The Media Landscape
Key Concepts:
1. Five Features of Mass Media
2. (a) Scale Economies & (b) Scope Economies
3. The Dual Product Marketplace
4. Evolution of the Mass Media Industry
5. Core Duties of Media
6. Response to Media Changes
7. Technological Determinism
8. The Cultural Circuit
9. Media Life
Definition of the Media Industry:
● Traditional broadcasting, print, film, and music sectors
● Advertising, public relations, and marketing industries
● Social media companies
● A media company’s main function is to create or distribute media content
Understanding the structure of the media industry is essential for identifying relevant
companies and emerging trends.
Traditional Mass Media Content:
● Refers to conventional media such as radio, television, print newspapers, and
magazines.
Characteristics of Mass Media
1. One-to-Many, One-Way Communication
○ Media traditionally employs a top-down approach, delivering a single, uniform
message to a large audience at the same time.
○ The audience is considered passive, experiencing a collective message
without personal fragmentation.
2. Experiential Products
○ Media’s value lies in its intangible qualities—such as intellectual property,
originality, and the quality of its content (e.g., journalism or storytelling).
○ It focuses more on the experience it offers rather than the material aspect of
the product itself.
3. High Initial Production Costs
○ The first copy of mass media content is the most expensive to create,
requiring significant resources, such as salaries, materials, and distribution.
○ However, the cost of producing additional copies is low, leading to economies
of scale, where producing more units reduces the per-unit cost.
4. Potential for Low-Cost Repurposing
Key Concepts:
1. Five Features of Mass Media
2. (a) Scale Economies & (b) Scope Economies
3. The Dual Product Marketplace
4. Evolution of the Mass Media Industry
5. Core Duties of Media
6. Response to Media Changes
7. Technological Determinism
8. The Cultural Circuit
9. Media Life
Definition of the Media Industry:
● Traditional broadcasting, print, film, and music sectors
● Advertising, public relations, and marketing industries
● Social media companies
● A media company’s main function is to create or distribute media content
Understanding the structure of the media industry is essential for identifying relevant
companies and emerging trends.
Traditional Mass Media Content:
● Refers to conventional media such as radio, television, print newspapers, and
magazines.
Characteristics of Mass Media
1. One-to-Many, One-Way Communication
○ Media traditionally employs a top-down approach, delivering a single, uniform
message to a large audience at the same time.
○ The audience is considered passive, experiencing a collective message
without personal fragmentation.
2. Experiential Products
○ Media’s value lies in its intangible qualities—such as intellectual property,
originality, and the quality of its content (e.g., journalism or storytelling).
○ It focuses more on the experience it offers rather than the material aspect of
the product itself.
3. High Initial Production Costs
○ The first copy of mass media content is the most expensive to create,
requiring significant resources, such as salaries, materials, and distribution.
○ However, the cost of producing additional copies is low, leading to economies
of scale, where producing more units reduces the per-unit cost.
4. Potential for Low-Cost Repurposing
