- Film
- Music
- Newspapers
- Radio
- Magazines
- Video games
Refer to synergy, vertical integration, major companies and independent companies in your answer and how they work for each type of media.
1) Film - media ownership's impact upon the film industry varies, much like it's impact on all over media outlets and platforms; however, it is largely dominated by the big six conglomerates: Disney, General Electric, Viacom, Time Warner, CBS and News Corp.
Synergy is best exemplified when it comes to the film industry. Synergy is, of course, the coming together of two or more companies and working together in order to promote both their individual products, in an attempt to create public awareness and interest.
For example, the movie Frozen saw media conglomerate Disney over see it's production under it's subsidiary company, Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Animation Studios. Under the Disney conglomerate, Frozen had a budget of $150 million, and made a total of $1,169,229,000 in total, at the box office. This was helped in due part of a saturation release, which saw Disney flood the market with various adverts and products to raise awareness for the movie. this was affordable due to the massive budget it received, plus the synergy between various companies that saw TV ads and toys made. With the flooding of the market, this left all other competitors virtually incapable of competing.
As part of vertical integration, the movie would first be produced under the Walt Disney Pictures production company, distributed by Walt Disney Studios and then exhibited in cinema, before going to release on DVD or Blu-ray. In addition this would spin-off into other products via horizontal integration. This advantage in the market is viable as Disney is one of the largest media conglomerates in the world, owning multiple subsidiary companies who can operate in different spheres of products i.e. games, toys, devices etc. not to mention the song "Let It Go", sung by Indina Menzel in both the movie and in real life. The success of the song, and its use in the promotional material, boosted both he movie and it's soundtracks profitability.
However the state of the market when it comes to film in media is an oligopoly, as the big six film studios (Warner Brothers, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Pictures, Columbia Pictures and Universal Pictures) dominate the market in North America (making up to 90% combined). This makes it far more difficult for much more smaller, independent film companies to expand and promote in a environment that would bring them profit. This is the ultimate effect of media ownership upon the film industry.
2) Music - ownership in music brings forward a very broad market, ranging from conglomerates such as iHeartMedia to the independent Domino Recording Company.
When it comes to synergy and music, one should look no further than the James Bond franchise, which is infamous for the promotion of both it's movie and theme song. The most recent example would be that of Spectre's "Writing's On The Wall" by Sam Smith. The song reached No.1 in various charts, including the UK Singles chart. It won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 88th AcademyAwards. The movie itself, being produced under Eon Productions (a subsidiary of the conglomerate Danjaq, LCC), had a budget $250 million, while drawing $880.7 million at the box office. The movie received a 65% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 307 sampled reviews.
This also brings up horizontal integration, as Eon Productions (who worked on the movie) would have worked closely with music labels RAK Studios, Abbey Road Studios and The Pierce Rooms. This would see the soundtrack of the movie to be promoted alongside the film itself. With Eon Productions being owned by Danjaq LLC (who own the Bond franchise), it had a large budget to go with the movie ($245-250 million), and the box office result saw a gross of $880.7 million. This shows the amount of success the film drew financially.
In contrast to this, the relatively smaller movie Ill Manors saw BBC Films (among others) produce the film at only $100,000 while making back $453, 570 at the box office. The album iLL Manors (by musician Plan B) saw it's songs used as themes in the movie sharing the same name. Both these products helped promote one another in time for their release. In addition it received critical acclaim, scoring 79% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 28 different reviews. The album itself received a score of 83/100 on Metacritic, as well as achieving the No.1 spot on the Official UK Album Charts upon release in July 2012.
3) Newspapers - one may only take a look at Rupert Murdoch's ownership of various media tabloids and news outlets to comprehend just how extensive his reach is in influencing the media.
A relative U.S.A. Today article concerning the products and enterprises owned by Mr. Murdoch. Murdoch is Chairman and C.E.O. of global media holding company News Corporation, which is currently the world's 2nd largest media conglomerate, and it's successors, News Corps and 21st Century Fox, after the conglomerate split on 28th of June 2013. Not only does this include newspapers, but also cable, TV and film products.
The absolute reach of this man's empire brings synergy almost to a stand-still, as his companies own various subsidiaries under his conglomerate. This means he can advertise stories under his own branches without necessarily needing to cooperate with any outsiders. However, this does not necessarily mean synergy does not exist within Murdoch's own companies, as the empire moves between it's roads. Vertical integration would see the production of The Simpsons under 21st Century Fox, with their own production and distribution companies handling the issue.
