Media Big
Businesses PowerPoint – Nicole, Gracie & George
Big business:
Cross-media ownership is the ownership of multiple media businesses by a person or
corporation. These businesses can include broadcast and cable television,
radio, newspaper, publishing, video games and various online entities. When one
organization operates in any two of these media, that organization is involved
in “cross-ownership”.
There are six media conglomerates known
as the “Big Six”. Time Warner is one of these. The other five are considered competitors
to Time Warner.
The Big Six:
NBC Universal, The
Walt Disney Company, News Corporation, Time Warner, Viacom, CBS Corporation
NBC
Universal: NBC Universal is and American
media and Entertainment Company engaged in the production and marketing of
entertainment, new, and information products and services to a global customer
base. The first of the “Big Six” is NBC Universal. They own NBC and Telemundo,
Universal Pictures, Focus Features, 26 television stations in the United States
and 9 cable networks and the Comcast SportsNet regional system. In 2009, NBC
Universal grossed $157 billion. They have a joint venture in which Comcast
holds a controlling 51% stake in since January 2011. Through a separate
subsidiary, Comcast owns two sports teams, the Philadelphia 76ers and
Philadelphia Flyers.
The Walt
Disney Company: The Walt Disney
Company is an American diversified multinational
mass media corporation headquartered in Walt Disney Studios, California. The
Walt Disney Company owns the ABC Television Network. They own cable networks
including the Disney Channel, ESPN, A&E and Lifetime. They own 277 radio
stations, music and book publishing companies; production companies Walt Disney
Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios, cellular service Disney Mobile and many
Theme Parks around the world. The Walt Disney Company grossed $36.1 billion in
2009. Disney is a prime example of horizontal
integration because they have brought rival companies such as Pixar,
Lucas Film and Marvel so that they narrow the field of competition.
News
Corporation: News Corp. is an
American diversified
multinational mass media corporation headquartered in New York City. Rupert
Murdoch and his family members control the company. News Corporation own the
Fox Broadcasting Company; television and cable networks including Fox, National
Geographic and FX; print publications including the Wall Street Journal, the
New York Post and TVGuide; the magazine Barron’s and Smart Money and book
publisher HarperCollins. They own film production companies 20th
Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Blue Sky Studios. In 2009 the
corporation grossed $30.4 billion.
Time Warner:
Time Warner is fourth in the “Big
Six”. They are the largest media conglomerate in the world, with holdings
including CNN, HBO, Cinemax, Cartoon Network, Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line
Cinema and Castle Rock. They own more than 150 magazines. Time Warner grossed
$25.8 billion in 2009.
Viacom: Viacom Inc. is short for “Video & Audio
Communications”. Viacom is an American global mass media company with
interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television. Their
holdings include: MTV, Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, VH1, BET, Comedy Central,
Paramount Home Entertainment, Atom Entertainment, and music game developer
Harmionix. Viacom 18 is a joint venture with the Indian media company Global
Broadcast News. In 2009, the company grossed $13.67 billion. National
Amusements, Inc., owns Viacom in majority a privately owned theater
company based in Massachusetts. National Amusements holds another controlling
stake in CBS Corporation.
CBS
Corporation: CBS Corporation is an
American mass media corporation focused on commercial broadcasting, publishing,
billboards and television production, with most of its operations in the United
States. The CBS Corporation owns the CBS Television Network, CBS Television
Distribution Group, the CW, Showtime, book publisher Simon & Schuster, 30
television stations, and CBS Radio Inc., which has 130 stations. CBS is now the
leading supplier of video to Google’s new Video Marketplace. In 2009, the CBS
Corporation grossed $13 billion.
Time Warner
Time Warner Inc., a
worldwide leading media conglomerate that owns many different
businesses in the entertainment industry; including television networks, film
and TV entertainment and publishing with a huge product diversity including:
big box office hits, DC Comics, Friends TV sitcom and IPC Media magazines it’s scale of big budget productions and ability to
create brands and franchises to market at sell on a worldwide scale, while also
creating partnerships with other companies to raise a better awareness of their
products and creating a better base of customers for their
products.
Time Warner began as two separate companies, Warner
Communications and Time Inc. the two companies later had a merger
to form Time Warner and made multiple productions throughout film, television
and publishing sectors. Their partners include DC Comics, CNN, Adult Swim and
Cartoon Network Studios, the advantage of this is that they are able to work
with the trends and even as they change they will be able to work
with them.
Warner Brothers Studio
Warner Brothers
Entertainment, Inc., otherwise known as Warner Bros. Picture or Warner Bros, is
an American producer of film, television, and music entertainment. One of the
major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in
Burbank, California and New York. Albert,
Harry, Sam and Jack Warner founded Warner Brothers Studio in 1918. Warner
Brothers only produced films. By 1949 television was becoming more successful
and the film was becoming less popular. Harry Warner wanted the focus on
television production but the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
wouldn’t allow it.
Development of Warner Brother Films
Warner bros has
been involved in creating revolutionising films their attempts began in 1922
bringing a German shepherd dog by the name of Rin Tin Tin into their production
of silent films appearing in 27 overall from 1922 to 1931 and bringing
international fame to him and his succeeding dogs. Warner Bros then went on to
produce films such as Free Willy through to The Hangover, and has made hundreds
of films through the decades and their partnership with DC comics has aloud
them to ride the popularity waves of the comics by bringing its characters to
the big screen and continue to produce DC films with the latest instalment
being the batman trilogy and plan to continue in order to compete with the
Disney-Marvel partnership that sees them on the back foot. The amount and
variety of film the Warner Brothers have also produced with DC Comics has
greatly increased the profitability
of their product range in two media.
