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Ownership and Control of the Media - Coggle Diagram
Ownership and Control of the Media
Concentration of Ownership
Bagdikian (2004):
increasing concentration of media ownership in the US
1983: 90% of American media was owned by 50 companies
2011: 90% of US media was controlled by only 6 companies
British Newspapers
Curran (2003):
there is concentration of ownership in the British Newspaper industry, only 7 individuals dominate the ownership and content of UK national daily and Sunday newspapers e.g.
Murdoch: News Corporation
(The Times, The Sun, The Sunday Times)
4th Viscount Rothermere: DMGT
(Daily Mail, The Metro, 54 regional papers)
Barclay Brothers: Telegraph Media Group
(The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph)
Ownership of mass media in Britain is concentrated in the hands of a few large companies.
Bagdikian (2004)
: these large companies are the "Lords of the Global Village". They control every step in the information, creation and distribution process.
Williams (2003):
few and fewer large companies increasingly own what we see, hear and read.
British Broadcasting
There is concentration in British TV:
most content is owned and controlled by ITV (owns 12/15 regional commercial franchises)
Satellite TV is owned by only 3 companies:
Sky (39% owned by Murdoch's News Corporation)
Virgin Media
BT Broadband
Features of Media Ownership
Lateral Expansion/ Diversification
Media companies having wide variety of products beside the media- now diversify into new business areas to spread economic risk and gain. Losses made in one area can be compensated in another
Richard Branson owns not only Virgin Media, but has diversified into holiday companies, trains, refreshments, insurance, banking etc (V Mobile, V Holidays, V Airlines, V Pure, V Money, V Hotels)
Synergy
Media corporations package their products in a variety of forms to increase profit e.g. a film can sell DVDs, soundtracks, posters, toys, videogames.
Disney's use of merchandise after the release of every film: toys, figurines, songs, DVDs, posters etc
Transnational ownership
Major media corporations operate across national boundaries e.g. News Corporation originated in Australia but now operates internationally (India, Russia, US, Germany, Italy, UK)
Over 175 newspapers in Australia
The Sun, The Times, Sunday Times in the UK
9 cable channels across Asia, significant shares in 8 others e.g. 20% stake in India's Tata Sky channel.
Conglomerates: monopolies of ownership. Global conglomeration has occurred due to the erosion of national boundaries. Media corporations can now spread globally and international markets have developed as a result
Horizontal Integration:
Involves cross-media ownership- when one company owns many different types of media
The largest media groups own a range of media types e.g. Murdoch's News Corporation is also interested in TV, radio, film and internet (own The Sun, The Times but also Fox News, 20th Century Fox, MySpace, 1/3 of Hulu)
Technological Convergence
Apple, Microsoft, Android, Google have made huge profits from such convergence e.g. Apple watch, Macbook (singular devices that allow access to products in many ways)
Media companies maximise profits by making products available in different forms that can be accessed on one device e.g. a smartphone can be used to advertise a film, watch the film itself, download and listen to the music, play the related videogame or to read the book.
Vertical Integration
Concentration of ownership in a single medium- involves acquiring all aspects of production and distribution of a single type of media e.g. only 5 Hollywood companies dominated all aspects of the film industry (Sony, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Universal)
Kennedy (2003)
: film goers are watching films produced by the same big American studios- become loyal customers without even realising