Unit 25 assignment 1

UNIT 25
ASSIGNMENT 1:
S T R U C T U R E O F T H E U K T V A N D V I D E O
I N D U S T R Y

A) TV INDUSTRY OWNERSHIP
• When you are writing your assignment you MUST remember to
discuss the positives and negatives of the following types of TV
ownership. You need to discuss how the positives and negatives
affect:
– The audience
– The producers of the programmes
– The company itself
If you do this and give detailed definitions and relevant examples then you should
achieve a Distinction.

Public Service Companies (Public Service Broadcasters)
 Any radio or television station that is set up by the state rather than as a straightforward
business.
 Usually, a public service broadcaster will be expected to do more than simply provide
entertainment.
 The responsibilities of such an institution often include educational broadcasting, provision
of news, exposing the audience to the arts and classical music.
 Can you name any UK Public Service Companies?
 Can you name any UK Public Service Broadcasters?

Private Commercial Companies
– Private Commercial Companies are not constrained by the same guidelines as
Public Service companies
– Do not have a ‘Public Service’ role and function.
– Are profit making organisations – their responsibility is to their shareholders and
not the public.
– They are still regulated and may have a public service responsibility built into their
licenses
• Can you name any Private Commercial Companies?
• Can you name any Private Commercial Companies?

Multinational Conglomerates
 Multinational - An organisation that is not contained within a single country, but operates
globally and has headquarters around the world.
Can you think of any companies that are multinational?

Conglomerate – A large business organisation that comprises a number of different
companies, often linked by areas of interests or commodities, which when brought together
have considerable strength and power.
 There are six corporations that own 90% of the key US/International companies.
 They are:
 Viacom
 Disney
 Time Warner
 General Electric Bertelsmann
 News Corporation
You now have about 5 minutes to find 3 - 5 major media companies that they own

 Viacom –
 Paramount, CBS, MTV Networks, Dreamworks, Channel 5, Nickelodeon
 Disney –
 ABC, Miramax, Pixar, Touchstone, Walt Disney Studios, Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm, ESPN
 Time Warner –
 Parent company of Warner Bros, HBO, CNN, AOL, DC Comics, Cartoon Network, New Line Cinema
 General Electric –
 NBC Universal, The Weather Channel, SyFy, Universal Studios, Working Title Films (UK Film Production company)
 Bertelsmann –
 Sony, BMG Music Publishing, RTL (European Media company), Random House Publishers
 News Corporation –
 20th Century Fox, Fox Broadcasting, MyNetworkTV, FX Networks, MySpace, The Sun newspaper, The Times newspaper,
BskyB (39.1%)

Oligopolies
o This is the dominance over a market exercised by a few large organisations.
o During the Hollywood Studio system era (which started in the early 1930’s and continued
into the 1950’s), the film industry was dominated by the oligopoly of the Big Five and the
Little Three
o Big Five:
o MGM, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, RKO and Warner Bros.
o The Big Five had an oligopoly of the US film industry due to producing and distributing
their own films.
o They had their own cinemas to exhibit their films so had complete control over the process
and profits

o Little Three:
o Universal, Columbia Studios and United Artists
• So called because they were not vertically integrated as businesses in the same way
the Big Five.
• Universal and Columbia produced and distributed their films but did not own
to exhibit them in.
• United Artists only distributed films made by independent producers

Trust Company
 The BBC is a Public Service broadcaster
 BBC Trust exists to work in the interests of the licence fee payer
 Their role is to ‘Serve the Public’
 Their remit is to: Inform, Educate and Entertain
BBC Charter
– The charter is the constitutional basis for the BBC.
– This outlines the duties of the trust and ensures that it acts within the public interest

B) TV INDUSTRY FUNDING
• BBC Income
What is the main way the BBC make money?
– The TV License fee
How much is the TV License fee?
– £145.50 per year, per household
– The BBC makes £3.735 billion per year
How else does the BBC make money?
– Merchandising
– Selling books, DVDs, CDs and magazines
– Selling programmes to other companies/networks.

