The document provides information on ownership, funding, and technology in the UK television and film industries. It discusses public service companies like the BBC and private commercial companies like ITV. It also describes multinational conglomerates that own major media companies, like Disney, Time Warner, and News Corp. The document also outlines various funding models including TV license fees, advertising, subscriptions, and new revenue streams from online content. Finally, it lists several technological milestones in film and television such as the introduction of color, CGI, and streaming services.

1. UNIT 8:
UNDERSTANDING
THE TV AND FILM
INDUSTRYA S S I G N M E N T 1 : O W N E R S H I P, F U N D I N G A N D
T E C H N O LO G Y

2. GRADING CRITERIA PART A & B:
• P1 - describe ownership and funding in the television and film industries with some
appropriate use of subject terminology
– You need to define all of the following terms to do with ownership and funding
• M1 - explain ownership and funding in the television and film industries with reference to
detailed illustrative examples and with generally correct use of subject terminology
– You need to thorough explain the definitions using detailed examples from the UK TV and global
Film industries
• D1 - comprehensively explain ownership and funding in the television and film industries
with reference to elucidated examples and consistently using subject terminology correctly
– You need to use secondary sources (quotes from books, magazines, newspapers, websites) to
support what you are defining and explaining.

3. A) OWNERSHIP OF THE UK TV AND
THE GLOBAL FILM INDUSTRY
i) 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?

4. A) OWNERSHIP OF THE UK TV AND
THE GLOBAL FILM INDUSTRY
ii) 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?

5. A) OWNERSHIP OF THE UK TV AND
THE GLOBAL FILM INDUSTRY
iii) Multinational Conglomerates
 Multinational - An organisation that which 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?

6. A) OWNERSHIP OF THE UK TV AND
THE GLOBAL FILM INDUSTRY
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

7. A) OWNERSHIP OF THE UK TV AND
THE GLOBAL FILM INDUSTRY
 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%)

8. A) OWNERSHIP OF THE UK TV AND
THE GLOBAL FILM INDUSTRY
iv) 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

9. A) OWNERSHIP OF THE UK TV AND
THE GLOBAL FILM INDUSTRY
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

10. A) OWNERSHIP OF THE UK TV AND
THE GLOBAL FILM INDUSTRY
v) Vertical Integration
– The merger or takeover of companies operating at different stages of the production/distribution
process.
– Total vertical integration gives a company control of a product from raw materials to distribution.
• E.g. In media Industries, the takeover by newspaper owner of the distribution service and retail outlets
such as newsagents would be vertical integration.
– Can you think of any media companies that are Vertically
Integrated?

11. A) OWNERSHIP OF THE UK TV AND
THE GLOBAL FILM INDUSTRY
vi) Horizontal Integration
– Where a media company owns several businesses in the same sector of the industry.
• E.g. Trinity Mirror newspapers own both the Sunday Mirror and The People
What are the benefits of this system for a company?

12. A) OWNERSHIP OF THE UK TV AND
THE GLOBAL FILM INDUSTRY
vii) Synergy
– This is the relationship between media products that cross-promote each other.
• For example – the synergy between the James Bond film franchise and the video games
• This relationship works because the audience is attracted to elements they recognise from the
films, while the games act as a kind of advertisement for the films
• If a company is Horizontally Integrated this process is easier – why?
Can you name any other media products where there is synergy?

13. A) OWNERSHIP OF THE UK TV AND
THE GLOBAL FILM INDUSTRY
viii) Cross Media Ownership
– The ownership of several companies tat produce different media
Can you think of any companies that have Cross Media Ownership? What are the positives
and negatives of this system?

14. A) OWNERSHIP OF THE UK TV AND
THE GLOBAL FILM INDUSTRY
ACTIVITY:
You are now going to complete the worksheet. You
need to research some of the UK’s most prominent
Public Service Broadcasters and Private
Broadcasters and outline their role and function.
This activity should take between 10-15 mins

15. B) 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.

16. B) FUNDING
• 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

17. B) FUNDING
• 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
– Sale of programmes/productions
– Merchandising

18. B) FUNDING
• 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
– Sale of programmes/productions
BskyB made a total of £7.235bn last year

19. C) TECHNOLOGY
• For this assignment you need to research the following technological advancements in
Film and TV:
– The first silent black and white films made in 1895 – ‘Arrival of a Train’
– The first ‘talkies’ in 1926
– The first colour films in 1935
– The introduction of Widescreen technology in the 1950’s
– The introduction of CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) in the 1970’s
– The use of CGI in the 1990’s
– The introduction of 3D in the 1950’s and in the 2000’s

20. C) TECHNOLOGY
• For this assignment you need to research the following technological advancements in
Film and TV:
– The first television broadcast in Britain in 1928
– TV Broadcasts were live until the 1960’s
– Colour TV broadcasts in Britain in 1967
– Electronic chromakey technology in the 1970’s
– Satellite and cable TV development during the 1990’s
– The beginning of streaming TV – Netflix and Amazon Instant Video

21. C) TECHNOLOGY
• For this section in the assignment don’t forget you need to do the following:
– Pass = a definition of the technological advancement in film and TV
– Merit = a relevant example of the technological advancement in film
and TV
– Distinction = a secondary source of information to support the
point you are making. You may also want to talk about the positives
and negatives of the particular positives and negatives.