The Content of Media

ALFONSO SÁNCHEZ�TABERNERO

THE CONTENT OF MEDIAQUALITY, PROFIT AND COMPETITION

abertura:THE CONTENTS OF COMMUNICATION MEDIA 11-03-2009 19:42 Page 5

TITLE

THE CONTENT OF MEDIAQUALITY, PROFIT AND COMPETITION

AUTHORAlfonso Sánchez-Tabernero

TRANSLATORTeresa Bernardes

PROOFREADINGGuilherme Pires | Media XXI

LAYOUT DESIGN AND COVER ARTAndré Dias Janicas

PUBLISHED BYMedia XXI | Formalpress, Publicações e Marketing, lda.

PRINTPublidisa

ORIGINAL TITLELOS CONTENIDOS DE LOS MEDIOS DE COMUNICACIÓN

CALIDAD, RENTABILIDAD Y COMPETENCIA(2008), Ediciones Deusto, Planeta DeAgostini Profesional y Formación, SL

This book is copyright. All r ights reserved. Material in this book may not be published,

broadcasted, rewritten or redistributed in any form without the written consent of the Author and

the Publisher.

FORMALPRESS � PUBLICAÇÕES E MARKETING, LDA.

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1st Edition – April 2009

ISBN: 978-989-8143-11-2

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CONTENTS

PREFACE 9

INTRODUCTION 13

CHAPTER I OFFER EVOLUTION 19

Spectation and Segmentation 20

Improverishment of Contents 32

Quality and Costs 42

Offer Configuration and Changes in Property 54

CHAPTER II EXECUTIVE PROTAGONISM 69

Publishing Project 71

Information and Entertainment 80

General and Niche Products 92

Gratis and «Direct Payment» 104

CHAPTER III PUBLIC DEMANDS 119

Consume Level and Degree of Satisfaction 121

Audience Investigation 121

Implicit Requests 141

Creation of Values and Consumption Habits 152

CHAPTER IV NARRATOR’S INFLUENCE 167

The Last Mercenaries 169

Professional Standards 177


Talent Substitutes 188

Innovation and Imitation 198

CHAPTER V THE COMPETITORS 209

Monopolies, Oligopolies and Competitors Proliferation 211

Procedures for Market Maintenance 222

The Publicity Sector 234

Mending the Mistakes of the Market 242

CHAPTER VI STRATEGY REVIEW 255

The Long Distance Runner Perspective 257

Misson, Projects and Human Resources 267

Search for the Public’s Loyalty 275

Protect the Value of the Brand 286

APPENDIX I

Campaigns and Quoted Cases 299

APPENDIX II

Tables Index 303


PREFACE

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Dr. Alan B. Albarran, The University of North Texas

The Content of Media - Quality, Profitability and Competence is the latestwork by the distinguished Spanish media scholar Alfonso Sanchez-Tabernero,and will break new ground in our understanding of these important topics.Rather than take a critical approach as so many previous authors do indescribing what is wrong with the media industries, why the content offeredtends to appeal to the lowest common denominator, and why mediaindustries need more oversight and regulation, Sanchez-Tabernero uses thisbook to attempt to explain why the situation exists, by looking at theunderlying factors that have led to the current situation.

Dr. Sanchez-Tabernero has spent several years studying media managementissues, leadership, media content, and the issue of quality in the audiovisualsector. This book is the result of many years of study and research, and willbe a welcome addition to the scholarly literature on the media industries.

The author attacks these topics by building on three hypotheses which I willhopefully paraphrase correctly here in this preface. First, the quality of mediacontent in the audiovisual sector has declined over the last several decades.Second, public demand has not contributed to this decline; in fact, most ofthe public does not care (the latter are my words, not those of the author).Third, the author posits that the vulgarity of the content is risky for thecontent producer.

Sanchez-Tabernero builds on these hypotheses driving this research to cometo some basic realizations: If the hypotheses are true, the author claims it is

PREFACE


probably due to the lack of competitors producing quality content, a lack oftalent from those who make the products, and a lack of professionalism onthe part of the management and executives of media companies. Further, ifthis framework holds, it provides an opportunity to develop strategies to notjust improve the quality of media content, but the competence of mediacompanies, especially from a managerial perspective.

The author delves in to this discussion in six, well-developed chapters thatmake up this work. In Chapter 1, the author looks at the many changes thathave taken place within the media over the past few years as the focus formedia companies has moved to more specialization and segmentation,lowering costs, and diminished quality.

Chapter 2 looks at the various criteria used by media companies in makingcontent decisions; whether the product offer should be information orentertainment; if it targets a general population or a specific niche, andwhether the content will be offered free or require some sort of payment bythe consumer.

In Chapter 3, the author examines the topic of public demand. What are theexplicit and implicit demands of the public concerning media content andquality? How satisfied is the public with media products? How do valuesaffect consumption patterns? These are just some of the areas discussed inthis chapter.

Chapter 4 looks at what the author calls the «Narrator’s Influence» on thesetopics. How much influence do media executives and companies actually haveover the content? What professional standards, if any, are employed? Whatis the role of innovation versus simply imitation of existing content products?

