Interactive Media - Connections & Ownership

Connections

There are certain connections within each sector of the creative industries. I will now discuss these connections.

Film advertisements such as trailers or reviews are shown on television and even newer media such as the Internet. In 2012, The Dark Knight Rises was advertised multiple times on television as was The Amazing Spiderman. The main reason for this is because so much of the population watch television and specifically within certain time slots. Advertisers will seek this information and research when is the best time to show their trailer, some films will even include competitions. -The Dark Knight Rises TV advert 

Also, films and television both use animation. For example there have been many hugely successful films that used forms of animation such as Toy Story, Shrek and Space Jam. Popular television shows use animation too, simply because it's eye-catching and memorable. TV shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy are animated.

Viewers and listeners can interact with TV and Radio nowadays using forms of social media. People can use Twitter to join discussions on TV such as The Nolan Show. People can use facebook to get in touch also, and people can even text radio stations song requests. Cool F.M often asks for music requests.

Advertising can be done in many new ways these days. Whether it's a film, game or TV show the company will likely set up a Facebook page in which people can 'like' in order to get prizes and enter competitions. These companies use Twitter for the same reason. Some companies let users win prizes such as games consoles.

Films & games also have connections in that if a game is released and is successful it may result in a director/production company to make a film of the game. A notable example is Prince of Persia which came out 2010 and the whole series of games were out years before. It can be the other way around with games like Wreck-it Ralph being released after the film.

Ownership

Public owned companies are companies that have sold an amount of itself to the public which means shareholders have claim to a fraction of the companies assets. A privately owned company is usually a smaller company which is owned by the founders or investors.

A multinational company is a company that has operations in more than one country, sometimes known as international companies. An example is Allianz.

Conglomerates is when two or more companies combine and branch out into different business under one corporation. They are usually multinational and successful. Samsung is an example.

'Cross ownership is a method of reinforcing business relationships by owning stock in the companies with which a given company does business' - Wikipedia 

Voluntary companies are companies that are non-profit and in some cases not set up by the government but by a group of people.

Diversification is when a company will use new markets and new products to gain more income. Newspapers like The Sun and The Sunday Times have all of their articles on their website now and they even have an app available for smartphones which makes newspapers obsolete.

Understanding Interactive Media

Television
Television is one of the most popular forms of entertainment and a big part of the creative media industry. The average British resident watching around twenty hours of television per week. Unlike when television was first released, it has competition from other forms of media such as the internet which allows users to watch t.v shows online. 

There are around 850 independent production companies. These companies are responsible for some of the most notable shows on t.v today such as Big Brother or X Factor which pull great numbers. In 2002, the second series of Big Brother on Channel 4 had an average viewership of 5.8 million. Channel 5's Big Brother series opened with figures just under the 3.5 million mark just losing out to BBC's DIY SOS. http://www.thedrum.com/news/2013/01/04/channel-5-celebrity-big-brother-launch-loses-out-bbc1s-diy-sos-ratings-war

Employment

Sixty-two percent of the UK's television industry is based in London however there are production companies and broadcasting companies in Bristol, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds. Women make up about 40% of the television industry workforce which is a decrease from 2004 when that figure was closer to 50%. http://www.creativeskillset.org/tv/industry/article_6777_1.asp

Media & Interactivity
Nowadays, with television evolving viewers have more options at their fingertips rather than just having the ability to switch channel. Viewers can now pause, rewind and fast forward television that they missed and even pause live tv. Years ago, people would have had to tape something they knew they were going to miss.

Popular shows are now incorporating new media such as Facebook and Twitter to get the audience involved and this will give the viewers more reason to keep watching as their opinions can be heard. An example would be The Nolan Show.

http://blueprintfiles.s3.amazonaws.com/1321208239-Employment-in-the-creative-industries.pdf

Radio

The radio industry is evolving just as the television industry is. Years ago, people were actually buying radios whereas nowadays people take them for granted. If you buy a television today, it doesn't have to be the most expensive one on the market and it will have radio on there. People can now use their television as a means of listening to radio. Companies such as BBC are a big part of the radio industry with as they have many radio stations available (Radio 1, Radio 2 etc). Radio 5 live, in particular is popular with football fans as they can hear commentary on matches as they're happening while on the road or at home.

