions in streaming platforms: The second life of Money Heist on Netflix as a case study. El Profesional de la Información, 30(1), Artículo e300113. https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2021.ene.13

Nunes, A. C. B., & Mills, J. (2021). Journalism innovation: How Media Labs Are Shaping the Future of Media and Journalism. Brazilian Journalism Research, 17(3), 652–679. https://doi.org/10.25200/bjr.v17n3.2021.1440

O’Brien, D., & Kunz, R. E. (2024). Will they stay or will they go? Application of machine learning classifiers of purchase and churn prediction to a digital journalistic platform. Journal of Media Business Studies, 22(3), 237-265. https://doi.org/10.1080/16522354.2024.2444075

Olivares-García, F. J., & Méndez Majuelos, I. (2022). Periodistas y comunicadores en Twitch: medios más allá de las redes sociales. Anàlisi, 66, 45–61. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/analisi.3473

Olsen, R. K. (2021). The value of local news in the digital realm – Introducing the integrated value creation model. Digital Journalism, 9(6), 810–834. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2021.1912623

Ordóñez, K., Rodríguez Vázquez, A. I., & Suing, A. (2019). Internet and local television in the context of digital transformation. En Á. Rocha, H. Adeli, L. P. Reis, & S. Costanzo (Eds.), New Knowledge in Information Systems and Technologies (Vol. 3, pp. 433-439). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16187-3_42

Ozanne, R., Ireland, J. L., Ireland, C. A., & Thornton, A. (2024). The impact of institutional child abuse: A systematic review using Reflexive Thematic Analysis. Aggression And Violent Behavior, 78, 101946. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2024.101946

Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J. M., Akl, E. A., Brennan, S. E., Chou, R., Glanville, J., Grimshaw, J. M., Hróbjartsson, A., Lalu, M. M., Li, T., Loder, E. W., Mayo-Wilson, E., McDonald, S., … Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ, 372, n71. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71

Rodríguez Pallares, M., & Pérez Serrano, M. J. (2022). Gestión y organización colaborativa de medios digitales en España. Estudio de casos de El Salto, CTXT y La Marea. Doxa Comunicación, 35, 127–147. https://doi.org/10.31921/doxacom.n35a1572

Peña-Fernández, S., Larrondo-Ureta, A., & Agirreazkuenaga, I. (2024). Mediatised participation: Citizen journalism and the decline in user-generated content in online news media. Social Sciences, 13(5), 266. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13050266

Pérez-Curiel, C., Domínguez-García, R., & Velasco-Molpeceres, A.-M. (2021). High-quality journalism in the face of Donald Trump’s theory of electoral fraud: The information strategy of the media in the 2020 US presidential election. El Profesional de la Información, 30(6), Artículo e300619. https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2021.nov.19

Pinto, M. C., & Barbosa, S. O. (2024). Artificial intelligence (AI) in Brazilian digital journalism: Historical context and innovative processes. Journalism and Media, 5(1), 325–341. https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia5010022

Barrios-Rubio, A., & Reyes Espitia, J. F. (2023). El pódcast como estrategia de creación y distribución de contenidos sonoros dentro del entorno digital de la radio en Colombia. Estudios sobre el Mensaje Periodístico, 29(1), 15–25. https://doi.org/10.5209/esmp.84639

Russell, C. A., & Puto, C. P. (1999). Rethinking television audience measures: An exploration into the construct of audience connectedness. Marketing Letters, 10(4), 393-407. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008170406363

Salzmann, A., Guribye, F., & Gynnild, A. (2020). “We in the Mojo Community” – Exploring a global network of mobile journalists. Journalism Practice, 15(5), 620–637. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2020.1742772

Shafi, S., & Mallinson, D. J. (2021). The potential of smart home technology for improving healthcare: a scoping review and reflexive thematic analysis. Housing And Society, 50(1), 90-112. https://doi.org/10.1080/08882746.2021.1989857

Schultz, T. (1999). Interactive options in online journalism: A content analysis of 100 US newspapers. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 5(1), JCMC513. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.1999.tb00331.x

