Industries: Ownership and control

Most media companies are owned by one of the big six - massive conglomerates that dominate the media industry.

As GCSE Media students, we need to learn how media companies are bought, sold and controlled.

Notes

Industries: recap

Industries are the producers, the companies that produce (make) and distribute the media product. 

Industries have a strong interest in who their Target Audience is so that they can best appeal to them. 

Some companies dominate the industry which means they own more of the content and therefore make more money (revenue).

Vertical integration

Vertical integration is when one conglomerate owns different companies in the same chain of production.

E.G Disney owns film studios, CGI specialists, film distributors and TV channels such as the Disney Channel. This gives Disney the chance to make money at every stage of production. Complete ownership = more profit.

Horizontal integration

Horizontal integration is when one company buys other companies at the same level of distribution.

E.G Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012 (at a cost of $1 billion) so that they could cancel out the competition by making money from both.

Horizontal integration allows companies to widen their audience and find other ways to make money.

Synergy

Synergy is when a company creates a brand that can be used across different media products and platforms.

E.G Disney makes movies but then also has related stage shows, theme parks, merchandise, soundtracks and events.

Ownership and control: blog task

Read this article from Recode about Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram and complete the tasks below:

1) Why did Facebook buy Instagram for $1bn in 2012?

2) What are the benefits for media companies of vertical integration?

3) What are the benefits for media companies of horizontal integration?

4) What is a subsidiary?

5) Give three examples of media companies that have used synergy to maximise the profit from a brand (there is one above to help you).

6) Read this BBC article on Disney buying 21st Century Fox. List 10 companies that are part of the Disney media empire. This graphic may help you: 

7) Why did Disney buy Fox - what are the benefits?

If you don't finish these questions in the lesson, complete for homework - due Thursday 5 December.

Industry and audience power essay

This week's work has explored media industries and whether the internet has given audiences more or less power in the media.

This is a crucial media debate and over the course of the GCSE you need to develop your own opinions on these questions. We will be using this particular topic to start developing our essay writing skills in preparation for the longer, high-mark exam questions.

Blog task: industry and audience power essay

Create a new blogpost called 'Industry and audience power essay'. Then, use the following guidance to help you write the essay on your blog:

Essay question: “The internet has given audiences much more power than ever before.” To what extent do you agree with this statement?

Word count: 500-800 words

Optional essay plan
You may find the following useful. However, you do not have to follow it exactly and will be credited for alternative or original responses that are convincing and highly effective.

Introduction (50 words): Thesis Statement (setting out your argument)

• Introduce the question and how it will be answered. Summarise how the internet has changed the position of the audience (consumer) in relation to the producer. 
• Explain what your own argument is: do you think that the internet makes the audience more powerful or less powerful and why? 

Music Industry: (150-250 words)
What changes have happened to the music industry since the rise of the internet?

Advantages for audiences:

• What are some examples of how audiences have benefited from the rise of digital media in the way that they access and consume music? Think about downloading and what platforms users are using to access music. 
• Think about ‘bedroom bands’ and subscription services such as Spotify and Apple Music. How do these services and opportunities help the audience? 

Disadvantages for audiences:

• What are the benefits of word of mouth advertising (and re-tweets, shares etc) for the producers? 
• What might happen to music artists if audiences are unwilling to pay for their music?
• What are the issues for audiences in having so much content available to them?

Film and TV Industry (150-250 words)
What changes have happened to the film and television industry since the rise of the internet?

Advantages for audiences:

• What are some examples of how audiences have benefited from the rise of digital media in the way that they access television and film? Think about downloading and new platforms for film and television.  
• Think about piracy and Apps such as Showbox: what do they offer to the consumer? 
• What about subscription services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. How do these services and opportunities help the audience? What content is available to them? What about when they can watch?

Disadvantages for audiences:

• What potential issues are there with ‘binge-watching’ TV series?
• How might watching TV shows and films on a small screen (e.g. phone) affect the viewing experience?
• Why are companies producing less interesting films and TV shows? (E.g. sequels and reboots)

Newspaper Industry (150-250 words)
What changes have happened to the news industry since the rise of the internet?

Advantages for audiences:

• How has the internet changed the way audiences can access news?
• What is Citizen Journalism and how has it given the audience more power over reporting and receiving the news?

Disadvantages for audiences: 

• What is fake news? Why is this a problem for audiences?
• Are there any problems or concerns with citizen journalism? 

