Changes to Media Content for Young People in Scandinavia since 2015
How to understand the internationalisation and digitalisation of children’s TV and film in a Nordic context
Summary: The exponential growth of streaming and new modes of consumption of audio-visual material have challenged traditional ways of producing TV programmes and films in the Nordic region, just like elsewhere. Younger audiences can and do choose content that does not originate in their own countries, and the world can take a view on children’s programmes produced by the Scandinavian broadcasters. This has caused Scandinavian public broadcasters and film institutes to change their ways of working. However, the traditions for both children being heard and visible in programmes and for cross-border collaboration in the region continue in spite of these changes.
The Scandinavian public broadcasters and film institutes
The public broadcasters and film institutes in the three Scandinavian countries share a range of particular traits: They are relatively well funded compared with similar institutions in other countries around the world and in spite of the small size of their domestic markets. The national television broadcasters also have a remit to inform, entertain, and create a public good for children and adolescents. The three public broadcasting institutions Danmarks Radio (DR), Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) and Sveriges Television (SVT) seek to reflect young peoples’ lives and concerns in their programming. For example, from the 1960s onwards, there has been a tradition for children being heard and visible in programmes. Another characteristic particular to these three countries, as well as Finland and Iceland, is their cross-border collaboration through the Nordic public service partnership organisation Nordvision (founded in 1959), and this collaboration as well as others include programming for young viewers.
New media landscape challenging domestic national media production
Television and film have changed enormously in the last decade - and continue to do so at a fast pace. This is mainly because of the exponential growth of streaming and the consumption of many different types of audio-visual material on social media. This is exemplified by a report for DR which set out that, in 2021, young Danes spent an average of 90 minutes on social media each day, compared with 20 minutes dedicated to traditional television. The Scandinavian public broadcasters and films institutes have tried to stay competitive and have altered to some extent their ways of working in response to audience demand and different modes of production and consumption.
Viewing habits have also been internationalised, as even younger consumers have the ability to choose programmes from other countries just as easily as from their own, challenging the remit of national media institutions. In a survey I carried out with Petar Mitric, we discovered that Danish children preferred American to Danish content. The internationalisation of content has also led to a range of interesting inter-cultural clashes where programmes deemed educational and fun by Scandinavian broadcasters and viewers are considered dangerous and perverse by other commentators and parents around the world. Examples from Denmark include:
- the reception of the Danish Onkel Reje (Uncle Prawn), the main character of which is a pirate who makes everyone laugh with his rather vulgar, childish and funny behaviour. Google did not allow the programme on its platforms for a time;
- the international outcry surrounding Danish John Dillermand (John Willy), whose main character saves the day with his all-purpose and extendable penis;
- Ultra smider tøjet (Ultra throws off their clothes) where naked adults stand in front of an audience of teenagers and ask questions about their bodies also received condemnation from outside the Nordic region.
Understanding a complex media landscape
Against this complex background, it is useful to use theories from media studies to group and understand the range of competing factors that influence what children are watching in the Nordic countries today and how this, in turn, influences production. In a recent publication, my colleagues Eva Novrup Redvall, Christa Lykke Christensen and I built on a framework established by the scholars Smith and Pearson in 2015 within which they identified several ‘specifities’, some of which are outlined below with examples from the Scandinavian countries.
Blurring the boundaries between different mediums (‘medium’ specificity): Scholars and the media have talked a lot about storytelling across different channels, such as, the incorporation of social media into more traditional audio-visual content and vice versa. Efforts have been made in this direction in the Scandinavian countries, including earmarking funding from the Danish Film Institute for cross-media content, and the Norwegian series Skam (Shame), which used social media content produced by the (fictional) characters in the series. NRK’s TikTok series Toxic from 2022 is another example where every scene was filmed twice to accommodate viewers on TikTok as well as more traditional formats. However, by and large films and TV series are still considered distinct from social media, and are consumed in different ways. For example, films are more often watched with other people than series, which may be watched while chatting or gaming with friends (see Johnson, 2019 and P. M. Jensen et al, 2021 for more on this).
Under-18s as a specific audience (‘audience’ specificity): Both in and out of film and TV production circles, content for under-18s can sometimes be seen as less prestigious or prominent than content for adults. Additionally, children and/or adolescents are often taken together as one or two groups for production purposes and in society in general. However, a number of scholars argue that under-18s, just like other audiences, respond differently depending on their socio-demographic group, nationality, ethnicity and educational background and so on. The media consumption of under-18s is important not only because they are the adults of tomorrow, but for a number of other reasons. For example, many of them cannot remember a pre-digital time making their world outlook very different from the adults who produce programmes and films for them; how they consume audio-visual content and their views are therefore very important.
Other specificities we looked at were to do with the national and institutional level of audio-visual production, as well as what is happening within technology.
Persistent traditions in AV content in Scandinavia for children and young people
Despite the new and changing landscape of TV and film production, distribution and consumption, there are some persistent characteristics which have not changed as much as may be expected. For example, the tradition of involving young people continues even though it has changed: Children no longer call in or write letters, but instead send a dance video or a social media post. Cross-border collaborations for the Scandinavian countries continue. For example, Nordic drama co-productions for children doubled in the period from 2015 to 2020 (see Hartmann, 2020 for more on this). Millions of Danish children grew up with Friday night’s Disneysjov (Disney Fun) which showed Disney cartoons for an hour, but this was replaced in 2023 by DR with a programme of Nordic cartoons. So, even though the landscape is changing – and fast – breaking down the changes in media content for young people in Scandinavia, like using the ‘specificities’ above can help us to see that there are also some aspects that have stayed the same.
This article is based on research by the project “Reaching Young Audiences – Serial fiction and cross-media storyworlds for children and young audiences” (RYA), funded by Independent Research Fund Denmark (grant no.: 9037-00145B) and based at the University of Copenhagen (2019– 2024, PI: Eva Novrup Redvall).
Media studies can help us understand everyday challenges.
This article has been published due to readers' interest in the media and young people.
Further reading:
- C. Johnson, Online TV. (Routledge; 2019).
- M. K. Hansen, L. J. Seidelin, & L. H. Jensen, L. H. Vidste du? Om de 7–14-årige [Did you know? About the 7–14-year-olds]. (Danish Film Institute; 2020).
- P. M. Jensen, and P. Mitric, ‘The appeal of public service fiction in an internationalised media context: Findings from a survey of 8–17-year-old Danes’ In: Audiovisual Content for Children and Adolescents in Scandinavia: Production, Distribution, and Reception in a Multiplatform Era, eds., P.M Jensen, E.N. Redvall, & C.L Christensen, ( Nordicom, University of Gothenburg, 2023) p. 139-162
- P. M. Jensen, P. Mitric, T. S. Larsen, and A. S. Mouritsen, What is quality audiovisual fiction as seen through the eyes of young Danish viewers: Results from an explorative survey of 8–17-year-old children. (Aarhus University; University of Copenhagen, 2021).
Links:
- H. Hartmann, H. (2020, November 30). Nordvision all set to launch major Nordic collaboration on children’s fiction.