Ownership & Funding of the TV & Film Industries

Funding of TV & Film Industries

Funding All television channels need funding, but there are various ways to be funded. Only public owned companies receive financial aid from the government to help them first start up. E.g. BBC & Channel 4. All households have a TV license fee, but only the BBC gets the money. People also pay money for: Subscriptions which gives them extra channels & Pay per view which gives them movie channels & box office.

Sponsorship & Advertising Sponsorship-A company pays for their product to feature before & after a certain number of TV programs & films. Advertising-Time slots between programs are bought out by companies so they can feature their advert. Sponsoring & Advertising are very similar.

Product Placement Product placement is where a certain product, or brand of product features in TV shows or even music videos. Accessory Merchandising is where you create products with the logo or characters with the logo on them. E.g. Simpsons, South Park or TMNT.

Private Capital Private capital is invested not donated. The differences between the two are: 1.In an investment the investor is hoping to make a profit from the ownership the investment buys & to take the money out at some point by selling the share owned. 2.In an donation the donor is gifting the money to the company, even though there are restrictions stating how it must be spent.

Ownership of TV & Film Industries

Ownership The Office of Communications (Ofcom) is the government-approved communications regulator. Ofcom is responsible for the licensing of all UK TV commercial services. Public services channels are funded by the public, mainly through TV license. The BBC is not permitted to advertise or sponsor. Channel 4 is allowed & has created more channels from it. E.g. More4, E4, Film4 & 4Music.

Commercial TV Commercial TV networks are mainly funded by commercials. Commercial TV networks- MTV, Bravo, FX, Dave & ITV which is the largest commercial TV network in the UK.

Private Companies To be a private company it cannot be public-owned, E.g. the BBC & C4. Also the company cannot own a Public Limited Company (a set-up where anyone can freely buy or sell shares in the company on the stock exchange). Almost all private companies in film & TV production & distribution/broadcasting are commercial for profit companies. E.g. the GOD channel was established to promote Christianity.

Independent Companies An independent company is essentially defined as one not owned by a parent company, not therefore part of a corporation. Flame TV is one of the UK’s leading independent TV production companies. Independent films are made with very low budgets than major studios films. Independent films are often screened at local, national, or international film festivals before distribution.

Vertical & Horizontal Integration Vertical integration is the process in which several steps in the production & distribution of a product or service are controlled by a single company, in order to increase that company’s power in the marketplace. Horizontal integration is a strategy to increase the company’s market share by taking over a similar company.

Monopoly & Film Monopoly is a situation in which a single company owns all or nearly all of the market for a given type of product or service. E.g. Walt Disney Pictures. The film industry consists of the technological & commercial institutions of film making.