MIGRAIN: Industries - Ownership and control

Industries is a major key concept in A Level Media and covers a wide variety of different aspects.

You'll need to study the following topics for a full introduction to this concept:

• The companies or organisations behind the media – owners, publishers, developers, channels, distributors,  film studios etc.
• How new and digital technology has changed media industries.
• The regulation and control of media in the UK.
• The role of public service broadcasting and not-for-profit media.
• Who has the power in the media: audiences or institutions?

Industries: Ownership and control notes

 

In our first lesson on media industries, we learned the following terminology:

Conglomerate ownership

A conglomerate is a large company composed of a number of smaller companies (subsidiaries).

A media conglomerate, or media group, is a company that owns numerous companies involved in creating mass media products such as print, television, radio, movies or online.

Examples include Comcast, 21st Century Fox or Disney.

Vertical integration

Vertical integration is when a media company owns a range of businesses in the same chain of production and distribution. 

For example, a company might own the film studio that makes a film, the distributors that sell it to cinemas and then the movie channel that premieres it on TV.

Vertical integration allows companies to reduce costs and increase profits – but it is not always successful if the parent company lacks expertise in certain areas.

Horizontal integration

Horizontal integration is when a media company owns a range of different media companies that are largely unrelated e.g. magazines, radio stations and television.

Horizontal integration helps media institutions reach a wider audience.

Integration & synergy

Synergy is the process through which a series of media products derived from the same text or institution is promoted in and through each other. 

Look for links or consistent branding across different media platforms and products. E.g. Harry Potter – films, merchandise, stage plays, theme parks, videogames etc.

Diversification

Diversification is when a media company branches out into a different area of the industry. For example, many media companies have had to diversify to internet-driven distribution (e.g. streaming) as a result of new and digital media.

In the music industry, major labels such as Warner Music have had to embrace streaming in order to reverse years of declining revenue.

Cross-media regulation

When two companies wish to merge or diversify (e.g. vertical or horizontal integration) it needs to be cleared by a regulatory body to prevent any one company becoming too powerful in a given market.

In the UK, this is decided by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Currently, the CMA is deciding whether to allow Rupert Murdoch to complete an £11.7bn takeover of Sky by 21st Century Fox.

Industries: Ownership and control blog task

Create a new blogpost called 'Industries: Ownership and control' and complete the following tasks:

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, Facebook, Viacom, News Corp, Time Warner. If you were absent or don't have the notes, research any of the companies above and find examples of all the terminology outlined in the notes at the start of this blogpost.

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.
the government should not prevent the media conglomerates to be dominant because they can raising topics and brainwashing people to do things which are not right and as a large amount of people will be following these media industries.furthermore on the other hand some people might believe that these companies should have the full right to show whatever content or message they need to show to the audience.

Media Magazine 52 has a good feature on the changing relationship between audiences and institutions in the digital age. Go to our Media Magazine archive, click on MM52 and scroll to page 9 to read the article 'Two Key Concepts: The Relationship Between Audience and Institution'.

3) Briefly describe the production, promotion and distribution process for media companies.
the production process is when they give products to the audience they want and 

 The promotion is when the researchers identify target audience for the products by using advertising or surveys and the  distribution process uses the most appropriate method to show a product.

4) What are the different funding models for media institutions?

the different funding models are licensed paid by the public for eg for the channel like bbc and advertisement is another way which is for the itv,the third major one is sales of games and subscriptions which is for companies like Sony.the last one is sponsorship which is for the mail online.

5) 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 that is  a big brand which is liked by everyone specially families for things like Disneyland and the usual focus is for the children but it has a lot of entertainment with the toys and recognition with their characters like Mickey Mouse.
marvel si an other big company which is for the kids as this company focuses on mainly superheroes like batman,superman and Spiderman.therefore the brand has a lot of violence but the main thing about this brand Is that this also interests families which is a good thing that everyone can go to the Cineworld and watch the movie.

6) What examples are provided of the new business models media companies have had to adopt due to changes in technology and distribution?
for example- newspaper companies need to get people to subscribe to their channel by their mobile phones and movie industry as most the movies are now in 3d .Therefore the advertiser are finding it hard to get to their target audience 

7) Re-read the section on 'The Future'. What examples are discussed of technology companies becoming major media institutions?
fscebook-people don't need to go anywhere to experience the events that they are missing about.
amazon, youtube and Netflix are making their own shows which means there is a lot of entertainment

8) Do you agree with the view that traditional media institutions are struggling to survive?
yes because there are a lot of other things coming in the internet which is removing the traditional use of media as people use their phones to see news and also for entertainment watch things in Netflix and not watch the television that is in their own home.

9) How might diversification or vertical integration help companies to survive and thrive in a rapidly changing media landscape? 
diversification will help businesses to survive because they are including. large number of audience and getting as many as people means that they will never decline.

10) 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?

I believe that the audience will have more control and power over the industries as the industries have to show everything the audience wants them to so that means the main control is with the audience.