Ford media ownership essay

What impact does media ownership have upon the range of products available to audiences in the media area you have studied?

Media Ownership plays a massive role and  has a huge impact on the range of products available at the cinema and online in services like Netflix.  87.5% of the film market is owned by these major companies so there is no avoiding their range of products. There are six major companies which dominate the film industry; Warner Bros, Paramount Pictures, Walt Disney, Columbia Pictures, Universal Studios and 20th Century Fox. These companies are multibillion dollar public figures. And have handsome investors who splash the cash.

Furthermore , the resources that these firms have is incredible , these companies have set a side millions just so they can have the latest technology to create the best films possible. And with the sheer number of films being created at once the major six firms are versatile to more market spread than smaller less budgeted companies. The multiple film production is easy to the big firms and they are quicker at producing higher quality films than much smaller firms.

Other small British companies  like DNA films and WARP will not have updated and high quality of studios. Compared to that the big six which have dominant next level studios and sets . 14 out of 17 paramount’s films have been action related in 2013 , they all have over 80 million budgets and use the highest quality green screens CGI and higher set service than any smaller based film companies . this proves how large ownership of firms and big money can effect the range and one hundred percent the quality of the range of films made .Also with the higher level of technology and quality in the production , these films are now available in imax and 3D cinemas , where smaller owned companies don’t have the investment to rise the range of quality in the film they produce.

Diversity , the major firms which are highly invested in have huge budgets for screen writers and directors , the screen writers of the best kind do not create repetitive action films and create something new broad and exciting every time . meaning the major firms can access a wider audience more easily . unlike smaller film companies which cannot afford these expensive screen writers and cannot have a new fresh look on the fill market.

Smaller firms and other solo film makers  will also turn to major firm for a partner in synergy. One example is the film Paranormal Activity, this film would have been very small and hardly known if Paramount Pictures were not involved.  Orin Peli made the movie for just $15,000, covering all production costs by himself he knew he couldn’t make the film any bigger without paramount. This decision made him over $190 million. This shows how solo film makers can have great projects but cannot fundamentally succeed without the marketing and distribution from the global companies which dominate the worlds audiences .

Big six , these will also be able to specialise in more than one genre of film, giving them a big  advantage. This means that there will never be a repetitive outburst of one type of film, consequently expanding the range of films available. They will also be able to produce these films to a very higher standard than their competitors.

Next, the big six are also very reputable. People know who they are and some will even go to see a film as they have high respect and critical acclaim and the public just love their films . This means that films could have more screenings, again making the range of products significantly more. It also means that other films will not have a chance if these companies are involved, hence why 9/10 of the films which are seen in cinemas have involved these.

In Conclusion media ownership has a massive impact over the range of products that are available to audiences due to the sheer budget allocation and overall power and outstanding influence in everything they do . with even small film makers realising that they cannot compete and selling the rights to bigger companies , it proves how the madness of the size of the companies is overruling the market .