Tuesday 16 September 2025 – Wednesday 17 September 2025
The closing event of the Public Service Media in the Age of Platforms Conference (PSM-AP) marks the conclusion of a three-year collaborative research project. We invite media professionals, scholars, and policymakers to reflect on our findings and the insights gained throughout this journey, while also looking ahead to the future of public service media (PSM) and its implications for various stakeholders.
The conference will focus on the platformisation of public service media and its reinvention, as it adapts to ongoing developments in technology, industry, and politics. We welcome researchers, policymakers, and industry experts to join us in Brussels on 16-17 September 2025 to share insights, present new research, and engage in thoughtful dialogue on key themes that have emerged from the project.
The event will feature keynote addresses, presentations by the project team, debates and panels with media scholars, policymakers and industry stakeholders. Below, you can find the preliminary programme, which will be updated in the coming weeks. Industry speakers from several PSM organisations have been confirmed, as well as media researchers from across Europe, policymakers and regulators, including Ofcom and other European bodies.
The event will take place at Flagey, Place Sainte-Croix, 1050 Brussels (Belgium).
Registration
We anticipate welcoming approximately 150 participants, including researchers in media and communication, public service media professionals, and policy stakeholders. Attendance at the conference is free of charge; however, as capacity is limited, we kindly ask that you register by 30 June to secure your place, by filling in the online registration form.
If you are unable to attend after registering, please notify us at your earliest convenience by contacting PSMAPBrussels@vub.be.
Programme
The programme for the event is as follows:
Day 1: Tuesday, 16 September 2025
The first day is a full day from 09:00-18:00.
Industry keynotes
Helen Burrows (BBC, Director of Distribution, former Head of Policy at BT))
Pål Nedregotten (Chief Technology and Product Officer, NRK)
PSM-AP Key Findings
Catherine Johnson (Project lead, University of Leeds)
Session 1: Portal Futures and Broadcast Legacies
The session explores the strategic priorities behind PSM video-on-demand services and their role within broader organisational frameworks. It will examine how these portals shape evolving content and distribution strategies, and how they reflect shifts in institutional direction and digital ambitions.
- Chair: Michał Głowacki (PI, University of Warsaw)
- Karen Donders (Director of Public Value, Talent & Organisation, VRT)
- Angelo Mellone (Director of Daytime Entertainment, RAI)
- Kenneth Barr (Research Associate, University of Glasgow)
- Helen Jay (Researcher, University of Westminster/Responsible Innovation Centre for Public Media Futures)
Session 2: Is Personalisation the Solution or the Enemy?
Focusing on algorithmic personalisation, this session will address the tensions between user-centric design and the public service mission. Discussions will include both the risks and opportunities of personalisation technologies, as well as emerging best practices that enhance user experience while preserving editorial values.
- Chair: Hanne Bruun (PI, Aarhus University)
- Agnethe Pontoppidan Sasaki (Head of Publishing DRTV)
- Anna McGovern (Lead Editorial Curation Specialist, BBC)
- Karin van Es (Associate Professor, University of Utrecht)
- Hilde van den Bulck (Professor, Drexel University)
Industry and regulatory panel hosted by Ofcom: Navigating the regulatory evolution of new prominence regimes
Rapid technological advancements and changing audience habits have transformed the media landscape. Ensuring that public interest content is freely available and made prominent in this complex environment presents several regulatory challenges. For example, how should we decide which audiovisual platforms should be in scope for prominence, and based on what criteria? How can regulation be future-proofed in the context of AI-driven and highly customised user interfaces? These are the kinds of questions we will explore in this highly topical discussion.
Featuring senior representatives from:
- The European Commission
- Ofcom, the UK communications regulator
- Coimisiún na Meán, the media regulator in Ireland
- And other regulators to be confirmed
Reception
Day 2: Wednesday 17 September 2025
The second day is a half day from 09:00-14:00.
Session 3: Of Fireworks and Bullseye Content: The Role of Public Value Entertainment
This session examines how content production strategies are being adapted to align with digital portal logic. It will consider the challenges of balancing attention-grabbing, targeted titles with the longtail content that reflects the core values of public service media, including diversity, universality, and cultural relevance.
- Chair: Massimo Scaglioni (Co-investigator, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore)
- Markus Sterky (Content Strategist on SVT Commissioning Board, Chairperson EBU TV Committee)
- Marc Janssen (Head of Fiction, RTBF)
- Petr Szczepanik (Professor, Charles University, Prague)
- Jeanette Steemers (Professor, King’s College London)
Session 4: PSM, TikTok and Instagram: A Marriage of Convenience
This session investigates the strategic dilemmas of distributing PSM content on third-party platforms. It will explore how public broadcasters navigate audience reach, editorial control, and institutional risk when relying on—or stepping away from—video-sharing and social media platforms.
- Chair: Tim Raats (PI, Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
- Elke Jacobs (Head of Digital and Young, VRT NWS)
- Tsuua Kekäle (Head of Portfolio, Yle)
- Vilde Schanke Sundet (Associate Professor, Oslo Metropolitan University)
- Hallvard Moe (Professor, University of Bergen)
Lunch/End
Contact Information
For questions about the conference or the submission process, please contact: PSMAPBrussels@vub.be
Project website: https://psm-ap.com/