control and ownership

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.

Viacom:​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Viacom is home to the world's premier entertainment brands that connect with audiences through compelling content across television, motion picture, online and mobile platforms in over 160 countries and territories. The official Viacom site contains information about our brands and company culture.
With media networks reaching approximately 700 million global subscribers, Viacom's leading brands include MTV, VH1, BET, CENTRIC, the Nickelodeon franchise, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV Land, SPIKE, Tr3s, Paramount Channel and VIVA.

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.

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. I agree that that the government should prevent media conglomerates from becoming too dominant as their dominance will leave very little space and opportunities for other media organisations and companies which means there will be less of a variety of different media products from different view points and perspectives. On the other hand it can be argued that the government should not prevent media conglomerates from becoming too dominant because they are still present examples of multiple media texts (print, television, radio) and therefore are covering all of the different aspects of the media. for example Rupert Murdoch who wants to own most of the media was not allowed too as he already owns enough and if he did own all or most then the media we see on TV such as sky news would become one sided and this could lead to problems and conflict between the different views in society.   

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

Some companies own each part of the production of their product which means they control it to the point where there can't be much competition as it becomes such a huge organisation. Distribution can make or break a company. A good distribution system quite simply means the company has greater chance of being noticed and gaining more customers leading to more control.

4) What the different funding models for media institutions?

There is the commercial funding which relies on advertisement also known as private funding (ITV) and the public service broadcasting which relies on taxes known as public funding(BBC).

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. 

BBC- funded by public, sells magazines

ITV- programme sponsership

Sky One- Income from subscription fees

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

The music industry had to adapt to technology due to apps like Spotify that meant people didn't need to buy CDs anymore.

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

Google owns YouTube - changed the way we access music/ other entertainment.
Amazon, Netflix and Yahoo - broadcast their own shows which encourages more audience members to sign up for subscriptions/memberships.

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

I agree that traditional media institutions are struggling to survive and will eventually die out as time goes by as there will be newer and more advanced media institutions that will takeover completely.

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

Diversification may help as it would enable companies to change and adapt to suit what the audiences want to see in a product and how they prefer to access it. Vertical integration may help as it would allow companies to control how effectively each stage is done and whether or not these methods would maximise their profit/ success.

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 think that as time has gone by even in present day audiences have a strong influence over the media and what is presented. User generated content has become more and more popular in media industries and media platforms - an example is the news and social media using audiences videos to present information and events that have happened - this is an example of how audiences are gaining more and more influence over the media and the content being presented, it is a lot more realistic.