JK Rowling
The author of Harry Potter, JK Rowling was living in
poverty while writing her books. Rowling divorced her husband in 1993 and had
to raise her daughter alone while at the same time she was jobless. She started
writing on a voluntary basis. Her only source of income
was welfare benefits.
Harry Potter
·
J.K Rowling, the
author and creator of Harry Potter earned around £2 billion.
·
With 7 books, 8
films and merchandise, ‘Harry Potter’ became known as a franchise
and grossed roughly £25 billion.
·
The budget for
all 8 film came to $1,155,000,000.
·
The box office
earned $7,706,146,978 for all 8 films.
Time Warner in the 1990’s
Like other big companies, Time Warner expanded in the
1990’s, taking over other media companies in publishing and elsewhere. It also
expanded in TV and cable services and through online services. This helped to
get in and market its products to customers, demonstrating vertical integration.
One of the biggest financial concerns for Time Warner was the merger with AOL which
cost the American online service provider too much money at the time when
social media like MySpace and Facebook were gaining prominence over ISP’s in
the internet market.
Public Service Media
Public broadcasters
receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual
contributions, public financing and commercial financing. The United Kingdom
has a strong tradition of public service broadcasting. In addition to the BBC,
established in 1922, there is also Channel 4, a commercial public service
broadcaster, and S4C, a Welsh-language broadcaster in Wales. Furthermore, the
two commercial analogue broadcasters ITV and Channel 5 also have significant
public service obligations imposed as part of their licence to
broadcast. The BBC, whose broadcasting in the UK is funded by a licence fee and
does not sell advertising time, is most notable for being the first public
service broadcaster in the UK. With the launch of the first commercial
broadcaster ITV in 1955, the government required that the local franchises
fulfilled a similar obligation, mandating a certain level of local news
coverage, arts and religious programming, in return for the right to broadcast.
The next commercial
television broadcasters in the UK, the state-owned Channel 4 and S4C, were set
up by the government in 1981 to provide different forms of PSB. Channel 4 was
required to be a public service alternative to the BBC and to cater for
minorities and arts. S4C was to be a mainly Welsh language programmer. Neither
was required to be commercially successful as Channel 4 was subsidised by the
ITV network and S4C received a grant from the central government. However,
Channel 4 was later restructured under the Broadcasting Act 1990 to be a state
owned corporation that is self-financing.
When the final analogue terrestrial
broadcaster, Five, launched in 1997 it too was given a number of public service
requirements. These included the obligation to provide minimum amounts of
programming from various genres, minimum amounts of programming originally
commissioned by the channel and of European origin, and maximum limits on the
number of repeats.
The BBC has been
criticised by some for being expansionist and exceeding its public service
remit by providing content that could be provided by commercial broadcasters.
They argue that the BBC can distort the market, making it difficult for
commercial providers to operate. A notable example of this is the Internet
services provided by the BBC.
However, those who
defend the BBC suggest that the BBC needs to provide new services and
entertainment, to remain relevant in the digital age. ITV has been attempting
to significantly reduce its obligations to produce and broadcast unprofitable
PSB programming, citing the increased competition from digital and multichannel
television. Similarly, Channel 4 has projected a £100m funding gap if it is to
continue with public service broadcasting after digital switch-over. As a
result, Ofcom has recently been consulting on what direction PSB should take in
the future.
News Corporation Taking Over BSkyB
A bid was launched
in June 2010 when News Corporation wanted to take over British Sky
Broadcasting with a share of ownership greater than 50% but was
withdrawn in July 2011.
The bid was really
unpopular in the UK because many people thought that News Corporation would own
too much of our media, across print and broadcasting. So politicians said it
should go before the competition commission to consider whether cross-media
regulation should be enforced.
In July there were
a series of revelations about the News of the World hacking phones of non-celebrities. Details of the
activities including the hacking into murder victim Milly Dowler’s voicemail
resulted in widespread outrage against News Corporation. Attempts to resolve
the scandal included stopping the News of the World and Murdoch publishing an
apology.
The House of
Commons told News Corporation to abandon
the bid and News Corporation acquiesced.
Conclusion
·
Very few people
will get a say over what is made or being shown on TV and what goes into
production.
·
Small business
will be put out of business or not get a chance to start and develop
·
Channel 4 is an
impendent broadcaster, if there was only one company e.g. Walt Disney we
wouldn’t have independent broadcasters or independent producers like
those making programs for channel 4 such as zeppotron and endemol. Zeppotron, a
TV online comedy production company, was formed in 2000 by several writers from
channel 4’s the 11 o’clock show who worked well together and decided to take
their ideas and creative work further. Without independents there will be less access
to new talent and less access for audiences to see new work.
·
If there were
fewer companies in general there would be less consumer choice, in other words
there could be less variety of media products, films, TV.
·
If there are
fewer companies in charge there will be more chance that prices will be fixed.
So some sections of the population may lose access to receiving media products,
so there could be less equality.
·
Freedom of
information e.g. what’s going on in the world or locally, may lose out to
programs that are more profitable like big running soaps or box office feature
films. With more varied ownership you can get more different types of audiences
such as old people or young people.
·
If the big media conglomerates
are mainly accountable to executives, say in the USA it could mean the
content has an American bias and the stories of individual countries do not get
a chance to be made or viewed.
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