Task 1 Understand the structure and ownership of the media sector. P1, M1, D1

Private ownership is when a company has full guardianship of the company and can do whatever they want within it.

Apple inc is a successful example of private ownership because they do not collaborate with other companies about the their product

One of the best advantages about private ownership is that the company gets all of the profit and don’t have to pay out to other companies

However, a big disadvantage is that if they don’t sell their products very well and lose money, they lose it all from their company and it won’t be split up into a variety of different ones.

Public service ownership is when the public pay for it through the TV license. This means we own it or maybe own shares of another company.

Advantages of public service ownership is that there is unbiased news reporting unlike private ownership.

There are also opportunities for people to work within the industry

Disadvantages of this is that the public have to pay for public service ownership.

An example of this is the BBC where the public have to pay the TV license which goes towards the public service ownership

Multinational is when the company expands in many different countries.

Their a lot of advantages to multinational ownership. This is that they increase the investment level and thus the income and employment can be used by the host country to make the company bigger. Also it decreases the cost of production around the world.

The disadvantage of a multinational ownership is that it will destroy the company and create a monopoly which is not good because the public never like when one organization control everything. This is because it destroys our rights.

Independent ownership is a company that is owned by a privately held organization. These businesses are operated in independent mode. Independent ownership is usually have one sole owner of the company. The business is carried out in the name of the owner.

The great advantage of the business is that the owner can shape the business how ever he see’s fit.

It is hard to get your business known because you do not have the power of a public or private ownership to advertise your business.

A conglomerate is corporation made up of a number of different companies that work in the same field so they can boost the company and get a bigger profit across all the companies.

The advantage is that you have to share the profit but because there are more companies working towards the same thing. So there is it is more likely they will succeed and gain a large profit than if they were multiple companies.

The disadvantage of a conglomerate is that because company is so large they are delving deep into new area. So there is more chance of risk spreading.

Horizontal Integration is where a business adds outlets to chain to the company to enhance its competitiveness. A publisher might acquire a publishing house to keep a stable flow of editor and authors coming though this increases the chance of these people seeing his business.

A advantage and disadvantage is seen by regulators that horizontal integration has an unfair advantage in the market and must regulated a lot. This is an advantage because you could use it and increase your business. This can also be used against you by the competitors.

This is where one single company owns multiple businesses. This in combination control the production and selling the product. An example of this is that a Tv company, a radio show and a film producer can all use the same product in their business.

An advantage is that the experience and technology can overlap to give the product a better chance in the market against over products.

A disadvantage is that the economics will decrease because of the different stages of production. So the business will not thrive as well as other companies.

Cross media divergence is when there is are a range of media platforms integrated into a single piece of technology. The Xbox 360 is a example of this is because it is a gaming console but also has a DVD player and a internet modem integrated inside of the console.

A big advantage to this is that the consumer would see more for their money and immediately want to buy it. Also this helps smaller companies sell their product. If the DVD company were selling really badly they could integrate there product into the Xbox and take a better share of the product because more units would be sold.

Synergy is where the different sectors of corporation work together to get the same goal. An example of this is Disney as all their movies, toys and theme parks all work together to make profit to one big pot. Synergy “means the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”.

The advantages to a synergy is that the profit is big depending on the amount of parts that are in the business. Also that each sector is different so they are aiming at a big audience. This also means if one sector fails then they have the money to back it up or cut it off. Finally operating a synergy is easier than other methods because you have more than one person running a certain sector so thee pressure is not on one person.

American Film Industry The American Industry was developed from 1890 to 1930. In this time period the industry developed into an important and popular medium. That are clearly set in the production and distribution elements. In the 1930’s the American film industry thrived because of enhances in technology, is was known as the studio era. A bad thing about the American industry is that it was controlled by five companies known as the majors or the Big five. The American Film Industry (The Big Five) are all vertically integrated because they overseer all of the production, marketing, distribution right through to the consumer. This is a good thing because it allows them to keep track of what is going on across the board and fix any problems that might be happening. It is also a bad thing because it is expensive to keep track of there business as it is so big. So they have to bring in more money to keep the companies on top. There are now over 6 major film companies that run the American film industry which are “Warner Bros Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures and finally Universal studios. The advantage of having so many different companies at the top, is that if one company fails in that sector they have other companies to back them up because they are al linked. The disadvantage is that you have to share the profits across the boards to the other companies to keep this linkgoing.

British Film IndustryThe British Film Industry is seen as a lot smaller compared to the American industry. When people see a film they mostly relate it with American production or Hollywood. The British Film Industry works on smaller productions. Also supporting a first time writer work on a feature film script that has great potential compared to the Hollywood productions using well known directors and script writers to get a clean and quality cut film. The advantage that British film industries get from small productions is that they can look for talented film makers and make progress in developing the industry. Even if the film is not successful.