"Media production is dominated by global institutions, which can sell their products and services to national audiences." To what extent to you agree?
The statement as to whether global institutions dominate media production is a complex argument but fundamentally, it would appear that they do have media domination. Using the film industry as an example, huge conglomerate institutions, who are also global institutions, produce large, big budget films that are usually very successful. The success benefits the big companies in many ways such as money, recognition, respect from smaller companies and other industries, etc. This is them control and power over the industry and other independent companies, which is why it is a common belief that they dominate the media production industry. However this is not to say that they dominate all areas of film industries as independent institutions such as DNA Films, who produce smaller cult films, can often be better at accommodating for specific target audiences better than big media conglomerates.
These global institutions, also known as conglomerate institutions, are extremely money orientated. An example of the sheer volume money they have access to, was when Disney, a media conglomerate, purchased Lucas Film and along with it all the rights to the whole Star Wars franchise for $46 billion. This purchase was made without any additional external financing, they simply had the cash flow to make the investment. In addition, very shortly after, Disney followed up the purchase by announcing that they would also be creating six more Star Wars films as a part of the franchise. Due to the mass ownership of other companies by Disney in the film industry, it is vital that Disney generates a vast amount of money in order to pay for the huge infrastructure and overheads. This is why it is so important for the conglomerates to mass produce mainstream films (which guarantees more profit as it is aimed at all areas of the four quadrant); with huge budgets, such as the budget for Star Wars: Force Awakens which was $230 million, and massive marketing campaigns so that they create an enormous amount of profit. It is essential they generate cash to support their subsidiaries. Not only does Disney's financial strength allow them to produce successful blockbuster films that dominate the ox office but they also have the means to eliminate competition. Instead of competing with other successful or new and upcoming media companies, Disney can buy the company and along with eliminating the competition, they will also have access to everything the company produced in the past. This demonstrates the domination global institutions similar to disney can have, therefore agreeing with the statement, in media production as the money allows them to have control over hundreds of other media companies.
Domination in the film industry is often surrounded by the amount of success an institution has in their media products and a big part of success in media products, relies on the quality and quantity marketing. As mentioned previously, media conglomerate companies generate ver large sums of money. Evidently, they are able to ensure the success in their media products by excelling in the marketing campaigns. When considering the marketing for Star Wars: Force Awakens, Disney did not leave anything to chance. They spent over $29 million on the marketing campaign for the film which puts them at 38th place in terms of motion picture advertising budgets for the year. Not only did they use all their subsidiary companies to branch out into other ares of the film industry but they also synergised with other companies in the industries such as the clothes industry, where they released Star Wars merchandise; they synergised into the food industry when they collaborated with supermarkets, the make industry with brands such as Cover girl. Disney was able to achieve this domination through their incredible reputation and popularity This demonstrates the sheer scale of the media that Disney had the power to dominate.
In addition, not only does the financial strength give Disney the ability to have a strong marketing camapaign in Britain and America, but it gives them the ability to market internationally. The Star Wars franchise has never been popular in China due to the political climate when the trilogy was first released, but it wasn't until the release of the Star wars: Force awakens that they decided to target and attempt to expand their Chinese audience. The pulled publicity stunts including 500 stormtroopers lining the Great Wall of China and using Chinese celebrities such as Lu Han to promote trailers. The film became from almost non-existent to breaking records record for the best box office on a weekend realise in China $33 million. Disney was able to use its subsidiary companies to expand world wide and promote its new product internationally, this demonstrates the influence that disney had soon the success of its media products and demonstrates how this global institution can impact internationally to audiences.
Although it might appear the media conglomerates and global institutions dominate the whole of media production, there are intact other successful independent institutions. Although Ex Machina was a low budget film of $15 million and only managed to make $39.6 million in the Box Office which looks pathetic compared to Star Wars' $2 billion, the film was still a success. It is often the case the independent media companies produce smaller niche films because they simply do not have the financial strength to cover a big budget, blockbuster film. However, niche films are often produced to accommodate for only one area of the four quadrant. In Ex Machina, the target audience was around the ages of 15-24. Due to the fact that they had a much smaller target audience, they could focus on satisfying their target audience thoroughly. Where as in mainstream films produced by global institutions they can only touch on each area of the four quadrant. therefore the cult film could perhaps be considered higher quality to the target audience. However despite the high quality of production in Ex Machina by DNA Films and Film 4, they still did not have the resources to distribute the film to a worldwide audience. Therefore they had to synergise with a global institution Universal Studios to distribute their product. This again argues that media production is dominated by global institutions as independent companies do not have the resources to produce, distribute and exhibit their products.
