7.1 Structure and Ownership of the Media Sector

Audrey Muanza

The media industry is a huge business and within it has seven main media sectors. These media sectors are; music,film,television,animation,publishing and the gaming industry. In this guide I will be focusing on the Film Industry.

The music industry is a mixture of companies and individuals that create and sell live performances,sound recordings and more music related things for money. An example of a music company is The Universal Music Group who own a number of music labels and brands such as Def Jam Records. The film industry includes film production companies,film studios,screenwriting, film festivals, actors, film directors etc. Meaning that the film industry definition are those involved in the process, end product and distribution of the films. For instance, Leonardo DiCaprio is part of the film industry as he is an actor in some of the films produced in Hollywood such as Wolf of Wall Street distributed by film company Paramount Pictures. The television industry is another popular sector, the television industry is

The animation industry is a rapid growing industry as popularity has been increased over the last few years. Animation is not only children's entertainment and cartoons but growing in the film industry as well. Blockbuster movies such as Shrek and Ice Age are examples of adult animations. The publishing industry the preparation of  products being distributed for sale, examples of print based products are magazines and books. For instance, cosmopolitan magazine is a print based product disturbed by Hearst Magazine around the world for sale.  The gaming industry is the sector involved with the production, marketing and sales of video games. The video game industry is popular amongst all ages and is continuously evolving and developing. The video gaming industry is everyone involved in the creative process such as the writers, animators, directors etc. An example of a big game is Grand Theft Auto certified an 18 but loved by everyone. Over the years changes and different games have been made under Grand Theft Auto and even to this day is still popular.

In the film industry there are a number of sectors that the industry is split into. The sectors are public ownership, private ownership, multinationals, public service media, independents and conglomerates. Private ownerships are companies that are owned by individuals, families or shareholders etc. For instance, Kevin Hart, a comedian, created his production company called 'Hartbeat Productions'. Kevin Hart owns his production company and was able to produce his own stand up comedy film and later give it to Summit Entertainment to distribute. Public ownership is completely different to private ownership, public ownership is when a company is run by the public e.g. the government. For instance, Film4 are under the Channel Four Television Corporation who are a publicly owned. The Channel Four Television Corporation fund their films and documentaries through advertisements broadcasted on their channels. Being publicly owned means that they rely on feedback from their audiences in order to know what they're doing right but also make any improvements. Where as Independent companies have to finance and create their own films as they are not being backed by larger companies. For example, Focus Features are a known company that distributes independent films, the most recent being 'The Walk Of Shame' starring Elizabeth Banks.

Conglomerate are large organisations that own multiple companies. A great and popular example of this is The Walt Disney Company. The Walt Disney Company are a multinational mass media and conglomerate company, they have five sectors Internet, Toys/Gaming, Television, Radio and Film. Being a multinational business means that specific company have a number of offices in different countries other than their home country. Disney are based in Paris, America and other countries.

The Channel Four Television Corporation is also a cross-media diversification as they distribute and produce Television shows and films. They have their own channel where they can prepare and distribute their films as well as show other films and shows. The channel Four Television Corporation are known for their product diversity as they produce and distribute documentaries, films and TV shows. Whereas Focus Features, an independent film distributor, rely on the money they earn from investing in their own products and creating other films. This is their source of income. Focus Features have to compete with other film distributors who are bigger and better and are proving to step up as they have released a lot of films other the years, for instance, One Day featuring Anne Hathaway. One Day earnt $56,71 million, a huge success.

In 2014, it was reported that Twenty First Century Fox tried to take over their rival Time Warner but Time Warner rejected the offer. Mergers and Takeovers often happen when one company goes bankrupt or in financial difficulty or they want to join forces to make a bigger,better company. This year Focus Features are set to merge with Universal Pictures as Universal Pictures are a distribution company where as Focus Features are a production company, so both companies can work together to produce and distribute their own films.

The Walt Disney Company are a large business and have a number of franchises. The most recent and popular being Frozen, Frozen was loved all other world and grew so much popularity over a short amount of time. It was so popular that Disney sold games, clothing, a soundtrack, merchandise and even incorporated it into the Disney Theme Park. The Walt Disney Company are a great example of cross media diversification as they branch out in every media division. The Walt Disney Company are a huge global company which means that they have many competitors such as Time Warner Inc and Twenty First Century Fox.