'The industry has been growing steadily in recent years and now employs over 22,000 people (more than terrestrial TV) in a wide range of occupations. Employers range in size from the BBC and larger commercial radio groups to not-for-profit community radio stations run mainly by volunteers.' - 

Radio Industry - Skillset

Digital Radio has many benefits over analogue. Digital radios search for available stations automatically which means they are easier to use which is a big factor if you consider the audience using them. There will be also many more stations to choose from, which gives the audience more options. Digital radio has better sound quality and many other benefits over analogue. - Pure - Switchover

Funding

Radio uses on air advertisements. Big companies will advertise on certain radio stations depending on the size and success of the radio station. Time of the day is also a big part of radio advertising similar to television advertisement. Generally, mornings are more valuable. Commercial broadcasters are funded by these adverts whereas public service stations are funded by either the U.K Government or the license fee.

Many broadcasting companies (BBC) own many radio stations as well as television stations. They will advertise on their to gain consistent income.

Film

516 films were released across the UK in 2007, a 58% increase over the decade. UK films, including co-productions, accounted for 21% of releases and 29% of the market by value.

In 2006, the UK film industry contributed £4.3 billion to the UK economy, up from £3.1 billion in 2004. - http://www.creativeskillset.org/film/industry/article_6763_1.asp

The film industry in the UK employs around 30,000 people - The vast majority (62%) are in exhibition, with a third (34%) in production and the remaining 4% in distribution.

Production - This is producing something to be exhibited. After the pre-production, which is the research and planning the filming can then begin. Things that play into the success of production are; experience of the crew, preparation, relations between crew, finance and scale of production. Production - info

Exhibition - This is the viewing. You have to consider where it is being shown, the duration and what exactly gets shown. Making sure no footage will offend any audience.

Distribution - This is all to do with the marketing and promotion of the film. It is much easier for distributors to promote a film successfully if the film has acclaimed actors and directions involved.

Companies & Money

Some notable companies are Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 20th Century Fox, Dreamworks and Universal Studios. They receive money from the film being sold on DVD, merchandise and the film being shown at the cinema. The money received from these events is then split between the sectors, distributors, producers and writers etc.

The Lottery funds filmmakers across the U.K. - British film industry is set to receive millions of pounds worth of extra Lottery money - Metro.

Animation

'Animation companies currently provide employment for around 4,700 people throughout the UK, of whom nearly two fifths are freelance or on short term contracts' - skillset website

Notable animation studios are Aardman Animations, Blue Sky Studios, Cartoon Network Studios and Fox Animation Studios.

Animation's funding depends on the product, if it's a film it will gain money the same way a film does. If it's a small team they'll have to invest themselves and gain money through promotion and selling the product. It is funded by either the animators themselves or the same way as film is funded if the animation is going to be a feature film.

http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/funding/talent_escalator/shortanim.aspx

Animation is a popular and creative way for companies to get their brand known. Whether it is stop motion, 2-D or 3-D. Examples of this are Underdog Insurance which uses stop motion, Protect Your Bubble which uses 2-D animation or Microsoft which used stop motion.

Gaming

In the 1980's the gaming industry exploded and has therefore become a household sector in the creative industries. Before this explosion in popularity, there were only 2 or 3 teams that would create games but now there are hundreds across the globe. Two big factors that play a role in the evolution of games are wireless platforms such as mobiles and internet (online gaming & purchasing games online). Social network sites have included games such as Facebook which popularised Farmville. Companies such as EA (Electronic Arts), Activision, Ubisoft,  Rebellion, Square Enix, Blizzard, Rockstar Games and Criterion. All of these companies develop and publish games for consoles made by Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo.

Gaming is very profitable, companies promote their games in the same way film teams promote their product with big games being as successful as films, such as Grand Theft Auto IV which was released in 2008 and has sold over 25 million copies across the globe. Call of Duty Black Ops - $650 million within 5 days of being released which set a record and beat Spider-Man 3 (film). 

Indie games are usually self funded as a big publisher isn't going to spend their money on it. However, well-known game developers such as EA will have an impressive resume and a good demo and therefore publishers will be willing to fund their project. Companies like EA are so big now they are publishers as well as developers. 

'The UK games industry employs 9,000 highly skilled development staff, 85 per cent of whom are employed outside of London. 80 per cent of the workforce in game studios such as Blitz, Climax, Exient, Jagex, Kuju Entertainment, Rebellion and Ubisoft Reflections are qualified to degree level or above.' Tiga.org

New Media

New Media is  a user having access to content wherever they may be on a wide ranges of digital devices such as phones. Social Networks are examples of new media. Users can interact with new media in many ways as 'new media' is a very broad term. Accessing messages, social networks blogs or podcasts are all forms of new media.  New Media usually requires a computer or a mobile device for users to interact with it.