In my opinion, media productions is dominated by global institutions. This is because as the consumption of media products grows more accessible to more and more people, an increasing amount of money is being poured into the industry. This results in these huge conglomerate companies expanding even more as they have so much ownership in the industry therefore a lot of the money is being fed into their systems. This is increasing their success rate as they are being able to keep improving their media products and along with their success comes media dominance.
In conclusion I believe that media production is heavily dominated by global institutions who have the means to sell their products and services to national audiences. I believe that dominance in any industry can be achieved through wealth and there is not difference in the media industry.
Domination in the film industry is often surrounded by the amount of success an institution has in their media products and a big part of success in media products, relies on the quality and quantity marketing. As mentioned previously, media conglomerate companies generate ver large sums of money. Evidently, they are able to ensure the success in their media products by excelling in the marketing campaigns. When considering the marketing for Star Wars: Force Awakens, Disney did not leave anything to chance. They spent over $29 million on the marketing campaign for the film which puts them at 38th place in terms of motion picture advertising budgets for the year. Not only did they use all their subsidiary companies to branch out into other ares of the film industry but they also synergised with other companies in the industries such as the clothes industry, where they released Star Wars merchandise; they synergised into the food industry when they collaborated with supermarkets, the make industry with brands such as Cover girl. Disney was able to achieve this domination through their incredible reputation and popularity This demonstrates the sheer scale of the media that Disney had the power to dominate.
In addition, not only does the financial strength give Disney the ability to have a strong marketing camapaign in Britain and America, but it gives them the ability to market internationally. The Star Wars franchise has never been popular in China due to the political climate when the trilogy was first released, but it wasn't until the release of the Star wars: Force awakens that they decided to target and attempt to expand their Chinese audience. The pulled publicity stunts including 500 stormtroopers lining the Great Wall of China and using Chinese celebrities such as Lu Han to promote trailers. The film became from almost non-existent to breaking records record for the best box office on a weekend realise in China $33 million. Disney was able to use its subsidiary companies to expand world wide and promote its new product internationally, this demonstrates the influence that disney had soon the success of its media products and demonstrates how this global institution can impact internationally to audiences.
Although it might appear the media conglomerates and global institutions dominate the whole of media production, there are intact other successful independent institutions. Although Ex Machina was a low budget film of $15 million and only managed to make $39.6 million in the Box Office which looks pathetic compared to Star Wars' $2 billion, the film was still a success. It is often the case the independent media companies produce smaller niche films because they simply do not have the financial strength to cover a big budget, blockbuster film. However, niche films are often produced to accommodate for only one area of the four quadrant. In Ex Machina, the target audience was around the ages of 15-24. Due to the fact that they had a much smaller target audience, they could focus on satisfying their target audience thoroughly. Where as in mainstream films produced by global institutions they can only touch on each area of the four quadrant. therefore the cult film could perhaps be considered higher quality to the target audience. However despite the high quality of production in Ex Machina by DNA Films and Film 4, they still did not have the resources to distribute the film to a worldwide audience. Therefore they had to synergise with a global institution Universal Studios to distribute their product. This again argues that media production is dominated by global institutions as independent companies do not have the resources to produce, distribute and exhibit their products.
In my opinion, media productions is dominated by global institutions. This is because as the consumption of media products grows more accessible to more and more people, an increasing amount of money is being poured into the industry. This results in these huge conglomerate companies expanding even more as they have so much ownership in the industry therefore a lot of the money is being fed into their systems. This is increasing their success rate as they are being able to keep improving their media products and along with their success comes media dominance.
In conclusion I believe that media production is heavily dominated by global institutions who have the means to sell their products and services to national audiences. I believe that dominance in any industry can be achieved through wealth and there is not difference in the media industry.
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