Conclusion (50 words)

• Have you answered the question with a clear conclusion? Have you demonstrated that the internet makes the audience more powerful or less powerful and why?

Complete this essay for homework - due Thursday 5 December. Remember: the word count MINIMUM is 500 words. 

Audience: Effects theory

As well as studying target audience and reception theory, we also need to explore WHY audiences enjoy using and interacting with the media and what effect the media has on them.

This means learning a range of audience theories to add to our work on Stuart Hall's Reception theory. 

Audience theory: key notes and terminology

Passive & Active

Passive: This is the view that audiences passively take in information from the media and that these messages have the same effect on everyone.

Active: This is the more modern and generally accepted view that audiences interact with and make conscious choices regarding the media they consume.

Hypodermic Needle Theory

This is the suggestion that audiences are always passive and therefore take the intended message from the producer as if it was injected into their minds. This assumes no individual difference in audience members. 

Two-step flow theory


This is the theory that consumers form their opinions based on opinion leaders like newspapers, politicians and, nowadays, celebrities.

Uses and Gratifications - Blumler & Katz

INFORMATION/SURVEILLANCE: learning information that you did not already know or that is useful for living (e.g. documentaries; weather or traffic). 

IDENTITY: personally relating to something - seeing your lifestyle on screen.

DIVERSION/ENTERTAINMENT: escapism and being entertained away from your normal life.

RELATIONSHIPS: social interaction, caring about characters or celebrities, forming relationships e.g watching a soap opera for a long time because you care about what happens to long-standing characters.

The 3 Vs

VISCERAL PLEASURE: Physical thrill of watching something e.g hairs on the back of your neck in a horror film, sport, big explosions. 
VICARIOUS PLEASURE: Experiencing something through the characters. 

VOYEURISTIC PLEASURE: Watching people e.g hidden camera shows / elements of reality TV like Big Brother.

Audience effects theory: blog tasks

Create a new blogpost called ‘Audience Effects Theory’ and complete the following tasks:

1) Write a definition of a passive audience: 

2) Write a definition of an active audience: 

3) Write a definition of the hypodermic needle theory: 

4) Write down a media product for each category of Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory and WHY it fits that particular audience use/gratification: 

INFORMATION/SURVEILLANCE:  
 > Why:

IDENTITY:
 > Why:  

DIVERSION/ENTERTAINMENT: 
 > Why:

RELATIONSHIPS:
 > Why: 

5) Re-watch the clip from Blue Planet above and write a paragraph analysing how elements of the clip offer the audience pleasures or gratifications (use media terminology from Uses and Gratifications theory and the 3 Vs - notes outlined above). 

Extension: To take this further, select a media text of your own choice, embed it in your blog and write another detailed paragraph analysing the audience pleasures in that product.

Finish for homework if you don't complete it in the lesson - due next Thursday.

Audience: Reception theory

Reception theory is an important media theory exploring how audiences respond to media texts.

Stuart Hall is a cultural theorist who looked at the relationship between the text and the audience. He suggested that meanings are fluid and open to interpretation depending on context and the consumer’s experiences as individuals as well as communities.

Hall states there are three readings to any media text:

Preferred reading

The meaning the producers intend to communicate. This builds on the idea that producers can position the audience in a certain way and influence their reading so they accept the intended message by using recognised codes and conventions (such as stereotypes).

Negotiated reading

Somewhere between the preferred and oppositional reading. The message is modified (partly accepted and partly rejected) depending on the individual experiences of the audience (e.g their age, gender or social class).

Oppositional reading

The oppositional reading goes against the meaning the producers are trying to create. The audience reject the intended message and construct an opposite reading instead. This can be due to their own social, political or moral beliefs and values. 

Reception theory: blog task

Create a new blogpost called 'Reception theory'.

1) What is the preferred reading of a media text?

2) What is the oppositional reading of a media text?

Re-watch the trailer for the film Harry Brown:

3) How does the Harry Brown trailer position the audience to respond to the teenage characters in the film?

4) Why might young people reject this reading and construct an oppositional reading of the trailer?

Look at this McDonald's advert:

5) Write a 150+ word analysis of the McDonald's advert using preferred, negotiated and oppositional readings.

6) Now find your own advertisement and write a 150+ word analysis using preferred, negotiated and oppositional readings.

Extension task: 

Watch the rest of the Plan B TEDx lecture about his plan to help disadvantaged young people through film and music. Do you agree that he presents a positive view of young people?

Finish for homework if you don't complete this during this week's lessons - due next Thursday.