Chapter 5 considers the competitive environment in which media companiesare engaged. Many media companies operate in oligopolistic markets, wherethere are just a few competitors, while some operate as monopolists. Anotherimportant part of this discussion is that of the publicity or advertising sectorthat supports many media enterprises.

In the summary, Chapter 6, Sanchez-Tabernero discusses the importance ofstrategy, predicated by the development of new competition and a betterevaluation of the media sector’s characteristics in a 21st century environment.The author encourages adoption of a strategy of a «long-distance runner» asopposed to only being concerned with the short term.

The book is supplemented with over 30 tables and figures to explain andexpand key concepts and arguments presented in the text, as well as severalcampaigns and case studies used for discussion. This makes the book suitablefor both researchers and for students engaged in studying the media industries.

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THE CONTENT OF MEDIA QUALITY, PROFIT AND COMPETITION


I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Alfonso Sanchez-Tabernero since 1997, andhave heard him present papers at many scholarly conferences as well as readmost of his research. Over time, he has developed in to one of the leadingmedia scholars in Spain, and is internationally recognized for his work, andhis concern for the promotion of human values and morals among themedia industries.

The Contents of Communication Media Quality, Profitabil ity andCompetence tackles challenging issues and offers an analytical approachand ideas to improve the media industries. Media professionals will learn alot by reading this book, and will help even more by acting on the ideaspresented in this work.

PREFACE

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13

In a sunny Summer morning of August, I went to the Barnes & Noble

bookshop in Union Square, where Broadway and Park Avenue cross: I stood

there with two colleagues to take a look at some recently published books,

before going for a walk in New York. We were not thinking of staying too long,

because the three of us had already had a few weeks of study, and we had

decided to take the weekend to visit the city.

In the section of «Media & Journalism», on the 3rd floor of the bookshop, we

stayed longer then we expected: the stock of novelties was abundant, but,

above all, we noticed that most of the books reflected the same worries: the

media were not accomplishing their task of informing the public, the

entertainment content was deteriorating, the obsession of improving the last

line of the results account – the one that indicates the benefits achievement

– demonstrating that the Executive staff was more concerned in reducing

costs instead of improving quality. Wall Street emphasized the commitment of

the company managers in improving their short-term results, the journalists

and in general the creative part of the companies were loosing their

prominence against managers and financial Directors and the mergers were

causing a decrease in the number of competitors in the market, since the

proliferation of means would help the increase of offers.

When we realized that it was a concern shared by so many authors, we

INTRODUCTION

c) introduction:THE CONTENTS OF COMMUNICATION MEDIA 11-03-2009 17:31 Page 13

took a look at the shelves again. Effectively, the same concerns and

warnings were being repeated again and again: «Our Unfree Press (R.

McChesney y B. Scott); «Amusing Ourselves to Death» (N. Postman); «A

Public Betrayed» (A. Gamble y T. Watanabe); «Media Unlimted» (T. Gitlin);

«The New Media Monopoly» (B. Bagdikian); «News Flash. Journalism,

Infotainment and the Bottom-Line Business of Broadcast News» (B.

Anderson); «Kil led. Great Journalism too Hot to Print» (D. Wall is, ed.);

«Manufacturing Consent» (E. Herman y N. Chomsky); «Our Media, not

Theirs. The Democratic Struggle against Corporate Media» (R. McChesney

y J. Nicols); «Tell me Lies» (D. Miller, ed.); «Censored 2004» (P. Phil l ips);

«Free Culture. How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down

Culture and Control Creativity» (L. Lessig)…

In many cases, the titles of the recently published books were clear enough:

the panorama of the media was getting worse. However, when one looked

carefully at the chapters and conclusions, there were only proposals. The

authors only wanted to point out the problems, were thinking that that

complaint would already be enough to solve the situation or maybe they were

not finding a proper solution.

Possibly the standard tone of those publications, the coincidences o f the

diagnosis and the alternative absence would not have caught my attention if

I had gone to Barnes & Noble in another moment. But precisely in that month

of August, I was stating to write a book, to which I had given the title: «The

Content of Media - Quality, Profitability and Competence».

I had decided to dedicate almost all my investigation time of the following

years to that matter, because I was it worried about the course things were

taking and the popularity that some communication media had reached:

superficial and coarse TV-shows attracted great audiences. In the most heard

radio discussions, the same «experts» gave opinions about several different

matters, for example, about the economical and social effects of immigration,

the advances on cellular therapy or the influence of the Gold Century of the

contemporary literature, with a remarkable conviction. The newspapers

reduced their staff to neutralize the stagnation of sales. In the kiosks, some

of the magazines emphasized their sensationalism and vulgarity and some

new ones also had that ability to attract the readers’ attention. Similar deeds


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were produced in the editorial sector, in music industry and in the contents

available on the internet.

