Media Institutions #12

Media Institutions

Media institutions are those that can assemble quality media texts and products and circulate the texts and products widely and effectively.

Institutions are pivotal to our lives, Examples of institutions include Schools and the NHS.

Schools and healthcare are there to serve the public.  

Institutions such as media   companies (Newspapers) are there for the benefit of their shareholders.

An example of an influential person in a media institution is Rupert Murdoch


Current media institutions 

21st century fox



21st century fox is an american multinational mass media news corporation. It is one two companies that succeeded News Corporation which was founded by Rupert Murdoch in 1979. It was formed in June 2013 after its split from News Corporation. 
 Among its holdings are Fox Entertainment Group- owners of the 20th Century Fox film studio and Fox Television Network. 
Also pan-Asian pay channel operator STAR TV, Italian television provider Sky Italia, and stakes in the television providers BSkyB and Sky Deutschland.  

BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcasting statutory corporation. The BBC is the worlds oldest national broadcasting organisation and the largest broadcaster in the world in terms of employees as it consists of 23,000 members of staff. 


CBS corporation

                                 
CBS Corporation is an American mass media corporation focused on commercial broadcasting, publishing, billboards and television production, with the majority of its operations within the United States.             

Film ratings #11

Film Ratings


British ratings used -

U, PG, 12A, 12, 15, 18, R18


BBFC -  The bbfc decide film classifications for games, film and music. They introduced film rating in 1912 as they thought some films were too graphic for young children. Classifications are also used to give consumers information they may need before viewing a film/video.

Information about the BBFC -  http://www.bbfc.co.uk/

Some film ratings have been forced to change from their original certificate. An example of this is the first Rambo film which changed from a 15 to an 18

Research Methods #10

Research methods

We can measure media audiences through sales, subscriptions, ratings and figures.

Who measures audiences?

NRS - http://www.nrs.co.uk/     The National Readership Survey provide audience research for print advertising trading in the UK.

ABC - http://www.abc.org.uk/    Audit Bureau of Circulations

BARB -  http://www.barb.co.uk/  Broadcasters Audience Research Board  "BARB is the official source of television viewing figures in the UK. We continually develop new ways of measuring what you and the rest of the UK are watching."          
New media can measure audience through social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. They also use video sharing sites such as Youtube  that have a like or dislike system in place. Youtube also keep a record on how many views each video has accumulated which is another way to record the audience size each piece of media has.
There are two main types of research when looking at audiences.
Quantitive research is questionnaires and is number based which is very factual.
Qualitative research is things such as interviews and focus groups.

Audience engagement describes how an audience reacts with media texts. Different people react many different ways to the same piece of text.
Audience expectations are the ideas an audience have in advance of seeing a media text . This especially applies to genres pieces. Producers continually play with or shatter audience expectations .

Typecasting #9

Genre Typecasting of actors

Actors being typecasted refers to an actor or actress that is repeatedly cast in the same type of role or same genre of film. It can also refer to a character having similar traits or coming from the same ethnic group.

Typecasting can benefit an actor or actress as they would be highly considered for roles that fit the role or genre they have become typecasted to.
It can also disadvantage an actor or actress as it can limit the amount of roles they are considered for. Also because they are so identified with a genre, for example comedy, their performance in a genre such as action would not be believable and affect how the audience feel and indentify with the film.

Examples

Bruce Willis

Bruce Willis is an example of typecasting within both genre and character as he is predominantly considered for action movies. This is because he has appeared in many popular action movies such as the Die Hard series, Pulp Fiction and The Expendables.



Hugh Grant

Another example is Hugh Grant. He is typically thought of as a smooth, charming gentleman. This is shown with his performances in "Love actually" and "Notting Hill". He has attempted to shake off his gentlemanly representation with his performance as a lonely and selfish womaniser.  

Audience #8

Audiences

Audience is an individual or a group of people watching or reading any media text.

Mass audience - A film with a large scale audience. Often called a "broadcast audience". It is an audience that consume popular or mainstream texts such comedies or sitcoms. Examples are "F.R.I.E.N.D.S" or "TopGear"  



Niche audience - A film with a specific or smaller audience. Small and select audience with unique interest.

The most vital point when producing a media production is whether it has an audience. This can decide whether production goes any further.

Audiences are vital as without one, no media would be produced.

Media is produced as an attempt to make profit. If there is no audience to consume the media then organizations will lose money.

Organizations compete as they attempt to make more money and attract a wider audience

Katz and Blumler

Their research proposed that media texts are used by audiences for 3 main reasons.

1. Information
    The reader uses media to find out about events or topics that interest them. Also to "satisfy curiosity". An example of this is newspapers.

2. Personal Identity
    To reinforce a persons beliefs and find other people that share their beliefs. This is shown with social media such as Twitter or Tumblr. 

3. Integration and Social Interaction
      To gain a sense of belonging, feeling part of a group or movement. The ability to interact and empathise with people that share similar beliefs. We see this with soap operas as people tune in every week to follow the storyline.

Impact of new technology

Old media like TV, print and radio now have to compete to maintain audience numbers even the they once had very large audience numbers.

Digital technology now affects how people define audience. The belief that an audience is a large group of people all watching or listening to the same thing is out dated as it is now commonly thought of as "fragmented"

Demographic - audiences age, race, gender, class/status, nationality

Psychographic - Audiences interests, beliefs, hobbies

Audience research - This is a major part of any media production. Companies use questionnaires, focus groups, pre-showing and many more. 


http://www.thinkbox.tv/server/show/nav.914

From this link I have learnt how audiences consume media and how audiences are divided into categories so they are easily recognisable.

Group A -  Lawyers
                   Doctors
                   Scientist
                   Well paid professionals

Group B - Teachers
                   Middle management
                   Fairly well paid professionals

Group C1 -  Junior management
                     Bank clerks
                               Nurses
                     White collar professionals

Group C2 - Electricians
                     Plumbers
                     Carpenters
                     Blue collar professionals  

Group D -  Manual workers such as:
                                                           Drivers
                                                           Post sorters

Group E - Students
                  Unemployed
                  Pensioners