Prof. Dr. Susanne Eichner

Prof. Dr. Susanne Eichner

Professor in Analysis and Aesthetics of audiovisual Media

1Room 1309Tel: +49 331 6202 210s.eichner(at)filmuniversitaet.de

Since 2022, Susanne Eichner is Professor in Analysis and Aesthetics of audiovisual Media at the department of Media Studies at the Filmuniversity Babelsberg in Potsdam (Germany). She has studied Cultural Studies & Media Studies in the UK and Germany and holds a PhD in media studies on the topic of Agency and Media Reception. After receiving her PhD, Susanne Eichner has worked and taught at the University of Bayreuth (GER) and the University of Rostock (GER). From 2014 to 2022 she was Associate Professor at the department of Media and Journalism Studies, University of Aarhus (DK) where she was also co-director of the research program Cultural Transformations and co-director of the research center CTMR. In 2022, Susanne returned to Germany to start her new position at the Filmuniversity. 

In her research, Susanne Eichner employs a cross-media and transnational approach, focusing on reception aesthetics and audience research, media sociology, production ecology, popular (serial) culture and matters of representation in transnational contexts. Her publications include the monography Agency and Media Reception (Springer, 2014), and the anthologies Transnationale Serienkultur (co-editor, Springer, 2013) and Fernsehen: Europäische Perspektiven (co-editor, UVK, 2014).

From  2020 to 2025 Susanne Eichner was chair of the  IAMCR section Mediated Communication, Public Opinion and Society and from 2017 to 2022 vice-chair of the ECREA section Television Studies. She is currently a member of the ECREA Advisory board of Critical Studies in Televisio

Susanne Eichner is Dean of Students and head of the MA program Medienwissenschaft and contact person and member of the Media Research Center Babelsberg(MRCB). Since 2025 she is deputy chair of the University senate.
 

Academic field

Media Studies
 

Research areas

Transnational media and television research, popular (serial) culture, audience research, media industry studies, representation in audiovisual media, television studies, media audiences and users
 

Publications

Full data: ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7137-8583

Monographs and editorials:

  • Eichner, Susanne & Mikos, Lothar (eds.) (2025). Redefining Televisuality: Programmes, Practices, and Methods, In: Media and Communication of @Cogitatio Press. You can read and download it for free here: https://lnkd.in/eNetDCeP
  • Eichner, Susanne, Thiele, Franziska, & Tewari, Ruchi (2025). Algorithmic Media: Shifting Agency, Content and Everyday Uses. Journal of Creative Communications, 20(1), 7-10. https://doi.org/10.1177/09732586241291935
  • Gutiérrez Lozano, Juan Francisco; Eichner, Susanne & Hagedoorn, Berber; Cuartero, Antonio (Eds.) (2022): New Challenges in European Television. National Experiences in a Transnational Context. Editorial Comares.
  • Hagedoorn, Berber; Eichner, Susanne & Gutiérrez Lozano, Juan Francisco (eds.) (2021): Special Issue: The Youthification of Television, Critical Studies in Television, 16(2).
  • Eichner, Susanne, & Luethje, Corinna (2020). Exclusion. M/C Journal, 23(6). doi.org/10.5204/mcj.2731Gutiérrez Lozano, Juan Francisco; Eichner, Susanne & Hagedoorn, Berber; Cuartero, Antonio (Eds.) (forthcoming summer 2022): New Challenges in European Television.National Experiences in a Transnational Context. Editorial Comares.
  • Eichner, Susanne & Prommer, Elizabeth (eds). (2014): Fernsehen: Europäische Perspektiven. Konstanz, München: UVK Verlagsgesellschaft.
  • Eichner, Susanne (2014): Agency and Media Reception : Experiencing Video Games, Film, and Television. Wiesbaden: Springer.
  • Susanne Eichner, Lothar Mikos, Rainer Winter (Hg.) (2013): Transnationale Serienkultur. Theorie, Ästhetik, Narration und Rezeption neuer Fernsehserien. Wiesbaden: Springer 2013. ISBN: 978-3531-17868-4 420
  • Eichner, Susanne; Mikos, Lothar; Prommer, Elizabeth & Wedel, Michael. (2007): Die »Herr der Ringe«-Trilogie: Attraktion und Faszination eines populärkulturellen Phänomens. UVK Verlagsgesellschaft.

