Communications 2100 Exam 2

Narrowcasting

Person-to-person communication, which disseminates information to a narrow audience, rather than to the broader public

FCC (Federal Communications Commission)

An independent US government agency charged with regulating interstate and international communications by radio, telephone, television, wire, satellite, cable, and the internet

Payola

The practice by which record promoters pay deejays to play particular records- Rampant during the 1950s as record companies sought to guarantee record sales 

A&R

Artist and repertoire agents - the talent scouts of the music business who discover, develop, and sometimes manage artists

Radio Waves

a portion of the electromagnetic wave spectrum that was harnessed so that signals could be sent from a transmission point to a reception point.

Broadcasting

Distribution of content to a dispersed audience via a mass communications medium, usually one using electromagnetic radiation

1. The technology used to broadcast

2. patterns of ownership

3. Regulation of broadcasts by FCC and government

What 3 standards did radio as a medium establish?

KDKA Pittsburgh in 1920

What was the 1st commercial broadcast?

Radio became a local medium that covered local news with local sponsors, also became music centered and developed close ties with the recording industry

How did radio adapt after the introduction of TV?

1996 Telecommunications Act

1. the sweeping update of telecommunications law that led to a wave of media consolidation.

2. Led to much of the media deregulation we see today - has allowed for the proliferation of media conglomeration that happens

Deregulation

A process that requires fewer rules, less government oversight, and a lassiez faire approach.

Led to very little governmental interference and led to a wave of media consolidation

Results of 1996 Telecommunications Act

8 per market

How many stations (in a market) could a radio company own in 1996?

1. Radio is no longer a truly local medium

2. Greater self censorship from corporate of local talent and playlists

3. Greater ability to explicitly censor local playlists because of an artist and their views

3 effects that consolidation of ownership of radio had on local radio

1. Clear channel sent out a guide for its channels post 9/11

2. Worried that some songs may evoke negative emotions so they banned or discouraged over 158 songs

3. Example of self-censorship

What was the Clear Channel Memo and what does it illustrate?

Dixie Chicks Example

1. Demonstrates how the words or actions of artists (in this situation, Natalie Meanes saying she is ashamed Bush is from TX) can impact artists success because of conglomerates


1. This resulted a 29% reduction in airplay - largely driven by Cox & Cumulus

Minot, ND example

1. People seek media during crises

   1. Power was out - no TV or corded radio

   2. Had radio in cars and handhelds

   3. Couldn't wait for newspapers

2. Went to radio in cars and with batteries

   1. Local channels broadcasting satellite feeds from Clear Channel

3. Take home point: radio is no longer a local medium

Listening habits pre-tv

World series, address by president, War of the World, programs like that.

Impact of internet on radio

1. The diversity of music that consumers hear is vastly larger with the internet.


1. Evolution into a more personalized experience

1. Radio

2. Own the music

3. Music you rent, subscription service

What are the three forms of music listening?

Common Carriers

media outlets that must serve all customers/content providers and carry all lawful traffic. Non common regulated communications services are under different regulatory rules— for example, cable TV providers are forbidden from some forms of commercial discrimination, but do not have to make their channel capacity available to all, as they would under a common carriage regime.

Time Shifting

The process whereby television viewers record programs to watch at their convenience

CATV (Community Antenna Television )

cable television that could share signals of big 3 channels with neighborhoods. A way to get local television places that didn’t have goo reception.

Audience Share

a statistical measurement of the % of homes tuned to a certain program compared w/those simply using their sets at the time of a sample

In the 1930s, listeners tuned in at set times, the peak listening was in primetime, and there was a loyalty to shows. The same qualities are true for television shows today.

How was radio listening in the 1930s similar to TV viewing?

Today, radio is a background medium and the peak time is during drive time, not during primetime. Additionally, we are loyal to stations and formats rather than individual shows.

How was radio listening in the 1930s different than radio listening today?

1927

When did the first laboratory TV transmission occur?

\

1939

When was the first commercial broadcast/public demo?

Has lead to decreased viewers per show collectively, ratings have declined.

Effect of Time Shifting on Ratings

C3 Ratings

Commercial Ratings (viewing within 3 days)

Nielsen Ratings

Starts by creating a sample that accurately reflects the population. They employ a random sample where all homes have an equal chance of being selected. This ensures that the sample mirrors the population according to gender, age, geography, race, cable status, and other characteristics.

1. Internet TV

2. Reality TV

   1. Vlogging

3. Serialization

4. Binge Watching

4 Trends of future TV

Two Major Impacts of Web TV

The tradition over the television has been declining. The rise of the internet has led to a rise in content creators who designed specifically for the internet to be disseminated specifically through their channel rather than more broadly. Content producers tend to powerfully interact with their audience in ways that wasn’t possible before.

Binge Watching

viewing an entire series in a short period of time.

Serial Program

Continuing plot that unfolds sequentially from episode to episode with a story arc across series/season

Vlog

1. Video log or video blog

2. Social video content

   1. Interaction with subscribers

3. Highly monetized

   1. Reality TV converging with internet TV

Parasocial Relationship

We develop very real perceived relationships with characters in shows because we think we get to know them.

