Objective: This study aimed to design and validate a management model for provincial television networks, emphasizing localization, media governance, digital transformation, stakeholder participation, and economic sustainability through a comparative study of Bushehr and Al Rayyan networks in Iran and Qatar.
Method: The study was applied in purpose and employed a mixed-methods design. In the qualitative phase, 23 semi-structured interviews were conducted with media experts, including 18 participants from Iran and 5 from Qatar, and the data were analyzed using thematic analysis and SWOT. In the quantitative phase, 143 questionnaires were collected from employees of the two networks, including 83 from Bushehr and 60 from Al Rayyan. Stratified random sampling was used in Bushehr and purposive sampling in Al Rayyan. Data were analyzed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and comparative tests.
Results: Qualitative analysis identified media governance, digital transformation and technology, public and elite participation, cultural and inter-institutional interaction, and human capital, training, and media economics as the main dimensions.
Conclusions: The proposed model is based on "smart decentralization," retaining policymaking at the national level while granting provincial networks greater authority over content planning, production, and local interaction. Strengthening audience data analysis, training, university collaboration, and financial resource diversification constitutes another key component of the model.