Not everybody assesses negatively this phenomenon: the fact of millions of

people devoting their time contemplating the behaviour and listening to the

discussions of a group of volunteers closed in a house and that have nothing

to say, can be interpreted as an interesting sociological experiment, or, for

some, the idea of the hostess of a news program to take off her clothes as

she reads the news – the program «Naked News», with that title or similar

ones, is broadcasted in several countries – can be seen as an impulse to

creativity and freedom of expression.

Nevertheless, the fact that human beings are capable of justifying what they

want, does not nullify the effects of our actions, and, in the media territory, -

for better and for worse – the consequences are almost never small. As the

British producer David Puttnam states, «the images that we see affect us in

each turn of our lives».

A good decision in moral judgements demands precision in the individual

ethical behaviour. Therefore, as far as communication is concerned, generous

and supportive people are better prepared to understand how they should

act then the others that are only interested in their personal benefit.

And, in the field of communication, as in any other, the possibilities of making

a mistake and of degradation are unbelievable: when Goebbels, during his

twelve years at the head of the Nazi Propaganda Office, managed to create

in Germany a trend of favourable thought in his macabre plans for through

manipulation, blackmail and press and radio control, he was not doing more

then taking his project to an end in a terribly effective way. But – as this and

many other examples show – the projects, ideas and opinions of people are

not always right or valuable.

Notwithstanding, it is not easy to solve the problem of the communicationmedia content from a moral perspective, since the appeal to the right decisionis not taken into account by people who are already walking in anotherdirection. The «legal decisions» – specified in rules or prohibitions – do notseem to be efficient enough, among other reasons, because technology –above all internet and the satellites used to transmit pages and radio and TVsignals – make it difficult for governments to control the offer of products andinformation services and entertainment.

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Therefore, we must recognise that the media content can only improve in a

significant way if that possibility is not opposed to the market logic and the

companies interests. To use other words, the proposals will be more effective,

the more they are based in the knowledge of the «rules of the game» of

communication companies and of the other actors in the business.

When we consider the media evolution, we detected some actions that

cannot be argued: the average time of consumption has increased, the

expenses per person in information and entertainment products has grown,

new competitors have showed up, technological innovations have generated

a further market dynamics, legal barriers that stopped the investment in other

countries have become weaker and the profit encouragement is more present

in the communication sector.

Other phenomena, inversely, generate more controversy: has the quality of

the products and services diminished? How does the increasing

commercialisation of the media affect the quality of the contents? Is there

more or less pluralism and change capacity? Up until what point is the public

happy with the available offers in the market?

In these aspects, as in many others, it is not easy to measure reality

because the public´s answers have the tendency to favour the «politically

correct» answers: if we believed that the spectator sees the programs that

they say they do, documentaries would reach very high audience rates and

«reality shows» would get extremely low ratings. Their inclusion in

television's schedule grids would only be explained as a whim or the

obsession of the programmer...

In this research, I start from three hypothesis: 1) In the last decades the

content of the media has impoverished, particularly in the audiovisual sector.

2) The public demands are not the main cause for that tendency. 3) The

vulgarisation of the contents is a high-risk company bet.

This triple starting point, that, in a certain way, contradicts the dominant

opinion among the company’s executive staff and the sector analysts, is

based on the study of the communication industry evolution in the most

developed countries: changes in the offers, in the consumption habits, in the

role played by regulating agencies and in the media and distribution systems.

If the three hypotheses are confirmed, we can conclude that the deterioration


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of the news and entertainment contents obey mainly to factors that we have

not clearly detected : insufficient number of competitors, lack of talent from

those who make the products or lack of professionalism in the executive staff

or management.

Therefore, if we go through that path, we can open a door to hope: instead

of contemplating, in astonishment, the news superficiality and the rudeness

of many entertainment programs, we find out that there are possibilities to

recover part of the lost land. In order to increase the quality of the contents,

it will be enough to manage a more intense competence, some better

prepared professionals or an executive staff oriented to the protection of the

future of their companies. And, in any case, it is more attractive to try it then

to stay at home and whining because things aren’t going well.

To verify the hypothesis, I have selected a descriptive method, based in

geographical market studies, sectors and significant cases. I would have liked

to have other methodological options – like polling the public or Delphi studies

with interviews to the main actors of the communication industry – because

the obtained data would not allow the consequences to be applied to the

goals of this research. Nevertheless, occasionally, the argumentation is

supported by an external quantitative analysis, made by other authors or by

the investigating services of a few communication companies.

In the first chapter of the book, I describe the main changes tried by the

contents of the media in the last years: the offer tends to impoverish and

to break up. Continuing, I try to determine the causes for that evolution: I

analyse which criteria do the companies apply when they decide the type

of content and I raise the question if those criteria are reasonable and if

they are going to continue (chapter 2). I investigate which are public’s

demands (chapter 3), assess the influence of the narrators in determining

the content (chapter 4), identify how it is going to affect the offer

configuration in the increase of the number of competitors and the

development of the publicity sector (chapter 5), and finally, I conclude that

both a new competit ion development and a better understanding of the

sector’s characteristics should take to a revision of the strategies of many

communication companies (chapter 6).

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The Content of Media