Ownership Patterns

Public service broadcasting have taken up a huge share of the media market in Britain. For example the BBC. The BBC has a legal obligation to inform, to educate and to make sure that all sections of society are catered for. The power of media owners is also restricted by the government or state. For example, in some societies, owners are not allowed to own too many different types of media. A lot of countries also have cross ownership rules which prevents people from owning more than one type of media. Television, newspapers and radio in Britain require legal controls and rules are imposed by the Press Council and Ofcom.

Commercial broadcasting systems usually need to meet minimum standards to receive a license or operating concession. These conditions vary however they usually relate to matters such as provision for education, local language or culture, news and information, political or other access opportunities and minority needs.

The image below is a good demonstration of the process of how the media has become owned by a variety of corporations. I will briefly sum up what it is about in text as well.

6 major media corporations are responsible for 90 % of what we read, watch and listen to. The companies who own this are Disney, Viacom, GE, Newscorp, CBS and Time Warner.

By 1983 50 companies owned 90% of American media companies. The six companies consolidated that market share from 2011.
They control 70% of cable broadcasting. The other 30% is from 3,762 infinitely smaller companies.
In 2001.AOL spent 124 Billion to buy Time Warner.

Job Roles

In the TV and film industry, there are different types of job roles such as the Producer, Line producer, Director, Editor, Camera operator, cinematographer  and finance officer

The producer is the group leader, who tend to work freelance. They develop the particular project from initial ideas to make sure that the script is finalized and they also arrange the financing and manage the production team. The producer coordinates in the film making process to ensure that everyone is involved and the project is working on schedule and on their budget. An example of a TV and film producer is Jerry Bruckheimer who produced the tv series skins and King Arthur. His responsibility is to oversee and ensure that a production is produced on time and on budget, he is also responsible for raising finance, hiring crew members including the director and making sure everything from pre-production, to production and post-production is running smoothly and on schedule. A producer needs to have the ability to meet all their deadlines and be committed to their job. He also needs to be responsible including time management and personal responsibilities & have the ability to work under pressure and to motivate the production team. They control the production budget and have a good communication with all their employees.

 

Line producers are hired based on their experience in the industry. They are responsible for the development of the project. They supervise the film’s budget, and are responsible for hiring crew members and organise the production schedule. They’re responsible for managing and coordinating the production. 

The directors are in control when it comes to making creative decisions. Danny Boyle is an example of a director in the TV and film industry, he directs the film 28 days later and the TV series inspector morse. The role of a director is to create the storyboard, writing script and making crucial decisions during pre-production. This could mean selecting the right location for the film for example. Spike Lee’s job as a director is to manage the technical side such as the cameras, sounds, lighting and design.

The finance officer is in charge of undertaking the entire accounts function, including managing the entire budget for the production and also managing the pay roll for the workers.

The cinematographer leads the camera operators in photographing the production to maintain continuity in lighting, style and composition, however they don’t operate the camera.

The role of an editor is to assemble all the recorded raw material into a finished product which is suitable for broadcasting. The raw material includes camera footage, sound effects, dialogue, special effects and graphics. This is a key role in the post production process so the editors work determines on the success of the final production. The editor may work in a team and close to the director.

Camera operators follow the instructions set by the director and director of photography. This includes shot composition and development. The seamless ease with which the camera moves is key to the narrative flow of production.

Working Patterns

The TV and film industries require a lot of different job roles and working patterns such as Shift work, fixed term, Freelance, office hours, irregular patterns, piece work, voluntary work and hourly rate.


The TV and film industries require a lot of different job roles and working patterns such as Shift work, fixed term, Freelance, office hours, irregular patterns, piece work, voluntary work and hourly rate. Shift work involves working for a number of hours at a particular time of the day to ensure that a job is covered for at least 24 hours. This can be working from early morning until afternoon, or late afternoon till late evening or throughout the night (Irregular patterns).

 
A fixed term employment has a start and finish date to it and it finishes automatically when a task is completed. It does not involve a contract with a student or trainee on a work-experience, apprenticeship or an agency. However it does involve having an employment contract with a company covering for a maternity leave for up to 6 months.

 
Freelance workers are self-employed and are hired to work for different companies on a particular assignment so they are not employed by any employers. This involves hiring themselves out to various employers for a particular job or project. The majority of workers are freelance workers and they also tend to be men due to them being muscular and flexible and have the energy to work from one company to the other. Freelance workers have no fixed income or benefits, they also don't work for long periods of time and they have to be flexible and can make lots of contacts out of freelance work.

Office hours is when you work for a company or an organization from 1 – 5. It is normally people who work for a TV company that work office hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Voluntary work is an unpaid job, it is common for media graduates to start out and get some experience in the industry. In the end, in might result to being offered a job in the organization or company.
Hourly rate workers are simply workers that get paid by the number of hours that they work.