1. Perceived reality

2. Social comparison

3. Voyeurism

4. Enjoyment of the spectacle

5. Parasocial interaction

5 reasons why reality TV has psychological appeal for audiences

A Trip to the Moon

 employed editing and camera tricks, such as slow motion and carton animation, that became key ingredients in future narrative filmmaking.

Blockbusters

The type of big-budget special effects film that typically has a summer or holiday release date, heavy promotion, and lucrative merchandising tie-ins.

Newsreels

Weekly ten-minute magazine-style compilations of filmed news events from around the world.

Vertical Integration

In media economics, the phenomenon of controlling a mass media industry at its three essential levels; production, distribution, and exhibition; the term is frequently used in reference to the film industry during the studio system era

Major Studios

1. Columbia

2. Fox

3. MGM

4. Paramount

5. Universal

6. Warner Bros.

7. Disney

8. Sony

Big 5

Disney, Warner Brothers, Universal, Sony Pictures, and Paramount

1. Director

2. Producer

3. Screenwriter

4. Many others

Who are the major roles in the movie making process?

Director

Guides the actors, stages action, supervises shooting

Producer

Organizes a film, raise money for filming, selects creative team, can be studio exec.

Executive Producer

producer mostly about money raising

1. Theatrical release

2. Pay cable (HBO), digital downloads, on demand, rental

3. Network & Cable exhibition

4. Syndication

What is the distribution cycle of a movie?

Microcinema

Movement of low-budget video, production and distribution made possible by digital video and editing technology, where independent film makers find audiences for their work both online and in small theaters

Blockbuster mentality

Practice by large studios to produce high budget/high earning movies that choke out smaller movies at theaters

1. psychoanalysis

2. media identification

What are the two theories about cinema being a reflection of reality or of ourselves?

Psychoanalysis

1. Metz (French Theorist)

2. Film as a mirror

   1. Does not reflect the spectator

   2. Viewer identifies with the camera over the image becoming one with the camera

3. We have a desire to perceive the other

Media Identification

1. Cohen (comm scholar)

2. Identification is a mechanism through which we experience and interpret content as if it is happening to us

3. Is a cognitive and emotional process

4. We imagine being one with the character

5. Fosters parasocial relationship with media

1. Live events

2. Paid promotion connects film to new audiences

3. Analytics help producers understand viewers

4. Can leverage with social media

5. Interactivity fosters community building

What are the 5 main ways that YouTube helps creators facilitate audience reach and engagement?

Identification

a mechanism through which we experience and interpret content as if its happening to us

Parasocial interaction

when we develop very real perceived relationships with characters in shows because we think we get to know them.

1. Tastemakers

2. Participation

3. Unexpectedness

3 characteristics of viral videos

ESRB (entertainment software rating board)

is created by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA - the main video game trade association). It is a rating system that provides potential purchasers of video games (including parents) with age-appropriate guidelines for their use based on game content (including amounts of violence, sexually explicit content, and the inclusion of profanity-laced discourse among game characters).

Avatar

A graphic interactive "character" situated within the world of the game - of their own design

RPG (role playing game)

social and interactive worlds where players assume the role of a virtual character. An interactive story where the game player controls an avatar called a player character (PC)

MMORPG

1. Similar to role-playing games but distinguished by the high number of players interacting together.

2. World of warcraft, guild wars 2, eve online

Fantasy Sports

Games in which players assemble teams and use actual sprots results to determine scores in their online games. These games reach a mass audience, have a major social component and take a managerial perspective on the game

1. social networks

2. web blogs

3. microblogs

4. content communities

5. social news communities

5 types of social media

Social networks

1. Allow users to build pages holding content/profiles

2. Center on connections and communication

3. A larger umbrella term often used for many of these

Web blogs

Online journals documenting and cataloging experiences/thoughts by subject or chronologically

Microblogs

1. Short versions of web blogs focusing on quick updates

2. Characterized by limiting characters and can involve images

Content Communities

Allow users to organize, share, and comment on images/stories/videos

Social News Communities

1. Users post novel, breaking information/news

2. Involves voting system

Facebook

social networking for personal use, focused on relationship building and making connections, allow for likes, comments, shares, etc.

LinkedIn

social networking for professional use, focused on skills and professional life

Twitter

social network and microblog, used for both professional and personal ties and networking, revolves around:

• following

• followers

• hashtag

• retweet

Virality

Media that gets circulated rapidly and widely during a specified timeframe

POSI (preference for online social interaction)

1. A cognitive individual difference construct characterized by beliefs that one is safer, more successful, more confident, and more comfortable with online interpersonal interactions and relationships than with traditional face-to-face social activities


1. Greater anonymity, greater control over image, less risk, less responsibility/commitment to interactions

68%

what % of Americans play video games?

40%+

what percentage of gamers are female?

freemium game

1. Digital games that are free to download but have in game currencies


1. Ad supported
2. Virtual money

Advergame

1. When advertising is a feature of the game and are integrated into the game

2. When the entire purpose of the game is to tie in and advertise a specific product

1. Computer simulated

2. 3D

3. Persistent

4. Interactive

5. Avatars

6. Communicate synchronously or asynchronously

6 components of a virtual world

hyper commercialism

1. The increasing amount of advertising and mixing of commercial and non-commercial content

2. The segmented demographics of gamers making it appealing to advertising and persuasive campaigns