Understanding Media Industries is the only book that examines the interaction between commercial industry realities and media using a critical media studies approach in a concise, topic driven format that is accessible and engaging for undergraduate students. Designed for Media Industry, Media & Society, and Introduction to Media Studies courses, Understanding Media Industries also works well for courses on media criticism, media literacy, or introductory mass communication.
Contents ; CHAPTER ONE: UNDERSTANDING MEDIA INDUSTRIES ; o Understanding Media Industries ; Why Study Media Industries ; -Defining Media Industries ; Media Industries in Society ; -All Media Matter in the Public Sphere ; o Agency and Ideology in Media Industries ; Forces that Circumscribe Agency ; -Organizational Cultures ; -The Ideological Uncertainty of Media Content ; -Cultures of Production ; o Understanding Media Industries in the 21st Century ; Mass Customization and the Rise of Information Economy ; -Mass Production ; -Long Downturn ; -Mass Customization ; o Questions ; CHAPTER TWO: THE INDUSTIALIZATION OF CULTURE FRAMEWORK AND KEY ECONOMIC CONCEPTS ; o The Industrialization of Culture Framework ; Mandates ; Conditions ; Practices ; o How Does this Framework Work? ; o Key Economic Aspects of the Media Industries ; Fundamentals of Media Commodities ; Media Industry Response to Risk ; -Ownership and Conglomeration Strategies ; -Formatting ; o Conclusion ; o Questions ; CHAPTER THREE: MEDIA INDUSTRY MANDATES ; o What Are Common Mandates ; Commercial Media ; Noncommercial Media ; -Public Mandate Media ; -Community, Alternative/DIY Mandate Media ; -Governmental Mandate Media ; o Mandates in Action ; Establishing the Mandate of U.S. Broadcasting ; o Limits of Mandates ; o Questions ; CHAPTER FOUR: REGULATION OF THE MEDIA INDUSTRIES ; o Why is Broadcasting Different? ; o Who Regulates? ; -International Regulations ; -Self-Regulation ; o What is Regulated? ; Content Regulations ; -Copyright ; Structural and Operational Regulations ; -Ownership Regulations ; -Economic Regulations: Rate Control and Subsidies ; -Licenses and License Renewal ; -Monopoly and Anti-Trust Restrictions ; o Other Regulatory Conditions ; Regulations Governing Distribution ; An Emerging Area: Broadband Policy ; Pro-Social Regulation ; Technological Standards: The Case of the Digital Television Transition ; o Conclusion ; o Questions ; CHAPTER FIVE: ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN MEDIA PRODUCTION ; o The Creative and Cultural Implications of Cost Structures and Financing Mechanisms ; The Costs of Making Media ; -Development Costs ; -Production Costs ; -Marketing and Distribution Costs ; -Overhead Costs ; How Are the Costs of Creating Media Products Funded? ; -Independent Financing of a Single Good ; -Financing a Single Medium through Publisher Funding ; -Financing a Continuous Medium ; o The Economics of Audiences: Ways of Paying for Media Products ; Characteristics of Advertiser-Supported Media ; Characteristics of Media Not Supported by Advertising ; -Direct Pay ; -Subscription ; -Emerging Payment Models ; Characteristics of Media with Dual Revenue Streams ; o Emerging Economic Strategies for Media Industries ; o Conclusion ; o Questions ; CHAPTER SIX: TECHNOLOGICAL CONDITIONS OF THE MEDIA INDUSTRIES ; o Theories of Technological Change ; Circuit of Cultural Production ; o Technology and Other Conditions ; Technology and Industry Structure ; Technology and Prevalent Revenue Models ; o Technological Conditions and Media Industry Practices ; o Industrial Restraints on Technological Innovation ; o Conclusion ; o Questions ; CHAPTER SEVEN: CREATIVE PRACTICES AND MEDIA WORK ; o Creative Visions: Approaches to Making Media ; o Creative Roles Above and Below-the-Line ; o Industry Executives: Enabling and Limiting Creativity ; Commercial Influences: Audience Research ; Commercial Influences: Industry Norms, Organizational Cultures, and Circumscribed Agency ; o Creativity in an Era of Change ; o Conclusion ; o Questions ; Chapter EIGHT: MEDIA DISTRIBUTION AND AGGREGATION PRACTICES ; o Distinguishing Distribution and Aggregation Practices ; o Distribution and Aggregation Industry Roles ; The Roles of Distributors ; The Roles of Aggregators ; o Distribution and Aggregation Strategies ; Windowing: A Changing Strategy of Media Distribution ; o Conclusion ; o Questions ; CHAPTER NINE: DIGITIZATION ; o Understanding Digitization ; o Digitization and Shifts in Production ; Print ; Audio ; Video ; o Digitization and Shifts in Aggregation and Distribution ; Digital Distribution in the Newspaper Industry ; o Digitization and Changes in Use ; Choice ; Fragmentation ; Convenience ; o Coming Change ; o Conclusion ; o Questions ; CHAPTER TEN: MEDIA GLOBALIZATION ; o The History of Media Globalization and American Dominance ; o Drivers of Media Globalization ; Film ; Television ; Gaming ; Music ; Magazines ; Newspapers ; Advertising ; o Barriers to Media Globalization ; Cultural Barriers ; Technological and Regulatory Barriers ; o Overcoming Barriers to Globalization ; Global Promotions and Buzz ; International Co-Production ; Dubbing and Subtitling ; Localization ; Outsourcing ; o Media Globalization in the Global South ; o The Commercial and Social Consequences of Media Globalization ; Expanded Markets and Innovation ; Cultural Imperialism vs. Hybridity ; Connecting Dispersed Communities ; o Conclusion ; o Questions
