Exam Section B:

Audiences & Institutions

1. The issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice. This
include the ways in which ownership of a media institution can affect or influence the
content and distribution of its media texts as well as the significance of media
ownership to the way audiences receive texts.

2. The importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production,
distribution and marketing

3. The technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of
production, distribution, marketing and exchange

4. The significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and
audiences and the effect this has on media ownership

5. The importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences

6. The issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically,
British) by international or global institutions

7. The ways in which your own experiences of film consumption illustrate wider
patterns and trends of audience behaviour.
The 7 key concept areas
Define an institution
A Media Institution is an established and regulated organisation
that owns, and produces many different media products,
systems, and texts.

An individual or collective group of people who read or consume
any media text

Define an audience
The Big Six
Media Conglomerates
(Media Ownership)
Massive multinational media companies who own:

Film Studios
TV Stations
Record Labels
Magazines
Newspapers
Books
Internet platforms
A conglomerate has a lot of money to put into film production. They can also market their film through
all of their subsidiary companies.
This practice is known as SYNERGY.
Conglomerates
CBS Corporation
British Sky Broadcasting
Group Plc
Liberty Media
Time Warner Inc.
News Coperation
Walt Disney Disney Company
Comcast company
Major studio (subsidiary) Big conglomerate (parent)
Warner Bros. Pictures Time Warner
20
th
Century Fox News Corporation
Walt Disney Pictures/Touchstone Pictures The Walt Disney Company
Universal Studios General Electric/Comcast
Columbia Pictures Sony
Paramount Pictures Viacom
US Film Industry is controlled by the Big Six; this is an oligopoly which has many
subsidiaries.
The effect of this is that there is plenty of room for big companies to develop expensive
film. This however, means that smaller companies often struggle in the market.

Disadvantages:
- No drive to improve products
- The Big Six make the rules
- Pricing might be disadvantageous for the consumer.
As a result of this oligopoly, the Big Six control the US
Film Industry and are able to have higher budget and can
afford the latest technological advances, such as CGI. For
example, The Walt Disney Company and their major
studio Walt Disney Pictures have several divisions
throughout the company, one of which, Disney
Consumer Products, creates and sells Disney
merchandise. This is done through the use of synergy in
order to maximise their profits.

Disney as an example is such a large conglomerate
(like all of the Big Six) that it can afford to produce
products such as films, soundtracks and merchandise,
with a high budget so are not limited at all.
Mass/global audience
The Big Six are so important in the global film industry as they dominate
most of it, in particular they dominate the UK Film Industry. They do this
because they are able to; the Big Six have such high budgets that they can
afford more distribution of their products and so the product is widely
available. For example, the Big Six account for between 70-75% of the UK
Box Office takings.

The Big Six are global institutions because they are big subsidiaries of
major global conglomerates. As a result of this, the Big Six aim their
products at a much bigger audience a mass audience. Also, many British
films are generally aimed at much more niche audiences because they try
to reflect British culture and only some forms of British culture are
appealing to the US, for example The Kings Speech, which is why these
films appear to do much better then This Is England, for example.
Independents
Some producers work outside of the major studies. Often
British productions are made by smaller outfits like Warp Films,
working with Film 4 or the BBC to try to secure extra funding
and help with distribution. Often films made this way struggle
to get more than 1 or 2 million budgets and consider a
success to break even, with DVD after-sales included.

US independent film maker Orin Peli made Paranormal
Activity for just $15,000. But he needed Paramount, a US
major studio to distribute his film. In doing so he made over
$190 milllion. This shows there are exceptions to the rule that
big budge films always do best...

British Film
Have you seen a British film in the last month? If Yes, which one(s)?
(Approximately) how many American films have you seen in the last month?
Why do you think yourself/most people watch more American films than British films?
Would you say that British films have a distinctive style to them? If so, describe.
Do you think British films share particular beliefs?

Which of the following do you believe is British:

The Full Monty, Brassed Off, Shakespeare in Love, Slumdog Millionaire, Frost/Nixon,
Trainspotting, The Quantum of Solace, Elizabeth, Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince,
United 93

How would you define a British film?

What is the most important for a film to be classed as British:
Made by Brits
Made about Brits
Made for Brits


The British Film Institute (BFI) divides films into
the following categories:

Category A: films made with British money, personnel and resources

Category B: films co-funded with money from Britain and from foreign
investment, but the majority of finance, cultural content & personnel are
British

Category C: films with mostly foreign (but non-USA) investment and a
small British input, either financially or creatively

Category D: films made in the UK with (usually) British cultural content,
but financed fully or partly by American companies

Category E: American films with some British involvement


http://sites.king-
ed.suffolk.sch.uk/media/
Does it matter?
Do you think we should try to maintain a British film industry?

Would there be a problem with the world relying only on the
American film industry?

What strategies should Britain adopt to survive/improve their
film industry; with profitable, exploitation movies or critically
acclaimed, socially aware movies?