The Courier & Advertiser, more commonly known as simply The Courier, is a newspaper published by D. C. Thomson & Co. in Dundee, Scotland. As of 2013, it is printed in six regional editions: Dundee, Angus & The Mearns, Fife, West Fife, Perthshire, and Stirlingshire. This is an example of an independently owned newspaper outlet. They rely on their own funding and cooperation with public opinion.
4) Radio - an independent company is a record label. Unlike a major label they have more control over their creations, they will put videos out on YouTube, record songs on SoundCloud and do live gigs, whereas if they work for a major company they will gain mass publicity but won't be able to release as many songs as they want.
For example, the band Tool had numerous songs released from their Aenima track in 1996; however, when played on the radio they would have to edit and cut out some of the content
5) Magazines - there are a variety of magazine companies across the world, but the biggest in the UK has to be The National Trust Magazine, with a circulation of approximately 2,043,876 buys.
The National Trust Magazine is not, however, the biggest magazine circulating. AARP The Magazine is an American bi-monthly magazine, published by the American Association of Retired People, AARP, which focuses on aging issues. Circulation is at approximately 22,274,096 buys.
6) Video games - the video gaming industry is huge, and varies from large gaming conglomerates such as Activision, Ubisoft, Rockstar, Bethesda, among others.
Of course, the domination of these markets by the massive gaming conglomerates have led to indie games being pushed aside in favor of triple A titles such as Grand Theft Auto, Call Of Duty or Battlefield. In this article, Brandon Guerrie gives his take on the influence of media conglomerates in the gaming industry, saying:
"Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts are such corporates of hogging the spotlight. As always, the Call of Duty franchise releases each successor annually, with little-to-no dramatic change. And boy, do they sell. Is it the appropriate promotion and advertising, or is it just because Activision (or better yet, the name brand) is slapped on the box?"
He goes on to make a point that due to the domination of the market, it leaves little space for others to experiment and create new, influential ideas.
The absolute reach of this man's empire brings synergy almost to a stand-still, as his companies own various subsidiaries under his conglomerate. This means he can advertise stories under his own branches without necessarily needing to cooperate with any outsiders. However, this does not necessarily mean synergy does not exist within Murdoch's own companies, as the empire moves between it's roads. Vertical integration would see the production of The Simpsons under 21st Century Fox, with their own production and distribution companies handling the issue.
The Courier & Advertiser, more commonly known as simply The Courier, is a newspaper published by D. C. Thomson & Co. in Dundee, Scotland. As of 2013, it is printed in six regional editions: Dundee, Angus & The Mearns, Fife, West Fife, Perthshire, and Stirlingshire. This is an example of an independently owned newspaper outlet. They rely on their own funding and cooperation with public opinion.
4) Radio - an independent company is a record label. Unlike a major label they have more control over their creations, they will put videos out on YouTube, record songs on SoundCloud and do live gigs, whereas if they work for a major company they will gain mass publicity but won't be able to release as many songs as they want.
For example, the band Tool had numerous songs released from their Aenima track in 1996; however, when played on the radio they would have to edit and cut out some of the content
Here is the un-cut version:
Tool are unique in that they produce music from their own record label, Tool Dissectional, as well as Volcanoe Entertainment and Zoo Entertainment. with the latter two being subsidiaries under the media conglomerate Sony Music Entertainment.
5) Magazines - there are a variety of magazine companies across the world, but the biggest in the UK has to be The National Trust Magazine, with a circulation of approximately 2,043,876 buys.
The National Trust Magazine is not, however, the biggest magazine circulating. AARP The Magazine is an American bi-monthly magazine, published by the American Association of Retired People, AARP, which focuses on aging issues. Circulation is at approximately 22,274,096 buys.
6) Video games - the video gaming industry is huge, and varies from large gaming conglomerates such as Activision, Ubisoft, Rockstar, Bethesda, among others.
Of course, the domination of these markets by the massive gaming conglomerates have led to indie games being pushed aside in favor of triple A titles such as Grand Theft Auto, Call Of Duty or Battlefield. In this article, Brandon Guerrie gives his take on the influence of media conglomerates in the gaming industry, saying:
"Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts are such corporates of hogging the spotlight. As always, the Call of Duty franchise releases each successor annually, with little-to-no dramatic change. And boy, do they sell. Is it the appropriate promotion and advertising, or is it just because Activision (or better yet, the name brand) is slapped on the box?"
He goes on to make a point that due to the domination of the market, it leaves little space for others to experiment and create new, influential ideas.
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