Industries: Ownership and control

 1.Type up your research notes from the lesson - what did you find out about your allocated media conglomerate? Selection of companies: Alphabet, The Walt Disney Company, Comcast, 21st Century Fox, Meta, Viacom, News Corp, Time Warner. If you were absent or didn't have time in the lesson to make these notes, research any one of the companies above and find examples of all the terminology outlined in the notes at the start of this blogpost.

 My media conglomerate: 21st century fox

    Conglomerate ownership: Hulu

    Vertical + Horizontal integration: Fox family, Fox stage production

    Synergy + Convergence: Fox can be seen on electronic devices. They use each of their sub sections to        promote themselves. 

    Diversification: They have news, entertainment. 

    Cross-media regulation: Attempted to merge with sky. 

2.Do you agree that governments should prevent media conglomerates from becoming too dominant? Write an argument that looks at both sides of this debate.

 I don't agree as i think that the media has more of an influence compared to the government. Media plays a big part in our lives as we use it everyday. 

1.Briefly describe the production, promotion and distribution process for media companies.

 • The production process provides audiences with the media products they want. It needs to consider the audience’s desires and should provide the gratifications the audience expects.

• The promotion process researches and identifies the target audience for the product, and uses advertising and marketing strategies to inform and persuade them of the value of the media product.

• The distribution process uses the most appropriate methods for getting the product to the audience and making it as easy as possible for them to access it.

2.What are the different funding models for media institutions?

 Different institutions have different models of income generation, as shown in the chart below. These different business models and potential income streams will impact on the way each institution produces, markets and distributes its products. For example:

• Because the BBC is funded by a licence fee and it has a public service remit, it is more likely to screen programmes with a regional interest than other broadcasters.

• ITV relies on income generated by advertisers. This means that appeal to a large audience are seen as more valuable than ones with smaller niche audiences

• Sky One needs an income from subscribers and may well invest in programming that attracts a loyal audience, who are more likely to invest in a long term subscription to guarantee early access to the shows they enjoy.

• The MailOnline receives more income the longer a reader stays on the site, so stories will feature lots of images and videos, and sensationalised or controversial headlines will be constructed to ‘tempt’ readers to ‘click through’.

3.The article gives a lot of examples of major media brands and companies. Choose three examples from the article and summarise what the writer is saying about each of them. 

 Disney is known as a family-friendly brand that focuses on children’s entertainment. It has built on its original reputation for animation, created early in the 20th century, through the construction of a ‘universe’ of merchandising and branded products, including Disneyland and the Disney Princess franchise. Parents can feel reassured that a Disney product will provide a wholesome form of entertainment appropriate for children. Disney has used a number of now iconic logos (the dream castle, Walt Disney’s signature, Mickey’s ears) to allow brand recognition across all their products.

Marvel is inextricably associated with the superhero genre as the film production studio developed from its hugely popular original comic book publications. Marvel superhero films may well contain lots of violence; but they will also reinforce mainstream values around duty, sacrifice, personal responsibility and the need for the strong to protect the weak. Like Disney, the Marvel brand constructs a familiar and reassuring expectation for the audience. Going to see a Marvel superhero film is unlikely to offer In the past, this relationship was seen as a power relationship, where most of the power was in the hands of the institutions. This model was based on the idea that the audience was passive and received information from powerful institutions.

4. What examples are provided of the new business models media companies have had to adopt due to changes in technology and distribution?

 • In the 1950s, Hollywood feared it would lose its audience to television. Film studios developed new technologies with lots of marketing ideas in an attempt to draw audiences back to cinemas, including ‘Percepto!’ (a device to deliver strategically placed electric shocks to seats in cinemas), ‘Smell- O-Vision’ and 3D.

• In the 1980s, the development of VHS made access to Hollywood films easier and more convenient. To lure viewers out of their homes and back into cinemas, film studios invested in multiplex cinemas which provided more choice, and more glamour and luxury for cinemagoers.

5. Re-read the section on 'The Future'. What examples are discussed of technology companies becoming major media institutions?

 • Google now owns YouTube, and has revolutionised the way we access music and moving-image entertainment and information.

• Amazon, Netflix and Yahoo now create, produce and ‘broadcast’ their own TV shows, such as Transparent, Orange is the New Black and Community.

6. Do you agree with the view that traditional media institutions are struggling to survive?

 They're in a dynamic market and so if it's constantly changing then i agree that they are struggling to survive. 

7. How might diversification or vertical integration help companies to survive and thrive in a rapidly changing media landscape? 

 Vertical integration helps a company to manage and control various aspects of the production, distribution, and sales processes. The goal of vertical integration is typically to increase sales, eliminate costs, and improve profits by improving business operations

8.  How do YOU see the relationship between audience and institution in the future? Will audiences gain increasing power or will the major global media conglomerates maintain their control?

Traditional media institutions are having to adapt to survive. It is clear that not all traditional media forms, outlets or institutions will be able to maintain their place in the media marketplace. As audiences reject traditional TV programming, newspapers and cinema exhibition, the only thing we know for sure about the future is that institutions will continue to come up with increasingly sophisticated and creative ways to try to find and attract an audience.