Ownership and structure of the Television sector

Television is one of the biggest sectors within the Media industry with a lot
of competition that employs over 50,000 people, TV broadcasting like
many other media sectors such as film is dominated by a few main
broadcasters, however there are also many smaller broadcasters. Big
broadcasters in this sector are The BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.
BBC stands for The British Broadcasting Corporation, it is one of the
largest broadcasting organisations in the world. The BBC is funded
by the TV licence fee that is paid by UK households and business
who have televisions. The BBC is independent from direct
government intervention, its activities being overseen by the BBC Trust.
The BBC provides eight national TV channels which are BBC One, BBC Two,
BBC Three, BBC Four, CBBC, CBeebies, BBC News, BBC Parliament as well
as radio broadcasting, BBC Online and BBC iPlayer.
BBC working across different media such as TV, Radio and Online is a
massive asset because it means they can reach out to a much larger
audience for example familys will most likely be watching the main
channels on TV but other sectors such as radio means that people who
dont have access to a TV such as workers who have jobs where they have
to drive can tune into BBC Radio or for people who have missed a show on
TV can tune into BBC iPlayer to watch it on.
This all increases the profit because BBC have so many options across
different sectors which means they reach out to a bigger audience and
therefore make a bigger profit
Vertical integration
Is when a company makes its business bigger into areas that are at
different points on the same production path, such as when a
manufacturer owns its supplier and/ or distributor. Vertical integration can
help companies reduce costs and improve efficiency by decreasing
transportation expenses and reducing turnaround time, among other
advantages. However, sometimes it is more effective for a company to
rely on the expertise and economies of scale of other vendors rather than
be vertically integrated.
An example of this is Disney, Disney can profit from every aspect of
making movies by using only Disney owned companies in which they
market them, distribute them around the world and produce the
merchandise for them.
BBC use Vertical integration as they own each of their channels which
include different content which appeals to different audiences.
- http://www.slideshare.net/emmarogers/pp4-disney-and-verticalintergration

Horizontal integration
Horizontal integration is a strategy where a company creates or acquires
production units for outputs which are alike either complementary or
competitive. One example would be when a company acquires
competitors in the same industry doing the same stage of production for
the creation of a monopoly. An example of this is Disney again. After
reaching a certain level of success, Walt Disney was considering ways to
expand and increase profits. Disney started out as an animation studio
which was targeted for children and families, which also represent their
currently core target audience. However in the process of developing their
company, Disney did a horizontal integration into live action films. For
example the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. In this manner the
company managed to reach new audiences and control a bigger share of
the film industry.
Multinational
A Multinational corporation has its faculties and other assets in at least
one country other than its home country. These companies have offices
and or factories in different countries and usually have a centralized head
office where they co-ordinate global management. Very large
multinationals have budgets that exceed those of many small countries.
Sky and BBC are good examples of these companies.
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/multinationalcorporation.asp

Conglomerate
A conglomerate is a corporation that is made up of a number of different
seemingly unrelated business. In conglomerate, one company owns a
controlling stake in a number of smaller companies, which conduct
business separately. Each of a conglomerates subsidiary businesses runs

independently of the other business divisions, but the subsidiaries

management reports to senior management at the parent company.
Examples of these are The CW and ABC
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/conglomerate.asp

Private ownership
Private ownership is funded simply by advertising. Therefore Private
ownership's is more able satisfying the company shareholders rather than
the publics interest. Private ownership defiantly had more varied channel
choices. You find with private that certain channels are only aimed at one
type of audience for example MTV is only aimed at an audience between
the ages of 16 - 24 therefor the advertisements on these channels would
be different from the adverts on a Discovery Channel. BBC however is
targeted at all types of audiences so the shows viewed on this channel will
be more varied and have different target audiences for every show.

The big advantage of Private ownership is that as its run purely on

advertising funds there are many companies desperate to advertise their
products on TV as its now own of the most influential sources of Media
today. This means that the more popular the shows and the channels the
more money it will cost to advertise during these times and that means
the more money the Channel will get to fund more shows. The
disadvantage to private ownership is that as BBC is public owner before
creating a new show they spend a lot of money on research to find out
exactly what would be popular before even
funding a show. However a private channel for
example 'MTV' if they liked a show they could
find out without the input of the public and
could be a total flop.

http://www.mtv.co.uk/?
nst=0&s_cid=161&source=google_adwords&gclid=CNaXofeDosoCFYu4Gw
odT0ECTQ