Silva-Rodríguez, A., Vázquez-Herrero, J., & Negreira-Rey, M. C. (2022). Actualización de las fases del contenido periodístico para dispositivos móviles. Revista de Comunicación, 21(1), 367–387. https://doi.org/10.26441/rc21.1-2022-a19

Simons, N. (2011). Television audience research in the age of convergence: Challenges and difficulties. En Proceedings of the 9th European Conference on Interactive TV and Video (pp. 101-104). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/2000119.2000139

Spyridou, L.-P., Matsiola, M., Veglis, A., Kalliris, G., & Dimoulas, C.. (2013). Journalism in a state of flux: Journalists as agents of technology innovation and emerging news practices. International Communication Gazette, 75(1), 76–98. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748048512461763

Suenzo, F., Boczkowski, P. J., & Mitchelstein, E. (2020). La crisis de la prensa escrita: Una revisión bibliográfica para repensarla desde Latinoamérica. Cuadernos.info, 47, 1-25. https://doi.org/10.7764/cdi.47.1867

Tejedor, S., Romero-Rodríguez, L. M., & Codina, L. (2022). Integrated research model for web interfaces: Toward a taxonomy of quantitative and qualitative analysis for digital native media. El Profesional de la Información, 31(6), Artículo e310619.https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2022.nov.19

Thomas, J., & Harden, A. (2008). Methods for the thematic synthesis of qualitative research in systematic reviews. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 8(1), Artículo 45. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-8-45

Twenge, J. M. (2017). iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy – and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood – and What That Means for the Rest of Us. Atria Books.

Uth, B., Stehle, H., Wilhelm, C., Detel, H., & Podschuweit, N. (2023). The journalism-audience relationship in the digital age: A theoretical literature review. Journalism, 26(1), 45-64. https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849231221611

Vázquez, R. (2015, 26 de noviembre). 5 razones de por qué los millennials no ven televisión. Forbes México. https://www.forbes.com.mx/5-razones-de-por-que-los-millennials-no-ven-television.

Vázquez-Herrero, J., Negreira-Rey, M.-C., & Rodríguez-Vázquez, A.-I. (2021). Intersections between TikTok and TV: Channels and programmes thinking outside the box. Journalism and Media, 2(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia2010001

Vázquez-Herrero, J., Negreira-Rey, M.-C., & López-García, X. (2023). Research on digital native media: An emerging topic in the field of digital communication. El Profesional de la Información, 32(2), Artículo e320202. https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2023.mar.02

Vulpius, J., Lehaff, J., Schrøder, K. C., & Peters, C. (2022). Exploring changing news repertoires: Towards a typology. Journalism, 24(1), 78–100. https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849211047384

Warner, K. S. R., & Wäger, M. (2019). Building dynamic capabilities for digital transformation: An ongoing process of strategic renewal. Long Range Planning, 52(3), 326-349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2018.12.001

Weiss, A. S., & Domingo, D. (2010). Innovation processes in online newsrooms as actor-networks and communities of practice. New Media & Society, 12(7), 1156-1171. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444809360400

Young, M. L., & Hermida, A. (2024). People, power, platforms and the business of journalism. Digital Journalism, 12(9), 1250–1260. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2023.2273523

Yüksel, H. (2022). Transformation of television broadcast in Turkey in the context of digitalization: Disney Plus platform. Stratejik ve Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi, 6(2), 523-538. https://doi.org/10.30692/sisad.1107757

Zhou, Y. (2024). Navigating constraints: News values and journalistic role performance in Chinese state media VR news. Frontiers in Communication, 9, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1480659

Published

01-07-2026

Issue

Section

CfP Consumption of current affairs information. New habits of audiences regarding the news

How to Cite

Villar Campos, A. J. (2026). From Broadcast Television to the Multiplatform Ecosystem: A Narrative Review on Innovation and Audiences in Digital Television Journalism. Doxa Comunicación. Interdisciplinary Journal of Communication Studies and Social Sciences, 43. https://doi.org/10.31921/doxacom.3509
PlumX Metrics