• ITV Income
– Private broadcasters, such as ITV, must make healthy profits in order to continue
broadcasting as they do not receive revenue from the tax payer like the BBC does.
What is the main way ITV makes money?
– Advertising revenue
– Sponsorship
– Reality TV – e.g. viewer calls
– Sale of programmes/productions
– Merchandising

• Channel 4 Income
– Channel 4 is a Public Service Broadcaster, although, unlike the BBC, Channel 4 receives no
public funding. It is funded entirely by its own commercial activities.
So, how does Channel 4 make money?
– Advertising revenue
– Sponsorship
– Reality TV – e.g. viewer calls
– Merchandising

• BskyB Funding
What is the main income for BskyB?
– Monthly Subscription fees
– £1.33bn last year from 10.24 million pay TV subscribers
How else do BskyB make money?
– Broadband subscriptions – 4.9 million households
– On-demand downloads – Sky Store
– Advertisements
– Sponsorships
– Merchandising
BskyB made a total of £7.235bn last year

PART C OF U25A1: TV INDUSTRY
TECHNOLOGY
• Early TV
– 1st TV broadcast was in 1928
– 1st regular broadcast was in 1935
– It was seen as entertainment at home rather than going to the cinema
• Around this time movie studios tried out new technology like 3D to counteract the threat of
television
– Programmes were mainly broadcast live
– Black and white pictures only
– The picture quality was very poor – 405 lines

TECHNOLOGY (CONT.)
• Video Technology
– In the 1950’s video recording developed
– It became possible to record programmes on tape and broadcast them later
– The early video recording technology was very expensive – the tapes were often reused.

TECHNOLOGY (CONT.)
• Analogue technological developments
– There were advances in the analogue systems in the 1960’s/1970’s
– Due to these advancements the quality of the broadcasts improved – 625 lines
– The first colour images were broadcast in 1967
– These advancements meant that more channels were available
– Teletext became available
– The VCR technology was streamlined and became more affordable for companies

TECHNOLOGY (CONT.)
• Broadcast technology developments
– Further developments in broadcast technology in the 1980’s meant:
• More channels
• Satellite broadcasts
• Cable TV provision

TECHNOLOGY (CONT.)
• Digital technology developments
– The digital broadcast signal first became available in 2007 and eventually took over all
analogue TV signals in 2012. This meant:
• There was a better picture quality – 1080 lines
• More channels
• It was easier to film programmes – smaller/easier to use camera technology – better picture quality
• Easier editing – with flexible digital quality software
• Improved broadcasting – flexible transmission and viewing – satellite, cable, Freeview and internet
TV

PART D OF U25A1: TV LAWS,
REGULATION AND GUIDELINES
• OFCOM – Office of Communications
– Issues broadcasting licenses
– Monitors the quality of the programming
– Investigates complaints
– Can issue fines to TV companies
– Can withdraw a TV companies license

PART D OF U25A1: TV LAWS, REGULATION
AND GUIDELINES (CONT.)
• 1990 Broadcasting Act
– Allowed for the creation of a fifth terrestrial channel – Channel 5
– Encouraged the growth of multi-channel satellite television
– Made it an obligation of the BBC to source 25% of it’s content from independent production
companies

• 2003 Communications Act
– Several regulators merged together to form OFCOM
– Broadcasters were required to make proportion of their content outside the London area –
outside the M25
– More cross-media ownership was allowed
– Allowed Non-European companies to own UK TV companies

• 9pm Watershed
– Starts at 9pm and goes onto 5:30am
– A time in the evening when more explicit material that is unsuitable for children can be
shown. Material may have:
• Sexual content
• Violence
• Graphic or distressing imagery
• Swearing
• Drug taking

Unit 25 assignment 1

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Unit 25 assignment 1