Cross media
The term Cross-Media is often explained as something that includes the distribution of
content (e.g. music, text, pictures, video etc.) amongst different media. One frequently used
combination is television, newspapers/magazines mobile devices and Internet.
Cross media is usually seen as the use of traditional media along each other in an
innovative way. However, the term can be used in a variety of ways; cross-media concepts
are not only formed by means of a commercial purpose (including
marketing campaigns and broadcasting arrangements) but also
depend on the personal lives of consumers. In the current media
landscape consumers control the use of media; they decide when
and where they wish to access specific media and content. A good
example of this is the Simpsons because they originally started as a
TV show but due to popularity they expanded into mediums such as Film, Video games and
comics.

Ownership within TV
There are many big television companies in the UK available on digital terrestrial, satellite
and cable systems. In the UK TV is dominated by a few main public service broadcasters
such as BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 Multichannel broadcasters, Sky, UKTV, Viacom
and Discovery networks, Disney Sony pictures television.
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.phpURL_ID=1525&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

Independents
Independent production companies are companies that usually help other big
companies produce films that are aired on their programs such as BBC. An
example of an independent production company is Endemol shine UK. Endemol
Shine UK is one of Britains largest independent production companies is behind
some of TVs biggest shows. They produce shows such as Big Brother, Black
Mirror, Broad-church, Grantchester, MasterChef, One Born Every Minute, Peaky

Blinders, Pointless, Sunday Brunch, The Fall, The Island, Vicious, 8 out of 10 cats
and many more.
http://www.endemol.com/
Share ownership
Share ownership is when the ownership of a company or corporation is divided into shares
that are owned by different people called shareholders. Shareholders pay for their share and
in return get a slice of the profits the company makes depending on how much of a share
they get. For example Rupert Murdoch owns a share in ITV.

Mergers and takeovers

In a general sense, mergers and takeovers are very similar corporate actions - they
combine two previously separate firms into a single legal entity. Significant operational
advantages can be obtained when two firms are combined and, in fact, the goal of most
mergers and acquisitions is to improve company performance and shareholder value
over the long-term. An example of this in TV is when Disney bought ESPN and merged
with Disneys properties.

Cross media regulation

Cross media regulation is the regulation and control of how much control companies have
over the different sectors of the media in a country so that they do have the monopoly over
the media and so that the press remains free which is important in a democracy. A good
example of cross media regulation is Disney as they own properties over TV and other
sectors such things such as Marvel, Lucas Arts and ESPN.

Sources of income

There are many sources of income that can bring money into a company such as selling a
product or service, selling shares publicly, getting private investment, A good example of this
is the BBC who gets their income differently unlike other TV shows in Britain because
instead of getting money from adverts shown on the channel they get paid through the TV
subscription.
Product diversity
The process of expanding business opportunities through additional market potential of
existing product. Diversification may be achieved by entering into additional markets and
pricing strategies. A good example of this BBC 3 because compared to the rest of the BBC
channels BBC 3 has more comedies and adult content compared to the rest of BBC.

Profitability of product range

A set of variations of the same product platform that appeal to different market segments. A
good example of this is BBC because BBC have wide range of content that appeals to many
different market segments.
Competitors
Competitors are a different company in the same sector that directly challenge another
company in trying to gain more ratings and popularity. A good example of this is Sky sports
and BT sports. Both companies try to buy rights to show as many sporting events as
possible and it is mainly football rights they try to buy the most as its most popular
Organizational objectives
The overall goals, purpose and mission of a business that have established by its
management and communicated to its employees. The organizational objectives of a
company typically focus on its long intentions for operating and its overall business
philosophy. A good example of this is BT as at the moment they have long term goals to
expand sport on the channel as they are building a lot of rights that they acquired.
Customers
Customers in television sector are important because TV channels need so many views to
gain income for the company and this applies to all channels in the TV sector except for BBC
who get money from TV rights.
Licenses and franchise
A Licences is when a company owns a property in a company for example BBC own the
License of EastEnders so no other company can use that license unless the BBC gives
permission. A franchise is a type of license that a party acquires to allow them to have
access to a businesss proprietary knowledge processes and trademarks in order to allow
the party to sell product or provide a service under the businesss name.

National and Global Competition

National completion is when companies rival each other for ratings within the country. A good
example of this is ITV and Channel 4 in Britain because they are competing for the British
public. Global competition is the same but they are competing across borders so a good
example of this would be BBC and SKY because they are targeting a global audience
instead of just one country