Sources of Income

The sources of income in the creative media sector come from many places depending on the company, show, etc.

A popular source of income in the television industry is product placement, which used to be only a part of US television, but has now been introduced to the UK. The first appearance of product placement in the UK was a coffee machine on ITV's This Morning. The company that made the coffee machine paid ITV to have their product on the show. This Morning did not have to mention it or the brand, but it just had to be in the background. The product placement logo appears in the corner of the titles of any show that uses it.

For most television channels, funding comes from advertisements. The only channels that do not have advertisements are BBC channels as the BBC gets their funding through the licence fee. Adverts advertise certain products and try to influence the viewer into buying them. The company that wants to advertise on television pays the channel for it to be aired in between a certain show or at a certain time.

 

These sources of income are the most popular, but there are also things such as sponsorships, downloads, sales, and merchandise to consider in other parts of the creative media industry. For example in the publishing sector, income comes largely from newspaper, magazine, book, etc. sales and advertisements. Advertisements are popularly used in most newspapers and magazines. Businesses, members of the public, and others pay the publication to advertise their business, product, etc. for different prices depending on the size and placement of the advert.

Media Industry Terms

Gobalisation
Globalisation is the process by which the world is becoming increasingly interconnected as a result of massively increased trade and cultural exchange. Examples of this are the Big Six comapnies who have businesses and divisions all over the world.


Merger
This occurs when two comapnies combine into a single entity. An example of this is the BSkyB and News Corporation merger.






Takeover
A takeover occurs when one company acquires control of another comapny. An example of this is when Facebook tookover Instagram for $1 billion in cash.





Vertical Integration 
This happens when a company expands its business into areas that are different points of the same production path. An example of this is Richard Branson's Virgin. Virgin have television companies, trains, planes, formula one cars, and more. All these sectors are very different but are all owned by the same company.



Horizontal Integration
This happens when a comapny expands its business into different products that are similar to current lines. an example of this is Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. News Corp owns TV stations and newspapers, all similar things within just the media sector.

The Big Six

90% of the world's media is owned by "the big six." These are:

• News Corp;
• Viacom ;
• Disney;
• CBS;
• Time Warner;
• GE.

News Corp
News Corp is owned by Rupert Murdoch and its companies reach many countries across the globe such as the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and places like Africa and the Middle East. They own companies such as Fox and Sky and news papers such as the Sun, and many more.







Viacom
Viacom is home to entertainment brands spanning across 160 countries and territories. They reach audiences through television, motion pictures, online, and mobile platforms. The own popular divisions such as MTV Networks, Paramount Pictures and BET Networks.





Disney
The Walt Disney Company is a leading diversified international entertainment and media enterprise with five business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media. Disney reaches audiences in North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe, South Africa, the Middle East and Russia.






CBS
Columbia Broadcasting System is based in the USA and is the second largest TV broadcasting company, second only to the BBC. CBS owns companies such as Columbia Records, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, publishing companies, radio and more.





Time Warner
Time Warner is the world's second largest conglomerate, second only to Disney. They have a net worth of $41-$46 billion with divisions in television, film and publishing.






General Electric (GE)
General Electric is a media giant owning many of the world's most viewed television programmes and advertisements. They control much of the world's media, namely NBC, one of the worlds leading entertainment companies.




These companies all have a huge impact on our world. As they own so much of the media industry, they can control the things that we see, hear and read and as a result, we may be swayed in our opinions on certain matters subconciously. In the UK, Rupert Murdoch owns most of the newspapers and television channels, and this gives him power to influence our thoughts. For example, the political party that he supports is more likely to get in power as he will favour them in his newspapers etc.