Media Industries Final

Consolidation

the business process where fewer, large companies acquire or merge with multiple media companies

this happens due to mergers & buyouts (absorbing competition)

ex- paramount owns viacombs

Oligopoly

a few large companies controls most of the media industry, in order to get rid of competition

Drawbacks of consolidation (audiences): Homogenization & Imitation

one company does well with an idea companies would wanna copy to alos be sucessful

ex: pixar coming out with bugslife and dreamworks coming out with antz

Drawbacks of consolidation (audiences): Fewer divergent points

reduction in diverse of voices and perspectives

Drawbacks of consolidation (audiences): less local content

less local stations for that region

ex- such Fox 29 Philadelphia for philly

Drawbacks of consolidation (audiences): sensationalism

news adds dramatics to stories to compete with ratings w/ other companies

Drawbacks of consolidation (audiences): Trivialization

(news) stories are reduced to entertainment focused stories

ex- news: man with bizarre name gets arrested (we never find out the charges just the name)

entertainment: dumb shows (toddlers and tiaras)

Drawbacks of consolidation (audiences): jobs

Fewer available jobs due to company mergers (consolidation)

Three core stages of the film industry

• production

• distribution

• exhibition

Production

process of a movie (script writing, editing etc)

ex- sony pictures is a production company

Distrubution

Getting the films to audiences

ex- advertising, seeing if it’ll be on streaming platforms or hit the theaters first

Exhibition

final stage of getting the film to audience

ex- theaters like amc, streaming services (netflix), physical media

synergy

the practice where large companies use their various assets (TV, film, publishing, theme parks) to cross-promote each other, theoretically making the sum of their assets greater than the individual parts. 

ex- a television show encourages viewers to go visit their social media

vertical integration (film industry)

on company owns multiple parts of the core stages of the film industry

ex- century fox is owned by disney who also has other companies in the other core stages so disney doesnt look like they own all stages

Nexstar consolidation and operations

they own multiple stations NBC,CBS, CW leading to consolidation where they are leveraging content for all companies they operate

ex- sharing content like talk shows across their CW Philly station and other owned properties

Gov’t Regulation for media operations

FCC is responsible for for making sure media industries are being regulated

Federal communications comission (FFC)

responsible for licensing broadcast stations, including new licensing, renewals and transfers when station is sold

• have power to sanction broadcaster (fines) if theyre not operating how they should (in the public interest)

Theories behind broadcast regulation: scarce

the electromagnetic spectrum is scarce

• more people want to broadcast than there can be allowed

• this helps gov decide who gets this power

duopoly

two firms dominate the market

ex: comcast owning both nbc and telemundo one license to own two tv sdtations in the local area

• as long as frequencies dont overlap

Broadcast TV

• More heavily regulated due to the scarcity rationale and pervasiveness theory, which justify greater government oversight of content and licensing.

Cable TV

Subject to less First Amendment scrutiny than broadcasting because it is a subscription service that viewers actively choose and pay for.

Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984

This act affirmed local government authority to grant cable franchises and regulate basic rates, while also limiting their role in programming decisions. It aimed to balance federal, state, and local control.

FCC's Enforcement of Cable Content

The FCC has some authority but generally less than for broadcast.

"Must-Carry" Rules

The FCC requires cable systems to carry the signals of local broadcast television stations.

Obscenity

prohibited on all media, including cable, at all times. if it depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive way specifically defined by state law, and if the work as a whole lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value

Material that is not protected by the First Amendment. The FCC has the power to prohibit obscenity at all times on all media it regulates.

Indecency

Material that depicts or describes sexual or excretory organs or activities in terms of patently offensive, as measured by contemporary community standards. Regulation of indecent content on cable is less restrictive than on broadcast due to the subscription nature.

Profanity

"Grossly offensive" language that is a "public nuisance". Like indecency, it is generally restricted to the safe harbor period on broadcast media.

Reasons for Self-Regulation

Broadcasters self-regulate to maintain a positive public image, avoid government censorship and potential fines/license challenges, and maintain advertiser confidence.

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Code

voluntary code of conduct for programming and advertising.

• Enforcement: The Television Code was enforced from 1952 until 1983, when an anti-trust lawsuit led to its dissolution.

• Content Prohibited: The Code prohibited profanity, morbid content, explicit sexual depictions, and generally mandated that content should be suitable for a general family audience. It also set standards for the amount and type of advertising.

Standards and Practices Departments

Network departments review programming to ensure compliance with legal requirements, industry codes, and internal policies.

• Factors Considered: Decency standards, potential for litigation (e.g., defamation), advertiser suitability, and public perception.

• Changing Standards: Standards evolve; content once considered unacceptable (e.g., married couples sharing a bed on TV) is now commonplace.

Television Ratings and labels

Systems like the TV Parental Guidelines (TV-G, TV-PG, TV-14, TV-MA) provide content labels to help viewers make informed decisions, serving as a form of industry self-regulation.

Tv at the top

• Y7 (This is the label for audience)

• FV (example content label)

Impact of Professional/Citizen Groups

Organizations like the Parents Television Council (PTC) or the American Medical Association exert pressure on networks and advertisers regarding content, influencing self-regulatory decisions and potentially the FCC's enforcement priorities.

Demographics & Characteristics

Media companies and advertisers want to know characteristics like age, gender, income level, education, geographic location (e.g., DMA), race, and household size to effectively target their content and advertising.

Testing of media products: Pilot testing

Showing a prototype (e.g., a TV pilot episode) to a sample audience before it is aired to the public

Testing of media products: Program/Ad Testing:

Assessing audience reactions to specific programs or commercials using various methods.

Testing of media products: Post media testing

Neilson company: Nielsen is the dominant force in U.S. audience measurement, providing the key metrics for television viewership that determine advertising rates.

Media Markets

• 210 DMA’s (designated market areas) places like new york, los angles, chicago, dallas, philly,

• 272 MSA’s (metro survery area) core urban areas

• 224 TSA’s (total survey area) radio market

shares

estimate of people tuned in divided by people with radio/tv on at that time

ratings

estimate of people tuned in divided by # of people who own a radio/tv set

Radio measures: PUR

measuring the percentage of the total population in a demographic or market area who are listening to the radio at a specific time. 

Tv measures: HUT (households using television)

representing the percentage of all television households in a specific area that have their TV sets turned on at a given time

Tv measures: Set up top boxes

Data collected directly from cable or satellite boxes on channel tuning

Radio measures: Portable people meter (PPM)

measures people listening to radio