Public Service Media: Challenges for delivering universal public service in the platform age

In this chapter we outline three key challenges that Public Service Media (PSM) organisations and national policy-makers face as they strive to deliver universal public service in the platform age. After theoretically contextualizing ‘universality’ as a central, yet inherently challenged, PSM value, we address the following challenges: (i) the need for PSM organizations to strike a balance between audience universality and an online-first approach; (ii) the challenge of implementing automated personalisation while upholding universality-related policy goals; (iii) the challenge for policy-makers to ensure the prominence and discoverability of PSM content amidst the proliferation of third-party VOD services and smart TV devices