Ownership and Control

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 their 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?

License fee - the amount of money you pay a company or organisation to give you permission to use, do, or have something. 

Advertiser - a person or business that pays to advertise a product or service

Subscriber - someone who subscribes to a product, service or organisation

Traffic - the longer the consumer stays on a given service, the more money the business will generate.

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. 

ITV - relies on income generated by advertisers

BBC - license fee and has a public service remit

The Mail Online - receives more income the longer the viewer stays online

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

Bringing news online is one of the greatest developments in the 'news' industry when it used to be just on tv and newspaper previously, but now as an online platform in the digital era, it is mandatory for news distributors such as BBC to become an industry leader to have an online presence to remain in competition.

5) What examples are discussed of technology companies becoming major media institutions?

Technology firms such as Amazon, Facebook, Google and Yahoo are at the center of transformation by their very nature; they too have become 'information institutions'.

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

In the modern age, conventional media outlets fail to thrive when viewers shun traditional television programming, publications, and film exhibits. There is no question that not all companies will keep their position in the advertising marketplace, but they will need to find new ways of engaging an audience to remain relevant.

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

There is a big advantage of using diversification as it helps you stand out from the crowd of many rivals as you deliver something they don't do and will help you draw buyers, vertical integration will help you develop as a corporation as you can sell to a broader variety of customers and thus own a greater market share.

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?

Large multinational media conglomerates will continue to keep their influence of their markets. This is because it would be impossible that viewers will outshine them and continue to produce more control than the existing brand if they are particularly a big organization with good branding and many dedicated customers.