Ownership and Funding

Public Service Broadcasting

 PSB is broadcasting in the interest of the public. It means that shows are created in order to inform and educate audiences. For example, the BBC which airs documentaries and the News regularly is classed as Public Service Broadcast. These types of programmes are not intended to entertain but rather inform and educate.

Commercial Broadcasting

 Commercial Broadcasting is broadcasting in order to entertain viewers; it’s funded simply by advertising and the channels which broadcast them rely on the funding of advertisers in order to continue showing television programmes. An example of this is MTV, which shows are purely entertainment-based and do not tend to focus mainly of informing and educating.

Corporate and Private Ownership

 Corporate and private ownership refers to companies which have invested in certain broadcasters in order to create a distinct legal identity. Whilst other businesses might disappear when owners die, a corporate ownership allows for businesses to continue after the passing of a crucial member. An example of this is Unilever, which is the supplier of many different household brands and was formed in the early 1900's by the Lever brothers and continues to preserve its status after the death of the original founders. 

Global Companies

 Global companies are companies which stretch across the world and have relations in different locations in order to gain a wider audience and earn money all over the world. An example of this is Fox Studios.

Vertical Integration

 Vertical Integration is a supply chain owned by an overall company – each level of the supply chain produces/works together in producing a media product. It’s a way that media companies upkeep their finances and ensure that they continue to make money effectively. For example,

Horizontal Integration

Also known as Monopolisation, Horizontal Integration is when companies buy out competing/complementary companies in order to spread their brand over various different media platforms. It allows for compatibility amongst different companies, and means that companies such as Warner Bros Entertainment focusing on film whilst their owners – AOL Time Warner – focuses on News, theme parks and the internet.

The Licence Fee

 The Licence Fee is a price TV owners pay in order to be allowed legally to buy and watch television. It’s a yearly fund people must pay in order to stream television programmes and films from satellite. It’s £175.50 a year in the UK, and is taken straight from the bill payers account unless they state otherwise.

Subscription

 A subscription is when people pay annually in order to receive a freeview box from a certain provider, for example Sky. People pay a certain amount of money for different packages which include basic channels and other packages for higher prices which include more channels. For example, Sky does various packages with ranging prices in order to tend to customers' preferences - they can buy packages with certain channels, including movie and sports specific channels, or without. 

One-off Payment

 One-off payment is when a fee is paid to acquire a box from a certain provider only one time, as opposed to paying a subscription fee monthly. An example of this is Freesat, which offers a limited amount of channels for a one-off payment of £42. The number of channels a person receives, alongside the type in some cases, differentiates depending on the amount paid. One-off boxes have to be updated sometimes, which requires another one-off payment in most cases, adding to the total sum of money paid. 

Pay per view

 Pay per view means paying every time an episode is watched on a computer – for example, you can pay per view on Amazon Prime – or on a catch-up television box. The price of watching is small enough so that it’s available to people who don’t wish to own it permanently and pay the full price.

Sponsorship

 Sponsorship is when brands and companies pay money in order to be featured on a particular channel. The advertisements on commercial channels pay in order to be featured during ad breaks, whereas particular brands will sponsor particular shows, meaning their product is shown directly before that broadcast, and is directly related to programmes – usually with a tagline such as “Proud sponsors of…” For example, Lucozade sports drink sponsors Big Brother 2015 and appears directly before and after every commercial break surrounding that programme. 

Advertising

 Advertising for products is extremely important to make revenue. During television programmes, adverts will be shown at set intervals for around 4 minutes, and advertisers will pay money to the channel and distributors so that they can be featured on the channel.

Product Placement

 Product placement is when brands pay production companies to feature their products in their media texts – it’s like sponsorship, but instead of being plainly advertised, the product is subtly added into the text either in dialogue or from visuals. An example of this is in Skyfall, wherein Bond uses a Sony mobile. Sometimes product placement can be used in satire, such as in Fight Club where a Starbucks cup is seen in every scene to impose the irony of consumerism.

Private Capital

 Private Capital refers to people’s private money – more specifically, it’s funding for things which comes from a personal bank. Megan Ellison is an example of this – she’s a prosperous film producer who comes from a wealthy family background in film and used private investments in order to fund her producing career.

Crowd Funding

 Websites like Kickstarter offer people the chance to view brief descriptions of media productions happening around the world and give them donations in small amounts to reach an overall goal and allow it to be fully created. Rooster Teeth recently made a sci-fi film, Lazer Team, funded by donations from their fans on Indiegogo, another crowd-funding website.

Development Funds

 Development funds refer to companies around the world which fund for amateur film makers to create their personal projects. It’s funded by the Government mostly, and takes in various donations by people everywhere. Though funding from Government has increased, these sources of money are vital for young film-makers with creative ideas. An example of this is BFi, the British Film Intuition which funds amateur British films makers who pitch an idea and get accepted by the representatives.