Course 2026-2027 a.y.

20476 - TELEVISION

Department of Management and Technology


Student consultation hours

Course taught in English
Go to class group/s: 31
ACME (6 credits - I sem. - OBS  |  3 credits L-ART/06  |  3 credits SECS-P/07) - AFM (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  3 credits L-ART/06  |  3 credits SECS-P/07) - AI (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  3 credits L-ART/06  |  3 credits SECS-P/07) - CLMG (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  3 credits L-ART/06  |  3 credits SECS-P/07) - DSBA (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  3 credits L-ART/06  |  3 credits SECS-P/07) - EMIT (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  3 credits L-ART/06  |  3 credits SECS-P/07) - ESS (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  3 credits ECON-06/A  |  3 credits L-ART/06  |  3 credits PEMM-01/B  |  3 credits SECS-P/07) - FIN (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  3 credits L-ART/06  |  3 credits SECS-P/07) - GIO (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  3 credits L-ART/06  |  3 credits SECS-P/07) - IM (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  3 credits L-ART/06  |  3 credits SECS-P/07) - MM (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  3 credits L-ART/06  |  3 credits SECS-P/07) - PPA (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  3 credits L-ART/06  |  3 credits SECS-P/07)
Course Director:
ANDREA QUARTARONE

Classes: 31 (I sem.)
Instructors:
Class 31: ANDREA QUARTARONE


Suggested background knowledge

The course does not require specific proficiency in the subject, but a genuine interest in the media industry and regular monitoring of the current media landscape are strongly recommended.

Mission & Content Summary

MISSION

The digital revolution, which began more than twenty years ago with the explosion of the internet and the subsequent rise of social networks, has had a disruptive impact on the television industry. New and complex equilibria in competitive dynamics and value-generation models had to be found. This led to a new "golden age," characterized by a growing number and scale of players, the emergence of new business models, and increased content consumption, driven by evolving viewing habits, tastes, and goals. Now, a third stage of the process is underway, as the major global digital media companies are raising the stakes of the strategic game to a faster, larger, and more powerful scale. The mission of the course is to develop a deep understanding of the television industry in today's complex landscape, with a focus on strategic management, business models, content production processes, and the most pressing day-to-day issues. In the long term, the course aims to prepare those who wish to pursue a professional career in the industry, equipping them to grasp emerging challenges and opportunities—and to address them with managerial insight and entrepreneurial initiative.

CONTENT SUMMARY

The course adopts a global perspective, with a primary focus on the US and European industries, and is divided into three main parts:

 

  1. Industry basics: history of the medium, key players, mechanisms, strategies, business models, processes, value chains, etc.
  2. Advanced scenarios: global markets, new business and offering models, emerging technologies, both longstanding and emerging challenges and opportunities, etc.
  3. Editorial processes and content production: audience analysis, ideation and production of editorial and branded content, TV programming structures and dynamics, emerging editorial trends, etc.

 

The program aligns with the overall ACME media major track, particularly in its cross-cutting focus on strategic management of industry players and global markets andstreaming platform dynamics (products and business models).

 

 


Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

At the end of the course student will be able to...

  • Recognize and explain the most relevant strategies, processes, and business models in the television industry

  • Understand the industry's value-creation system and its broader ecosystem of stakeholders

  • Illustrate and explain the main television production processes

APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

At the end of the course student will be able to...

  • Connect and relate industrial processes, content production, and audience consumption

  • Analyze and interpret the main strategies and business models in the current television landscape

  • Examine and predict ongoing changes and trends in the television industry


Teaching methods

  • Lectures
  • Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
  • Company visits
  • Practical Exercises
  • Individual works / Assignments
  • Collaborative Works / Assignments
  • Interaction/Gamification

DETAILS

  • Guest speakers and company visits provide focused perspectives on specific dimensions of the television industry

  • Case studies are used as open discussion topics in class
  • Individual and group assignments—developed using the interpretative tools explored in class—are part of the exam for attending students
  • Interactive class activities: in the first sessions, each student chooses a real TV company and, from that point on, is asked to engage with the professor and other students on course topics, taking on the role of a manager of that company

Assessment methods

  Continuous assessment Partial exams General exam
  • Individual Works/ Assignment (report, exercise, presentation, project work etc.)
 x    
  • Collaborative Works / Assignment (report, exercise, presentation, project work etc.)
 x    
  • Active class participation (virtual, attendance)
 x    
  • Peer evaluation
 x    

ATTENDING STUDENTS

Students are considered attending if they are present for a minimum of 75% of class sessions and take an active part in classroom activities. Attendance is registered at the start of each lecture, within the first 10 minutes. Random roll calls may also be conducted during class.

Attending students are expected to engage in all classroom activities and complete every required assessment (as specified below). Failure to meet any of these requirements will result in automatic reclassification as a non-attending student.

 

  • Individual assignment (40% of the final grade): a written report about the TV company choosen by the student, in order to assess his/her capabilities to:
    • Connect and relate industrial processes, content production and audience consumption
    • Analyze and interpret main strategies and business models in current television panorama
  • Final group project  (50% + 10% peer review): a short video produced by each group of students about an hot topic or a new trend in the industry, in order to assess their capability to:
    • Examine and predict the ongoing modifications and trends in the television industry. 

NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

Students are classified as non-attending either if they choose to forgo the ongoing assessments in favor of the final written exam alone, or if they fail to fulfill all the requirements for attending status. Non-attending students are assessed exclusively through the final written exam.

 

The final written exam for non attending sutdents (100% of final grade) lasts 60 mins and is made by 3 open questions. The aim of this final written exam for non attending students is to verify their capabilities in:

  • recognizing and explaining the most relevant strategies, processes, and business models in the television industry
  • understanding the value creation system of the industry and its broader ecosystem of stakeholders
  • illustrating and explaining the main TV production processes

Teaching materials


ATTENDING STUDENTS

Lessons notes, slides, acadenic papers, books chapters and articles mentioned in the syllabus.


NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

Two textbooks, to be communicated in the syllabus and on Bboard at the very beginning of the course.

Last change 08/05/2026 11:22