Organisation and Income Generation

Public Service Broadcaster – BBC

Public service broadcasters are companies like the British Broadcasting Corporation(BBC).
They are classes as public service because they are funded by the general public through
licence fees instead of getting their funds through advertisements, sponsorships or
subscription services. Because of this, they are seen as the media service that has the most
free will as they do not need any sort of funding from the government, something they are
doing their best to stay away from, even though the government is trying to force it on
them. Nationally, companies such as BBC or RTE do very well because they are always
focused on local issues if there are any and usually hire local talent to produce their
products, which is one of the main downsides with siding with a Private Communications
Broadcaster. Most of their projects are outsourced to other, smaller production companies
who they hire out on a contract basis. Some of their biggest and best work is done through
this method’ a good example being BBC’s hit show Peaky Blinders, which was actually
created by Tiger Aspect Productions who were hired to handle the entire creative process of
the show alongside the writer Stephen Knight.

A Public Service Broadcaster is still relevant today as there are still vast amount of people
that would rather pay a TV licence fee and not pay for anything else rather than bay for a
licence fee alongside other services. Both of these options are still very viable and very
popular. However, there is also a vast amount of people who would rather pay a
subscription over time rather than pay for a TV licence in a lump sum – which is also a valid
argument to make. Most people these days think that they do not get enough out of the TV
licence to warrant them paying it and would rather pay for a streaming service instead.

Streaming services are slowly becoming a household stable all around the world. Three of
these services would be Netflix, Amazon Prime and NOW TV. These services typically make
most of their money from the subscription fee they charge, be it the ordinary entrance fee
or the higher tiers of fees that you can pay. Though, they also make a lot of money from
other sources like product placement or creating their own originals, that way they can
make high-quality products without needing to pay for the licenses for them. This has
shown to be quite useful, as Netflix’s show ‘Stranger Things’ is the most popular on the site.

Key Benefits of Sky 1:

• Good originals
• A good selection of other shows
• Movies on demand
• You can download products instead of streaming them which means they won’t lag.
• Easy to finance
• Usually included in a lot of other bundles such as with Virgin Media.
• Cheaper than a lot of other services.
A monopoly and an Oligopoly are two different economic market structures that can only
exist when there is something called ‘imperfect competition’ in the market. Imperfect
competition is when individual producers or consumers are allowed to exercise their control
over market prices. An example of this would be subscription services such as Netflix;
because we the consumer can choose if we use a thing or not, it would likely affect the
prices, allowing them to raise of lower them depending on their situation. A monopoly
market is what happens when one film firm produces a product that doesn’t have any
competition. An example of this would be Disney by the way they buy up a lot of studios,
effectively buying out their competition. A Oligopoly market would be when two or more
firms control the market with equal standing in their significant influence in the market.
They are equals and are likely to stay that way. Because of this, movies are likely to get
better in this environment. Sony pictures, Universal pictures and Paramount pictures are all
examples of this.

Horizontal and vertical integrations are strategies that businesses use in the same industry
or production process. Whenever a horizonal integration is in place, a company will take
over another company that operates at the same level of the value chain, as in they are
taking in another company the same size as their own, not bigger or smaller. An example of
this was when the Walt Disney Company bought out 21st Century Fox along with all of it’s
assets for $52.6 Billion in stock. A vertical integration is when a company owns or controls
its suppliers, distributers or retail locations to control its value or supply chain. An example
of this would be Netflix, as they control everything that they offer, such as their suppliers,
distributers and locations because they are an online streaming service.

Independent Production Companies are companies that work outside of the major film
studio system. They produce their own movies and then are distributed by other
independent entertainment companies. These films are usually very distinguishable, down
to the content, subject matter or general style or artistic vision that the filmmakers have.
These movies are generally lower budget, as they do not have the funding that major film
companies have. A few examples of this would be A24 productions with ‘The Lighthouse’,
Amblin Partners with ‘1917’, Blumhouse productions with ‘The Invisible Man’ and Bold Films
with ‘Whiplash’.

Channel Proliferation is when proliferation of service channels as a result of social,

economic, technological and regulatory forces are driving a digital transformation that is
reshaping the global services industry. Multi-channel TV is known as a television provider;
something along the lines of paying for Sky TV or using FreeView, as multiple channels come
included with each. The number of channels are vast.

The Broadcasting Act of 1990 was what established the network frame that regulates the
independent television and radio services; giving them different rules which they had to
abide by in order to broadcast their products. In 1996, these rules were revitalised and
made relevant for the broadcasting of television digitally, which contained multiple more
multiplex licences to use. It also provided the induction of Radio Multiplex serviced and
regulated digital terrestrial sound broadcasting. This was then known as the Broadcasting
Act of 1996.
The internet is now arguably the best way to consume television. Most people don’t bother
watching television how they used to; opting to supplement that for the use of streaming
services, since you don’t have to wait until your favourite television show comes on
anymore, it’s always there waiting for you whenever you want to watch it. A good example
of these would be Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu Plus, Disney Plus and a whole plethora
of others. However, more traditional platforms such as BBC and Channel4 have gotten in on
the act, too, making their own services like BBC iPlayer and Channel4OnDemand.

Satellite television comes from providers such as DirecTV, which happen to be delivered by
radio waves and received with a satellite dish. Cable television comes from providers such
as SKY and are delivered to you through coaxial cable connection, which is where the name
cable comes from. Digital or IPTV (internet protocol television) comes from providers like
PRISM TV and are delivered via the internet through a privately managed network.

The term regulation means the action or process of regulating or being regulated, which
means to control or maintain something. An example of this would be the regulation of a
company and what they can do. De-regulation means the opposite; the removal of said
regulations.

The term desensitisation means the act of being desensitised to something, or the lack of no
longer feeling anxious about something. This can happen from repeatedly seeing something
until you no longer feel a certain way about it. An example of this could be violence in
television shows. It used to be a taboo thing, but now almost every show includes it, which
means that we are less likely to feel anxious about it now compared to how people felt
about it twenty years ago.
The concept of the Watershed has become blurred because the idea of what should and
shouldn’t be shown on television before the watershed become increasingly different. For
example, twenty years ago, a show like the likes of ‘Family Guy’ would have never been
shown before midnight, let alone before the Watershed. Now, episodes are played all
throughout the day, because people have accepted the content in it and no longer view it as
taboo as it once was. This is the case for a lot of these kinds of shows, most notably ‘the
Simpsons’.

4. What are the main roles of Ofcom and briefly the ASA? (250 words)

Ofcom, otherwise known as the Office of Communications, is the government-approved

regulatory and competition authority for broadcasting. Ofcom have a wide range of powers
across the television, radio, telecoms and postal sectors. Ofcom have a duty to represent all
of the interests of the citizens and consumers by promoting a healthy amount of
competition and protecting the public from what they would deem as harmful or offensive
material. Though, sometimes people tend to think that they do not do a well enough job in
fulfilling those promises. Though, everything is subjective, and what Ofcom deem offensive
or harmful, somebody else may not and vice versa.

Some of the main areas that Ofcom provide are licensing television shows and other media
properties, researching different media properties, codes, revising and making different
policies for media production companies to abide by, hosting competitions and making sure
that media properties are viable for competition and protecting the radio spectrum from
abuse, this means making sure that other independent radio stations (pirate stations) don’t
interrupt other stations.

The ASA, also known as the Advertising Standards Authority, s the United Kingdom’s
independent advertising regulator. Their job is to make sure that advertisements around the
UK media stick to the advertising rules that are set for them. In the end, their goal is to make
sure that every advertisement that is placed in the United Kingdom is a responsible ad; one
that they will be proud of in ten years.