Key Facts

• Media products are things like films, TV and radio shows, music and books.

• The UK produces lots of media and exports it all over the world.

• Media makes a big contribution to the UK’s economy - in 2012, media industries employed nearly 1.7 million people and exported over £17 billion of products worldwide.

Examples of media products

TV drama series

‘Downton Abbey’ is watched by around 120 million people in more than 100 countries, including the USA and China.

TV reality shows

‘The X Factor UK’ is watched by more than 360 million people in 147 territories, and 51 countries have produced their own national version.

Films

UK films are distributed all over the world, but are most popular in New Zealand, Australia and Europe. ‘The King’s Speech’ took over US $400 million at the box office, of which two-thirds was outside the UK.

Music

UK artists account to nearly 14% of global album sales each year. Adele, Ed Sheeran and One Direction were three of the best selling artists in the world in 2015.

Books

The ‘Harry Potter’ series has been translated into 68 languages and has sold more than 400 million copies in more than 200 territories.

Global Influence

• Most exported UK media are in English, so people in other countries develop a better understanding of the English language. However, the accents and phrases they learn may not be representative of the UK as a whole.

• The different lifestyles, values and beliefs of the UK residents become more widely known and understood. However, this can be misleading as most people in the UK don’t have servants of live in a house like downtown abbey.

• Media exports affect the way the Uk is perceived in other countries; in some films and TV it is portrayed as an ugly, industrial county, while others it is shown as scenic and rural.

• Seeing the Uk portrayed positively in different media makes people want to come here, either to work, study of just to visit. For example tourism in the UK increased after the 2012 Olympics in London because it was broadcast around the world.

• Exports of similar media products may increase, strengthening the UK’s economic influence.

• UK media exports can inspire people or companies to create or develop new media products, for example ‘The Weakest Link’ started in the UK up the format was bought by more than 40 other countries, including the US, Australia and France.

• Some people copy the clothes or hairstyles of celebrities that they admire, so British celebrities have an impact on fashion around the world and can boost sales of products that they use or endorse.