Re-Intermediation: Distribution, Online Access, and Gatekeeping in the Digital European Market

This special issue of Cinéma & Cie analyses the logic and processes of reintermediation
emerging in the contemporary European media industry
landscape, providing an opportunity to bring questions of availability, text
circulation and gatekeeping to the centre of scholarly debates and investigations.
Through contributions showcasing a wide array of methodological and
theoretical approaches, the volume illustrates and analyses the presence of new
gatekeepers, their impact in shaping texts and their consumption in different
European contexts. Its case studies include file sharing, Curzon Home Cinema,
VOD services and the problematic implementation of the Digital Single Market
policy.
The introduction is structured in three parts. In the first, we define the logic of reintermediation
as the change in traditional intermediaries and the development
of new, different gatekeepers; we then emphasize its importance for a full
understanding of the cultural and economic struggles in the contemporary
European audiovisual market. The second part provides an example of the
ongoing re-intermediation processes by focusing on the lesser known case of
‘aggregators’ for VOD platforms, in reference to the activities of the international
company Under the Milky Way. Finally, the third part provides a detailed
overview of the articles included in the special issue.