The convergence challenge: an analysis of the ecosystem of free-to-air TV in Brazil

Abstract

The rising pace of innovation that is typical of current business reality and the convergence of a series of industries mean that the structure of strategies must increasingly rely on tools that are capable of monitoring information exchange and resources within and among industries, identifying eventual adversaries and possible allies clearly and in advance. Given this context, in this study the authors present tools to analyze an overview of the TV networks in Brazil, in a broad and critical manner, using Ecosystem Analysis to compare the reactions of these firms and of adjacent industries to technological progress over two different time frames: the 1980s and the present. Thus, using metrics drawn from the concepts of Iyer, Lee and Venkatraman (2006) and the complementary metrics that they proposed (Relative Density, the Number of Pathways between Content and Consumer, and Distance between Content Distributor and Consumer), the authors outline and analyze the ecosystem to which the Brazilian open-signal TV networks belong. This survey shows that the Brazilian TV networks have been losing influence not only in their own industry, but also in related sectors. This might jeopardize their competitiveness and their capacity to react to a constantly changing world in a relatively near future.