Shoshana, Avihu. “Reflexivity, Conformity, and Israeli Big Brother.” Television & New Media 17.3 (2016): 243-53.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1527476415602779
Abstract
This article examines how regular viewers of the reality program Big Brother interpret the program in Israel. The findings of the study reveal that viewers emphasize the formal characteristics of the program stimulate them in a way that other reality programs do not. The interviewees report the program influences them in three ways: excessive preoccupation about personal reflexivity (talking with the televisual other), an experience of inundation, and the development of a new desire: “the desire to be discovered.” These three influences connect personal reflexivity to, inter alia, actions aligned with social control and the ideal-cultural self, which are at the foundation of psychological and neoliberal discourses.
Bourdon, Jerome, and Nahuel Ribke. “Ratings, the State and Globalization: The Politics of Television Audience Measurement in Israel.” Media, Culture & Society (early view; online first).
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0163443715594034
Abstract
This is a study of the introduction to Israel of a technology for measuring television audiences, the ‘People Meter’ (PM), focusing on its political aspects. It links the new practice to the history of the state, precisely to the emergence of the neo-liberal state, which brought about a new relation to numbers, using an increased quantity of statistics for the regulation of economic sectors. In Israel, the state, in both its old (government ministers, administrators, state-owned/public channels) and new (regulatory bodies) guises, has been deeply involved in audience measurement. Next, the study situates the history of audience measurement in a global context, examining the ways in which both public actors, and private actors associated with international marketing groups have domesticated a new mode of regulation for audience measurement – the Joint Industry Committee (JIC), and the new ‘state-of-the-art’ technology – the PM. Third, it considers the political role played by audience figures in the fight over the representation of the public and of specific minorities in the public sphere: the Arab minority in Israel, the Palestinians and the settlers in the occupied territories, the Jewish minorities from the former Soviet Union (FSU) and from Ethiopia.
Hino, Hayiel. “TV Today, Mobile TV Tomorrow? Extrapolating Lessons from Israeli Consumers’ Adoption of Innovative TV Viewing Technology.” International Journal on Media Management (early view; online first).
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14241277.2015.1030748
Abstract
The present study aims to analyze consumers’ adoption and use of mobile devices as a mobile TV platform that is replacing the traditional TV. Moreover, the study attempts to promote understanding of users’ behavior by employing a new research approach dealing with the acceptance of innovative technology. For this purpose, the study applies a Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology to assess users’ motivation to view TV content through mobile devices. A sample consists of 280 respondents was obtained from across the Israeli mobile devices user groups. The findings of the study suggest that individual’s intention to use mobile devices to view TV content is significantly influenced by perceived enjoyment, social factors, perceived convenience and viewing quality, viewing cost, and content variety. Implications for TV providers are identified together with consideration of the limitations of the study and avenues for further research.
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