Examples

Facebook

Twitter

Forums

Smart TV

Publishing

Publishing categorizes books, journals, magazines, mailing lists and newspapers. Publishing employs over 200,000 people with over 50,000 in the newspaper industry. A lot of these companies are located in London.

'The Publishing industry generates a turnover in the region of £10.1 billion GVA (Gross Value Added) and is one of the biggest earners and exporters for the UK Creative Media Industries. 'Skillset - publishing

Structure and Ownership: Case Study

Structure and Ownership of Public and Private Media Companies

Public owned companies are companies that have sold an amount of itself to the public which means shareholders have claim to a fraction of the companies assets. A privately owned company is usually a smaller company which is owned by the founders or investors.

British Broadcasting Corporation - Public

'Separate operational areas manage the day to day working of the BBC. These include the Director-General's Office and Management Board, Audio and Music, BBC North, Finance and Business, Future Media, News Group and Vision.'

It is important to note that the BBC have three commercial subsidiaries which are BBC Worldwide, BBC World News and BBC Studios ( and Post Production ). 

Structure
Royal Charter - This is a document which gives a grant to a company or an individual. The BBC is established under a charter and the charter in effect today began in 2007. It's objective is to set out the BBC's public purpose.

BBC Trust - BBC Trust is under the charter and sets the direction of the company, in basic terms it lays down the road map of where to take the BBC. It also is entitled to act on behalf of the licence fee payers. They must understand the needs of their audience.

Executive Board - The Executive Board has many responsibilities, they include; delivering the BBC's services and running the business with the strategy set by the BBC Trust.

Media Regulators - Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) takes responsibility for the Government's regulation duties. Ofcom is an independent regulator and they have duties to regulate, television, radio, telecommunications and wireless communications.  

Global Radio - Private

I will look at Global Radio Holdings Ltd who are the largest commercial radio company in the country although they are in other segments too such as television and publishing.

Structure
Ashley Tabor - Founder & Executive President

Charles Allen - Chairman

Stephen Miron - Group CEO

Richard Park - Group Executive Director & Director of Broadcasting

Michael Connole - Chief Financial Officer

Mike Gordon - Managing Director 

Will Harding - Group Strategy & Development Director


http://www.thisisglobal.com/about-us/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/insidethebbc/managementstructure/bbcstructure/

Income

The BBC make most of their money from the TV licence fee. 

'The money received from the fee represents approximately 75% of the cost of these services with most of the remainder coming from the profits of BBC Worldwide..' - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licence#United_Kingdom

As well as the TV licence fee, the BBC also sells many products linked with their popular shows such as DVD's and magazines. Magazines will be sold at most news agents and will commonly revolve around the BBC's most popular shows such as Top Gear. It's a similar case with the DVDs that the BBC sell which are usually popular series box sets.

Another way in which BBC could get income is from their websites. Although their TV channel doesn't show adverts, if residents outside of the U.K go on the BBC's websites advertisements are displayed.

Finally, BBC iPlayer is a service launched by BBC in 2007. It has been a consistent part of the BBC since that date as it allows users to catch up on shows they may have missed during the week. 

BBC iPlayer is so popular nowadays that the BBC released an iPlayer app for most smartphones. BBC iPlayer is also available free on Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, iPad, Sky and BT Vision.

Global Radio get their money from on air advertisements. Big companies will advertise on certain radio stations depending on the size and success of the radio station. Time of the day is also a big part of radio advertising similar to television advertisement. Generally, mornings are more valuable.

Global Radio Holdings Ltd own many radio stations as well as television stations. They will advertise on their to gain consistent income.

Structure of Interactive Media

Film 
The UK's film industry is part of a constantly evolving creative media landscape.

When we talk about the film industry, we're referring to its six different component parts: Development, Production, Facilities, Distribution, Exhibition and Export.

The nature of the industry means production companies are often set up for a specific production and then close down when production is complete.

So while our latest research shows there are around 400 'permanent' (i.e. registered) companies in the film industry, this figure varies depending on the number of productions being worked on at any one time. - 

Statistics

Of the companies existing today, we can say approximately 43% are production, 13% are distribution and the remaining 44% are exhibition companies.

In 2006, the UK film industry contributed £4.3 billion to the UK economy, up from £3.1 billion in 2004.


516 films were released across the UK in 2007, a 58% increase over the decade. UK films, including co-productions, accounted for 21% of releases and 29% of the market by value.

http://www.creativeskillset.org/film/industry/article_6763_1.asp
In 2007 the UK had the largest number of digital screens in Europe at 296 screens, double the number in 2006.