Private media companies rely on advertising revenue, while public service media are funded through license fees. Examples include Channel 5 (private) and BBC (public). Private companies have more freedom but rely on steady advertising, while public media aim to serve all audiences. Large conglomerates like Disney own multiple media across industries through various subsidiaries, pursuing horizontal and vertical integration. Disney specifically owns film studios, parks, consumer products, TV networks, and interactive divisions. It competes with other major conglomerates for market share in television and beyond.

1. Media Company Case
Study
Task 1 Understand the structure
and ownership of the media sectoryour name here

2. Types of ownership: private ownership
Private ownership refers to a company that is owned and operated by on one or more individuals
and not by the government, with airing advertisements being their source of income.
An example of private ownership is the British television network channel 5, which is owned by
Northern & Shell and relies on airing advertisements in order to generate their income. The main
advantage of this particular type of ownership is that it involves minimal government influences
and therefore gives the media freedom, giving the owners the ability to run the company how
they want to. Also due to the fact that there is the threat of losing market share to a number of
competitors, it encourages the companies to put forth their best product and therefore can result
in better quality products, in which case audience measurements will increase therefore the
broadcaster will be able to charge more for airing advertisements and as a result will increase
the profit made.
However this type of ownership does have its disadvantages such as it relying on airing
advertisements to function, their must be advertisers willing to advertise on their particular
channel, radio show etc, without this there will be no funding to produce new shows and so on.
Also privately owned channels are able to fund shows without the input of the public, unlike
publicly owned which spend a lot of time researching what the audience wants and needs to see
before funding a show, therefore there is a higher chance that privately owned broadcasters will
create a show that is un successful

3. Types of ownership: public service
Public service ownership refers to radio, television and a variety of other media outlets who’s
primary mission is public service. The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is a publicly
owned broadcaster, owned by the UK government. Unlike privately owned broadcasters which
rely on airing advertisements to generate funding, public service broadcasters such as the BBC
are funding by the annual television license fee which is charged to all British households or
companies using any type of equipment to record or receive live television broadcast and
therefore the BBC airs no advertisements.
The advantage of public service broadcasters is that they will feature a wide variety of shows,
due to the fact that it is owned by the public and has to cater for all the publics wants and
needs.

4. Types of ownership: independent
Independent Ownership refers to a company which is independently funded. A prime
example of Independent ownership is ‘Neon Gold Records’, a New York/London
based independent record label. Independently owned companies are usually made
up of a few people, due to the fact that because of the internet providing a platform
musicians, radio producers, film makers and game developers to showcase their
work to millions, there is little need to get involved with larger companies.
The main advantages of independent ownership is that these companies have a lot
more to say about how the company is run and complete control over what they
decide to produce, unlike companies with different types of ownership.
The disadvantage is that due to the small budget available within independently
owned companies, the outcome tends to be much less ambitious and often have to
secure extra funding and finance in order to keep the company functioning.

5. Types of ownership: conglomerate
A media conglomerate refers to a company that owns large numbers of companies
across various mass media such as radio, television, publishing, films etc. A prime
example of media conglomerate being Walt Disney.
Walt Disney is Americas largest conglomerate in terms of revenue. Walt Disney owns
various companies across a variety of mass media including:
Walt Disney Studios: includes the companies film, recording label and theatrical division.
Parks and Resorts: Includes theme parks and cruise lines
Disney’s Consumer Products: produces toys, clothes and other merchandise
Media Networks: Includes television properties
Disney Interactive: Includes Disney internet, social media, virtual worlds and games.

6. Types of Companies:
Horizontal Integration
Horizontal Integration is when a company buys competitors in the same section of the
industry. A prime example of horizontal integration is when Universal conglomerate bought
EMI and as a result EMI became a subsidiary of Universal.
There are a number of advantages of horizontal integration. One of these being that
horizontal integration result in a larger company and therefore produces more products or
services. Also due to this it also results in a saving in costs. One of the main advantages is
that horizontal integration results in an access to new markets, due to the fat that not only
will the company have their existing markets, they will have access to the markets of the
companies they bought.
However there are disadvantages such as the fact that it can result in the business getting
too big too fast, therefore causing problems with management of resources and as a result
causing problems with communication and co-ordination because the newly bought
buisness tries to fall in line with the existing company.

