Industries: Ownership and control

 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.

Name of media conglomerate: National Amusements

Conglomerate ownership: Paramount Global, Showcase cinemas, Multiplex cinemas, Cinema de lux

Vertical and horizontal integration: An example of integration is owning Paramount Global which is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate and also owning the cinemas which can screen movies owned by Paramount

Convergence and synergy: With the recent rise of streaming services people became less likely to visit the cinemas and so Paramount created the streaming service 'Paramount plus' in order to compete with other competitors such as Disney+ and Netflix.

Diversification: Other than expanding online into a streaming service i couldn't find any examples of National Amusements moving into new areas or adopting new technology to stay ahead of the competition.

Cross-media regulation: The attempted takeover of Endurance American specialty insurance company

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 believe they should prevent them this is because they may become over dominant and have lots of power against the government and the audiences and forces them to watch same type of production as well as it will have similarities as its the same company. 

Media Magazine reading and questions

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

Production - Provides audiences with the media products they want, needs to consider the audience's desires and provide the gratifications the audience expects.

Promotion - Researches and identifies the target audience of the product, uses advertising/marketing strategies to inform and persuade them of the value of the product.

Distribution - Uses the most appropriate methods for getting the audience and making it accessible for them

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

BBC - Licence fee

ITV - Advertisement income

Sky one - Subscribers

The MailOnline - Time spent on the site

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. 

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.

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.

The MailOnline - They receive a profit the longer the reader spends on their website, so stories will feature lots of images, videos and sensationalised/controversial headlines in order to tempt the readers to click through.

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 mid 2000s, Spotify offered an online music service in an attempt to counter free download culture.

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.

• Facebook has bought the virtual reality technology Oculus Rift one potential benefit for audiences is that it allows users to ‘attend’ and ‘experience’ events without leaving their own homes.

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

Not all but some might be struggling to survive as the new generation is rejecting lot of traditional media institutions however they are finding ways to keep up and finding  sophisticated and creative ways to try to find and attract an audience.

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

Diversification can help the company survive through getting new audience and introducing new diversities and audiences to your company.Vertical integration can also help companies survive and thrive by making sure that its their product that will be viewed the most by a consumer and it can also make production costs cheaper if they own the companies that will work together in order to create the product.

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?

i believe the audience will gain more power and have control over what they want to see on the media , so this makes the companies make relevant content to what the audience and the customers mostly like as they chose what to watch and pay for so they will have to follow what the audiences are mostly interested in to make sure their companies survives.