Declaration of the Nordic ministers for culture on the trend of the digitalised media market

26.04.17 | News
At a meeting of the Nordic Council of Ministers in Svalbard on 25 April, the Nordic ministers for culture and media discussed developments in the Nordic media market, in particular in relation to changes in the advertising market and the consequences of these on media funded through advertising.

Nordicom – the Nordic Information Centre for Media and Communication Research – presented its latest report commissioned by the Nordic Council of Ministers for Culture. This is the first comprehensive analysis of trends in the Nordic advertising market for the period 2011 to 2016. Under the heading “the battle for advertising”, the clear conclusion of the report is that digitalisation has had a major impact on the Nordic media landscape.

The trend towards digitalisation has resulted in a sea change in the conditions for commercially financed media activities in the Nordic Region. Both national and local media are struggling to compete with the advertising solutions offered by global digital players such as Google, Facebook, and Youtube. Although there are differences between the countries, the trend is quite clear. Nordicom believes that this trend will continue in the same vein going forward. The survival of many media companies is at stake when more than half of investment in digital advertising goes to foreign companies. This can affect the diversity of the Nordic media landscape.

The ministers discussed the conclusions of the report and the significance of these trends for the future of the Nordic media landscape.

“We want to ensure a sustainable and pluralistic media landscape with a good balance of public broadcasters, privately-owned media, global online media, and new innovative media projects. This is the basis for a broad and open democratic debate in the Nordic countries. We are therefore concerned about developments in the advertising market and the consequences this could have for the media landscape. We are monitoring this carefully at both a regional and national level.”

“We want to implement a policy study that identifies and recommends possible concrete measures that could be taken within Nordic co-operation. The study is scheduled to be ready for presentation at the next meeting of the Nordic ministers for culture.”

Link to the report “the battle for advertising”.