Industries: Ownership and control blog tasks

Media conglomerate research

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, National Amusements, Meta, News Corp, Time Warner, Comcast. 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.

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. Well America is all about freedom and capitalism so from that side yea they should be allowed to do whatever they want its their money. now from a realistic side of course governments need to prevent media conglomerates from becoming too dominant as companies should not have more power then half the countries in the world. there needs to be a limit on how powerful somebody gets or one group of people will control everything.

Media Magazine reading and questions

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'.

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

The media product that consumers desire is delivered to them through the production process. It must take into account the preferences of the audience and deliver the satisfactions they anticipate.

In order to inform and convince the target audience of the media product of its value, advertising and marketing methods are employed during the promotion phase.

The distribution process makes use of the best available techniques to reach the target market and facilitate the audience's simple access to the goods.

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

-BBC

- ITV

-Sky One

-The MailOnline

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's animation is geared towards providing amusement for young audiences. Disney offers Disneyland-like attractions in addition to merchandise. Marvel was founded on its initial comic books and is linked to the superhero genre. Although Marvel's superhero movies occasionally feature violence, they also uphold traditional values and the desire to defend the defenceless. 

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

The film industry has made significant financial investments in order to grow its presence in theatres. Nowadays, access to the content of online publications requires a monthly fee. The music business produces additional hits by way of features and sponsorships.

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

Now that Google owns YouTube, Amazon, Netflix, and other companies, it's no surprise that these companies have grown to be major media institutions. For example, Google created Stadia, a cloud gaming service, to maximise gameplay for people without high-end PCs or gaming consoles.

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

I agree that traditional media organisations are having difficulty surviving because most consumers are turning away from traditional TV shows, newspapers, and movie theatres in favour of on-demand content, streaming services, and online news sources. As a result, these media outlets must adapt to these digital shifts in order to continue making money. 

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

In a media landscape that is changing quickly, diversification can help a business prosper. For example, a movie that is only screened in theatres has a lower chance of being profitable; however, if it is also streamed on other platforms, such as Netflix, it can increase exposure and maximise revenue.

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?

Since the audience is necessary for media firms to turn a profit, I think that audiences will have more influence in the future. For instance, if a company produces a product and its audience doesn't like it, there won't be many hits and, thus, little profit