The Structure of Media Organizations

Media Organizations follow a traditional industrial structure:

Production

Distribution

Exhibition and/or Point of Sale

Media Economics: Revenue

Direct Payment (Consumers Pay: CDs)

Indirect Payment (Advertisers Pay: Broadcast TV)

Both (Cable TV: Subscriptions and Ad Support)

Economies of Scale Enhance Profit Potential

The Structure of Media Industries

Conglomeration: Disparate Business In One Corporation

Concentration: Few Owners In One Industry

The economics of the media industry

Patterns of ownership

• Concentration of ownership

• Conglomerationvertical integration: movie industry

horizontal integration: Time Warner

A QUESTION: WHOSE PURPOSES ARE SERVED BY THESE TRENDS?

The Structure of Media Industries

Monopoly

Oligopoly

Limited Competition

Vertical Integration

The economics of the media industry

The effects of conglomeration

• Media control and political powerRupert MurdochThe concept of hegemony

• Media ownership and diversityHomogenization: Local News Efficiency and Quality: Recorded Music Industry

Profit: Incentive or Obstacle?

Impact of Advertising

A QUESTION: WHOSE PURPOSES ARE SERVED BY THESE TRENDS?

Media Economics: Social Issues

Concentration: The Limits of Anti-Trust Law

Consumer: Choice or Control

Cultural Imperialism

Media Marketplace and Democracy

Trifurcated Legal System As Regarding Mediated Communication

(from Poole)

•Free Press (Print)

•Common Carrier (Telephone)

•Government Regulation (Broadcast)

Conversion of Modes

(from Poole)

•Free Press (Print)

•Common Carrier (Telephone)

•Government Regulation (Broadcast)

?Cable TV, Satellite, Internet, PCS, etc.

The Structure of Media Industries

Deregulation and Special Exemptions as Responses to Convergence of Modes

The Structure of Media Industries

Current Trends: Globalization and Specialization