Recent publications (selection):

  • Eichner, S., & Bengesser, C. H. (in press). Abundance of exports: Researching transnational audiences in the transition from broadcast to video-on-demand. I A. Beier, G. Dachs, L. Mikos, & B. Nickl (red.), Revisiting The Export of Meaning Amsterdam University Press.
  • Eichner, S. (forthcoming 2026). Amazon Prime Video and the Adaptive Transformation of German Television, in: In: Ch. Meir, V. Rodriguez and P. Drake (eds.): Amazon Prime Video: Corporate Logics, Global Strategies and Original Content.
  • Eichner, S. (2026). Die Produktion von Sozialisationsbedingungen: Algorithmische Medien, „Audience datafication“ und Agency. L. Suna, W, Reißmann (eds.), Mediensozialisation in „smarten“ Umgebungen. Selbst- und Sozialwerdung im Kontext von Datafizierung und Automatisierung. Springer VS, Wiesbaden.
  • Eichner, S. & Hoffmann, D. (2026). Food Trends und ambivalente Medienpraktiken auf/in Sozialen Medien. In: Ernährungsberatung - Grundlagen, Konzepte und Perspektiven, Herausgeberinnen: Juliane Yildiz und Jasmin Godemann, Springer.
  • Lünenborg, M., Thomas, T., Hoffmann, D., Kinnebrock, S., Eichner, S. (2025). Practices of contradicting in networked publics. Publizistik (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11616-025-00873-y (link to article: https://rdcu.be/eh4Ig)
  • Eichner, S., & Mikos, L. (2025). Editorial: Redefining Televisuality—Programmes, Practices, and Methods. Media and Communication, 13, Article 10310.https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.10310
  • Eichner, S., Thiele, F., & Tewari, R. (2025). Editorial: Algorithmic Media: Shifting Agency, Content and Everyday Uses. Journal of Creative Communications, 20(1), 7-10. https://doi.org/10.1177/09732586241291935
  • Thomas, T., Lünenborg, M., Hoffmann, D., Eichner, S., & Kinnebrock, S. (2024). Praktiken des Widersprechens in vernetzten Öffentlichkeiten: Theorieentwurf und Forschungsheuristik. Medien und Kommunikationswissenschaft, 72(2), 141-158. https://doi.org/10.5771/1615-634x-2024-2-141
  • Eichner, S., & Yurtaeva-Martens, Y. (2024). Klasse / Arbeit / Gender im Unterhaltungsfernsehen am Beispiel von Germany’s next Top Model. I H. Dagmar, K. Florian, & S. Moritz (red.), Fernsehen und Klassenfragen Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.
  • Eichner, Susanne (2022): Representation of Gender and Migration in Danish Television Drama: Asymmetrical Agency in When the Dust Settles. In: Gutiérrez Lozano, Juan Francisco; Eichner, Susanne & Hagedoorn, Berber; Cuartero, Antonio (Eds.), New Challenges in European Television.National Experiences in a Transnational Context. Editorial Comares.
  • Hagedoorn, Berber; Eichner, Susanne & Gutiérrez Lozano, Juan Francisco (2021): The ‘youthification’ of television. In: Critical Studies in Television, 16(2), p. 83-90.
  • Eichner, Susanne (2021): Selling location, selling history. New German Series and changing market logic. In: Barra; Scaglioni (eds.), European Television Fiction Renaissance: Premium Production Models and Transnational Circulation. Abingdon: Routledge. p. 191-210.
  • Eichner, Susanne & Esser, Andrea (2020): Key international markets: distribution and consumption of Danish TV drama series in Germany and the UK. In: Waade; Novrup Redvall; Jensen (eds.), Danish television drama: global lessons from a small nation. London: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 187-207.
  • Eichner, Susanne (2020): Lifeworld relevance and practical sense-making: audience engagement with Danish television drama series. In: Jensen; Jacobsen (eds.), The Global Audiences of Danish Television Drama. Göteborg: Nordicom, p. 107-124.
  • Eichner, Susanne; Prommer, Elizabeth; Yurtaeva‐Martens, Yulia & Kaptan, Yeşim (2019): New media and audience behavior. In: Arnold; Kinnebrock; Preston (eds.), The handbook of European communication history. Wiley, p. 385-402.
  • Eichner, Susanne (2018): Crime Scene Germany: Regionalism, Audience, and the German Public Broadcasting System. In: Toft Hansen; Peacock; Turnbull (eds.), European Television Crime Drama and Beyond. Palgrave Macmillan, p. 173-192.
  • Eichner, Susanne & Mikos, Lothar (2017): Berlin in Television Drama Series : A Mediated Space. In: SERIES - International journal of TV series narratives, 3(1), p. 41-49.
  • Eichner, Susanne & Prommer, Elizabeth (2017): Doing Media : Multiperspektivität als Theorie- und Forschungskonzept in komplexen Medienwelten. In: Medien und Kommunikationswissenschaft, 65(3), p. 573-590.
  • Eichner, Susanne (2017): Medienhandeln und Medienerleben: Agency und Doing Media. In: Mikos; Wegener (eds.), Qualitative Medienforschung. Ein Handbuch. 2.Auflage, UVK Verlagsgesellschaft, p. 112-121.
  • Eichner, Susanne (2017): Videospielanalyse. In: Mikos; Wegener (eds.), Qualitative Medienforschung. Ein Handbuch. 2.Auflage, UVK Verlagsgesellschaft, p. 524-533.
  • Eichner, Susanne (2016): Food across media: popular food contents among children in Germany. In: Leer; Klitgaard Povlsen (eds.), Food and media: practices, distinctions and heterotopias. Routledge, p. 169-184.
  • Eichner, Susanne (2016): In-Sight the Game : Special Effects im Computerspiel. In: Wedel (ed.), Special Effects in der Wahrnehmung des Publikums: Beiträge zur Wirkungsästhetik und Rezeption transfilmischer Effekte. Springer, p. 269-284.
  • Eichner, Susanne (2016): Representing Childhood, Triggering Emotions : Child Characters in Video Games. In: Perron; Schröter (eds.), Video Games and the Mind: Essays on Cognition, Affect and Emotion. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, p. 174-188.

