1. How and why is it important to consider convergence when planning for the future in the media
industry?
Convergence is the trend for different technologies for how the media can be delivered to an
audience. Convergence has changed media therefore making it important, 50 years ago the cinema
experience was very different you had to go and see the one film that was showing that week and
that would be the only way you could see it. However now a days there are various different
platforms to watch films on. For example cinemas now have multiscreens and more choice than 50
years ago and offers up to 8 films for you to choose from. Also now you can watch films online, on
DVD and through an internet TV which widely expands the audience for all films. This is important
for future planning as they can think of new ways of making watching films even more convenient
for the consumers.
Consumers want the media to be even more portable and this is important for planning for the
future as then the industry know what the consumers want. For example, Ipads. These can access a
wide range of platforms such as the internet, gaming, film, music and newspapers. For example I for
example take into account the price of me doing all these different things, if I have more money I will
go to the cinema to watch the film or if I don’t have as much I will watch it on a DVD or online. The
media industry has to take this into account to make convergence beneficial to consumers.
Newspapers are now even more accessible for a wide range of audiences. For example some
people prefer to read a paper copy of a newspaper however other people may not have the time to
go out and buy one and prefer to read it online or download it. For example on your phone or on
your computer at work, I personally prefer a paper copy as it doesn’t have the same feel online. This
should be important as convergence helps the media industry to cater for a wide range of
consumers.
However convergence Is also important in finding out the negatives of the media industry and how
they can try to stop things like internet piracy and copyright theft. Now you can watch/download
films online illegally convergence helps industry’s to plan how they can combat these problems. For
example they can block sites or report sites which allow consumers to download films for free, thus
making convergence important as it highlights the key problems to the media industries who are
losing profits and funding.