Media Ownership

Public Service Broadcast (PSB)

Public broadcasts are across many different media including radio and TV. These are funded by licence fees, this avoids any commercial pressure. Licence fee is the money that the public pay for the ability to watch TV. PSB's are public services, as opposed to exploitation. An example of this would be the BBC as it is the purest form of broadcasting. Other broadcasters have public service for example ITV have to have at least 1 hour of religious themed broadcast per week, this is why they will show 'songs of praise'.

Commercial Broadcasting

Commercial broadcasts is TV broadcasting by privately owned corporate companies. This is shown on both radio and TV. For example SKY and ITV. This is where the audience isn't served but instead they become the product.

Corporate and Private Ownership

These are companies that are not owned by an individual, this means that it is owned by a group. These can include PSB and commercial broadcasts. An example of this would be Newscorp.

Globalization

This is where a company has a build in more than a single country. There are many examples of global companies. A media related one would be Disney as they own more than one company and are one of the biggest shareholders in the world. Making them a global company. Advantages of this would be having a larger / wider audience and also economies of scale.

Concentration of Ownership

This is where a handful of companies own almost all of the world media. An example of this would be news corporation. This company owns FOX and SKY. By doing this they knock out the majority of the competition. This is called synergy, otherwise known as cross platform integration.

Vertical and horizontal integration

Horizontal integration is where a parent company owns other companies within the same sector. An example of this is would again be Walt Disney as they also own Pixar and Lucas arts. This is also known as monopolization, but in most companies there are laws against this happening. For example Rupert Murdoch cannot buy any more newspapers as he already owns the majority of the news. On the other hand vertical integration is where a single company for example a production company will buy a distribution company. This means that they will make more money as they don't have to pay off profits to the distributor because they won that company. An example of this is Warner studios, as they own many different sectors. For example the Production, Distribution and Exhibition of a certain production.

Sources of funding

Licence fee 

This is the way that the BBC is funded. This is where the viewer pays £145.50 every 10 years in order to watch TV. Without paying this licence you are breaking the law.

Subscription

This is where you pay a set amount of money for a certain service or package. Prime examples of this would be SKY and Netflix. This is because they supply a subscription service in order to watch programs and films.

One off payment

One off payment is when you buy a physical copy of a media product. An example of this would be buying a DVD or game.

Pay per view

Pay per view is very common when it comes to sports. For example you sometimes will get the option that for a live event you pay a certain amount of money to watch the live coverage. This often includes wrestling and boxing.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship is another way that companies can get money through advertisement, but it is different because it will be placed or themed. An example would be how Halford sponsors Motoring themed programs on Dave. This means that they will have a related advert that will always appear before and after segments of the program. For this Halfords would have paid Dave in order to get the slot.

Advertising

Advertising is a promotion for a product, these appear in commercial breaks for programs. These change the nature of the media producers. These are some of the main sources of funding for channels example of these are ITV, SKY and channel 4. The BBC does not have adverts as it is funded by licence fees. This is where the public

Product Placement

Product placement is a very common thing within modern media. This happens quite a lot within films. For example James Bond; he always wears an Omega watch and drives an Aston Martin. This is more of a discrete form of advertisement. This also links in with funding as Sony used a lot of product placement in 'Skyfall' but they also helped fund the multi-million pound film.

Private Capital

This can range anything from friends and family to private investors. Depending on how big your project is depends on how much investment you will need. If it is a production where you need a couple hundred pounds then you might be able to scrape it together through asking friends and family. On the other hand if you needed 10 thousand pounds then you would need to pitch your idea. In the professional industry private investors are often used when funding a film. Examples of these would be people like Robert Rodriguez and Megan Ellison who funded film like 'Sin City' and 'American Hustle'. Another not so common example was when Vin Diesel funded his own film 'Riddick'.

Crowd Funding

Crowd funding is now a very popular form of funding. This is done via pitching your idea to the public in order for them to chip on some money. Of course this involves them wanting something back such as a profit if it is successful. This can be done through all sorts of media for example TV, Games and Movies can all be crowd funded is people like your idea. A lot of modern productions are crowd funded, an example of a crowd funding website would be kick starter. A film called Veronica Mars last year managed to get a total of $5.7 million dollars which is almost 3 times what they asked for. This is a prime example as it shows how very successful it can be.

Development Funds

Development funds are when a company will invest in your films. An example of this would be the BFI (British film institute). They will give you money in order to make your production if they think that it is worth it. Another example is Creative England. Both of these will help fund your idea if they think it is good enough.