Talks (selection):

  • Eichner, S. (2025). Roundtable: Digitale Medienumgebungen und die Ethics of Care. 70. Jahrestagung der DGPuK 19. bis 21. März 2025 in Berlin, ÖFFENTLICHKEIT(EN) UND IHRE WERTE, together with Friederike Jage-D’Aprile, Lisa Plumeier, Skadi Loist & Daniela Schlütz
  • Eichner, S. (2025). Is there a Streaming Effect on Gender (In)justice in Film and Television Production? FILM AND TELEVISION’S TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE STREAMING ERA. RECONCEIVING AESTHETICS, NARRATIVES AND FORMS - ECREA Film Studies and Television Studies Sections 2025 Conference, together with Sophie Glawe
  • Eichner, S. (2025). Machtverhältnisse in Transition? Intimacy Coordination als offscreen Medienpraktik nach #Metoo. Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Medienwissenschaft 2025, Dienstag, 16. – Freitag, 19. September 2025, Universität Paderborn.
  • Eichner, S. (2025). Algorithmic media, ‘audience datafication’ and agency. IAMCR Conference, Communicating Environmental Justice: Many Voices, One Planet, 13 - 17 July in Singapore, Nanyang Technological University
  • Eichner, S. (2025). Cultural specificity vs. transnational grammar: Amazon Prime Video in the German media landscape. Discovering/Uncovering. Navigating the Complexities of Screen Media - The NECS 2025 Conference, 18-21 June 2025, Universidade Lusófona
  • Eichner, S. (2025). Workshop: Navigating Screen Industries Research: Current Trajectories. With: Luca Barra (Università di Bologna), Philip Drake (University of Liverpool), Susanne Eichner (Film University Babelsberg), Paul McDonald (King’s College London) & Saara Tuusa (University of Turku / University of Lisbon), auf: Discovering/Uncovering. Navigating the Complexities of Screen Media - The NECS 2025 Conference, 18-21 June 2025, Universidade LusófonaEichner, Susanne (2021): New partnerships in drama co-productions (case study Germany). Media Mutations 12, Bologna, Italy.
  • Eichner, S. (2024). New ways and trends of producing: serial drama productions in Germany. Media Industries, 2024, London, United Kingdom.
  • Eichner, S., Lünenborg, M., Zahn, P., Hoffmann, D., Thomas, T., & Kinnebrock, S. (2024). Medienpraktiken des Widersprechens in vernetzten Öffentlichkeiten. DGPuK-Jahrestagung, Erfurt, Germany.
  • Eichner, S. (2024). Representation of crisis: Transatlantic as transnational and transhistorical drama. ECREA 2024, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
  • Eichner, S. (2023). Representation and Agency in Scandinavian Television Drama. CARE - The NECS 2023 Conference, Oslo, Norway.
  • Eichner, S. (2023). Berlin in Television Series. Locating Media Industries: Cities, Spaces, Places, London, United Kingdom.
  • Eichner, S. (2022). New Partnerships in European drama co-productions (case study Germany). ECREA, Aarhus, Denmark.
  • Eichner, S. (2022). Representation of Gender and Migration in Danish Television Drama. Critical Studies in Television Slow Conference, 2022.
  • Eichner, Susanne. (2021): "Othered" identities: Representation in European drama fiction. NECS 2021 - Transitions: Moving Images and Bodies, Palermo, Italy.
  • Eichner, Susanne (2021): The different articulations of forced migration in TV drama series. Critical Studies in Television Biennial Conference, Ormskirk, United Kingdom.Eichner, Susanne (2021): New partnerships in drama co-productions (case study Germany). Media Mutations 12, Bologna, Italy.
  • Eichner, Susanne (2019): Berlin Noir: Location, Aesthetics and Market Logic of New German series. EURONOIR, Aalborg, Denmark.
  • Eichner, Susanne (2019): Negotiating gender: Female protagonists as role models in Scandinavian TV drama series. NordMedia 2019, Malmö, Sweden.
  • Eichner, Susanne (2019): Screening migration. European television drama series and female agency. NECS 2019: Structures and Voices: Storytelling in Post-Digital Times, Gdańsk, Poland.
  • Eichner, Susanne (2018): Following The Bridge: The multiple flows from Denmark to Asia. Crossroads, Shanghai, China.
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