{"id":167,"date":"2012-02-02T01:16:58","date_gmt":"2012-02-02T01:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf594\/?p=167"},"modified":"2012-09-26T21:36:42","modified_gmt":"2012-09-26T21:36:42","slug":"big-media-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf594\/2012\/02\/02\/big-media-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Media – Right Here, Right Now"},"content":{"rendered":"
by Jake Hebert<\/pre>\n
WHAT IS BIG MEDIA?<\/big><\/strong><\/p>\n
Rampant technological growth, government interaction, social change, and the growth of local and national businesses have all led to a media industry dominated by enormous media companies.\u00a0 The days of the mom and pop media enterprise are gone.\u00a0 Today\u2019s media companies reach across all areas of communication.\u00a0 Geographic and continental barriers are no longer obstacles for big media companies looking to evolve in to worldwide global players.\u00a0 As the industry becomes more competitive, more big media companies feel the need to own a share of every piece of the media puzzle: broadcast, cable, digital, production, film, local media, newspaper, etc.\u00a0 These big media companies own and operate many smaller subsidiaries, and some are subsidiaries of even larger parent corporations (see Major Players below).\u00a0 These large media companies generally fall under the same monopoly jurisdiction of other U.S. corporations, but as these organizations move in to a global setting, regulation becomes more complicated (see Global Glimpse).<\/p>\n
Revenue:<\/strong><\/p>\n
The primary revenue source for big media companies is advertising.\u00a0 According to Ad Age, spending amongst the nation\u2019s leading national advertisers surged 8.8% in 2010.\u00a0 Previously, due to an economic downturn and uncertain global climate, 2009 spending<\/p>\n
\"Ad<\/a>
Source: Ad Age<\/p><\/div>\n
dropped 10.2% in the sharpest drop since Ad Age began the ranking in 1956.2<\/sup>\u00a0 Big media companies provide access to target consumers for many of the world\u2019s largest consumer product companies.\u00a0 In some cases (like in that of General Electric and NBC), the consumer product companies own, or are in the same network of companies as the media company.<\/p>\n
The close relationship between advertisers and big media companies has forced the government to keep close tabs on big media news organizations.\u00a0 For the most part however, these companies remain objective on big issues, and leave investigative journalism to the local level markets.\u00a0 Overall, big media news outlets stick to reporting on general human-interest stories, pop culture, politics, and worldwide weather.<\/p>\n
Branding:<\/strong><\/p>\n
A company\u2019s brand is essential to marketing a network and its programming to viewers and advertisers.\u00a0 A company\u2019s brand must be consistent, it must be universal, and in order to become popular, it must be fun (see MTV below).1 \u00a0<\/sup>A company\u2019s logo and identity are one in the same under that companies brand.\u00a0 In the U.S. media\u2019s early stages, brand identification and marketing were simple.\u00a0 The major players, CBS, ABC, and NBC each had their own logo and own brand identity within the company.\u00a0 News programming, sitcoms, logos, and sounds (like NBC\u2019s chimes) contributed to setting each of the three major networks apart.<\/p>\n
Video:\u00a0Recreation of NBC’s Famous Chimes<\/a><\/p>\n
Before the 1980s, television branding was generally limited to some local station identities, names of shows, the names of stars appearing on those shows, and larger network identities.\u00a0 In 1981, MTV changed all that by introducing a logo that was fun.\u00a0 MTV was all about attitude and identity and it showed in its logo.<\/p>\n
\"The<\/a>4 <\/sup>
Source: Manhattan Design<\/p><\/div>\n
The MTV logo jumped out of the cable realm.\u00a0 It appeared on jackets, tee-shirts, and other merchandise that penetrated the lives of viewers off of the screen.\u00a0 MTV truly turned their brand in to a source of equity.\u00a0 Years later, Nickelodeon expanded on MTV\u2019s \u201cfun brand\u201d model.\u00a0 Nickelodeon\u2019s logo was not a logo at all, but a series of white text placed over its signature \u201corange.\u201d\u00a0 This orange was transformed in to different shapes, sizes, and dimensions.\u00a0 This fun and outside-the-box logo reinforced similar traits in Nickelodeon as a brand.\u00a0 Nickelodeon and MTV understood how to stand out in a world with hundreds ,and now thousands, of channels and logos available.\u00a0 Only a few more have done the same with such success.<\/p>\n
Although merchandise is a brand\u2019s most prominent form of equity, the brand alone holds value beyond products.\u00a0 Bloomberg Business Week ranked MTV the 52nd<\/sup> most valuable brand in the world in its 2008 list of the Top 100 Brands.3<\/sup>\u00a0 They value MTV\u2019s brand at over $7 billion (up from a cool $6 billion in 2004).\u00a0 In order to stay relevant and profitable, brands are constantly reinventing and reinvigorating themselves.\u00a0 In an ever-faster growing marketplace, it is not uncommon for companies to rebrand themselves every several years.<\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
THE MAJOR PLAYERS:<\/big><\/strong><\/p>\n
NBCUniversal:<\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/strong>American entertainment and media company with ventures in entertainment, news, theme parks, and information products and services.\u00a0 The merger of GE\u2019s NBC and Vivendi\u2019s Vivendi Universal Entertainment in May 2004 formed NBCUniversal as it exists today.\u00a0 NBCUniversal\u2019s merger with Comcast was completed in January 2011.\u00a0 The sale was approved pending release of control over online video site, Hulu.\u00a0 NBCU’s logo redesign in 2011 shed NBC\u2019s peacock and Universal\u2019s globe for a purple text-only logo.<\/p>\n
\"The<\/a>
Source: NBCUniversal<\/p><\/div>\n