Types of organisations

Types of media organisations

Public, private, regulators

Public service broadcasters- BBC, They gain their money by TV licence, Owned by the BBC Trust. A unique media organisation because it is funded by the public. There are no advertisements unless it is for their own products. They have a responsibility to: Inform, Educate, Entertain. It also has to;

• Be impartial
• Promote education and literacy
• Promote diverse content
• Serve a diverse range of communities including minority groups
• Promote creativity
• Support technological advances

Channel four is a partial public service broadcaster as it has advertisements but is also funded by the public through culture, Media and sport. It has responsibility to;

• Cover the interests of minority groups
• Promote creativity

Private media organisation are any money-making organisations which exist to make a profit for example; ITV and sky.

Other well-known private media organisations include; the sun, paramount studios, twitter and Nintendo. Some of these are large organisations with a global reach.

Sources of public funding:

• The licence fee
• Lottery funding
• Taxpayer’s money

Sources of private funding:

• Advertising
• Subscription
• Sales
• Competition
• Sponsorship
• Private investment

Size and structure of media organisations:

International: operating in a number of countries (global, conglomerates, access to synergy)

National: UK only

Local: local issues and organisation, closeness to audience

Community: views of a particular community, user generated, training

Conglomerate- A large company that has many sub companies/ subsidiaries.

Horizontal integration: companies that own more than one company across a media sector. For example Facebook bought Instagram. Disney bought Pixar

• Increased profit and market share
• Synergy
• Greater influence
• Oligopoly: very few owners in a given industry e.g. social media.
• Monopoly: When one company has a large market share. 25% Sky TV.

Vertical integration: organisations that own companies throughout the different stages of production. For example, a film studio might buy a separate distribution organisation, which means it becomes easier for them to distribute their films and get them shown in cinemas.

• Control over production, exhibition, and distribution
• Possibly unfair political advantage

Co-operative is an alternative type of structure, where there is shared ownership and decision making, a network, shared resources and profits are redistributed.

There are different types of output or products produced by media organisations:

Mainstream: major distribution, high production values, prominent marketing, global reach, conventional features (Vevo on YouTube)

Independent: limited distribution, experimental, lower production values, word of mouth, viral, limited marketing (YouTubers self-producing music videos e.g. grime / indie)

Niche: small, specific audience group, targeted marketing