Abstract

With the spread of OTT video services, questions regarding the regulatory approach to these services have been raised, but there is little consensus yet on this issue. At the core of the controversies, there exist a dispute regarding whether and to what degree OTT video services are similar to TV broadcast. Against this background, this study was conducted to measure the “perceived similarity of an OTT video service to TV broadcast” among ordinary people and to investigate complex implications of the perceived similarity. The author reviewed academic discussions on characteristics among different types of media and domestic and foreign cases of policy debates, such as examples of broadcasting regulations in which media characteristics of TV broadcast were considered (in Germany and in Korea), and the formulation of the constituent requirements of the “audiovisual media services” of which concept had been proposed by European Union.
This study sets up and answers three categories of research questions. First, among ordinary media service users, what is the degree of “perceived similarity of each of major OTT video services to TV broadcast? Secondly, what is the relationship between the perceived similarity of an OTT video service to TV broadcast and other variables, specifically, the “perceived social influence” of the OTT video service, the “consent for the necessity of the “public interest standard” for the OTT video service, and the “consent for the stricter content regulation” for the OTT video service? Finally, what kind of “perceived media attributes”(or images) does an OTT video service have, and what kind of images are related to the perceived similarity of the service to TV broadcast?
Using the data obtained from an online survey, this study presents the results of various analyses conducted in order to answer the research questions. In particular, regarding the second question, it was found that the perceived similarity of an OTT video service to TV broadcast positively influenced the consent for the necessity of the public interest standard. However, statistically significant influences of the perceived similarity on the consent for the necessary for the stricter content regulation were not found.