7. Types of Companies:
Vertical Integration
Vertical integration is when a company owns and profits from all stages, including the
production, distribution and consumption. In previous years it was only large companies
such as Sony that were able to afford to produce, distribute and profit from consumption,
however due to modern technology such as the internet, much smaller companies such
as independent record labels.
A prime example of a vertically integrated company is apple because they produce
everything including the hardware and software to go with it and therefore receive all the
profit.
The main advantage of vertical integration is that because they are not paying any one
else to produce anything for them, they therefore as a company receive all the profit.
However the main disadvantage is that vertical integration is only effective if it is a large
company with a large skillset. Also it costs a lot of money to set up a vertically integrated
company.

8. Cross Media Convergence
Cross media convergence is when a range of media is integration within a single
piece of technology product. A prime example of this is the I Phone which can play
music, phone calls, check emails and so on. An advantage of this is that one
product allows you access a number of things and is a lot more financially viable
than buying more than one product.
Cross media convergence is common across various media sctors, for example
both the gaming industry, film industry and TV industry tend to use popular music
throughout their productions, therefore promoting the song and benefiting the artist.
A prime example of this is the TV show which involves contestants singing exiting
songs, therefore promoting the original artist.

9. Synergy
Synergy is when a variety of companies work together in a way that is mutually
benifitial. A prime example of this is the X-factor which is run by Sony, Simon Cowell
and ITV. The advantage of this is that all three companies benefit from working
together, due to the fact that Simon Cowell owns the programme X-factor which is
shown on ITV therefore when millions of people watch the show, both Simon Cowell
and ITV benefit, then when people vote for their favourite music acts, not only does
Simon Cowell and ITV benefit, so does the record label Sony.

10. Describe the Structure and of Ownership of
Either The Film, TV, Gaming or Music
Industry
Within the music industry there are the 3 major record labels, Sony Music
Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group. There are also both
horizontally and vertically integrated companies within the music industry, Universal
Music Group bought EMI, therefore becoming a horizontally integrated, meaning that
the previous major label EMI became a subsiary of Universal. A prime example of a
vertically integrated company within the music industry is Sony which takes care of and
profits from the production, distribution and consumption. Independent records such as
‘Neon Gold Records’ are much smaller than the major 3 and often don’t have the
funding's to be vertically integrated. However due to modern technology it is so much
easier than previous years for independent labels to produce their own music by
recording music on computers and distribute these singles by burning CD’s at home,
also due to Web 0.2 it is very easy for these companies to promote their label and
music on social networking sites such as Facebook.

11. Disney
Walt Disney is Americas largest horizontally integrated conglomerate in
terms of revenue. Walt Disney owns various companies across a variety of
mass media including:
Walt Disney Studios: includes the companies film, recording label and theatrical
division.
Parks and Resorts: Includes theme parks and cruise lines
Disney’s Consumer Products: produces toys, clothes and other merchandise
Media Networks: Includes television properties
Disney Interactive: Includes Disney internet, social media, virtual worlds and games
.
A well as owning shares in a variety of other
companies including Pixar

12. Ownership & Competitors
Disney was founded in 1923 by Walt Disney and Roy O Disney, from
1923 until 1945 Mr Walt Disney acted as president, since then a
number of men have acted as president. For the last 14 years Robert
Iger has acted as president.
Disney's main competitors are NBC Universal media, DreamWorks,
Twenty First Century Fox, all of which re conglomerate companies
owning over 65% of the TV market.

13. Audience
Disneys primary target audience is In the United States fiscal 2010 marked
Disney Channel’s most watched year on record in total day and total
viewers, as well among the key audiences of kids aged 6-11 and tweens
aged 9-14. Disney Channel also celebrated its eighth consecutive year as
television’s No. 1 network in primetime among kids aged 6-11 and its 10th
year at No. 1 with tweens aged 9-14, thanks to a strong slate of original
programming.