each play in at least seven of the nine major media sectors: film, radio, TV networks, TV production, cable, music, theme parks, books, and periodical publishing
driven by synergies between sectors
coordinating content across media
and abetted by joint ventures between top firms
the result is more of a cartel than a competitive space
Major players in one or two industries
Cox, NY Times, Gannett, Clear Channel
single digit billions in revenues
Niche players
for the most part, locked out of the big game
Ways in which media differ from other markets
Advertising: from a practical perspective, media frequently sell consumers to advertisers
Creative content
Market forces might actually discourage diversity of ideas
Conservative genre based content is often the rule
Sequels
Lowest common denominator programming
Stale, derivative music
Control over public information (who can say what) gives media ownership power
Non-rivalrous goods: media goods usually exist in unlimited supply. Demand is the only issue.
first copy costs are high, but subsequent costs are negligible
Networks, which often act as "natural monopolies" which have historically been regulated in the public interest
80/20 economics: Paying for the misses with the hits
Labor relations: some media players become "brands", which is good for ratings but leads to highly variable salary scales
Market driven reality and media
Market driven media systems inherently favor the affluent: one dollar, one vote
Say's Law: Supply creates its own demand.
And its converse: Lack of supply ensures lack of demand
Externalities - economic and social costs of market transactions that don't figure into the decision making of either the buyer or the seller - can be problematic
Journalism
Children
Conclusions:
The U.S. Media Market is not competitive
And probably cannot be in the real world of corporate capitalism
This undermines the public interest
Pember and Cathcart
Broadcast regulation is rooted in three legislative moves
Licensing on the Radio Act of 1912
Administration of bandwidth under the Radio Act of 1927
Regulation of broadcasters under the Federal communications Act in 1934
Broadcast regulation has changed immensely over the last 25 years
The two central principles of that regulation have all but crumbled to dust
Transmission spectrum is limited
The public owns the transmission spectrum
Transmission spectrum should therefore be used in the public interest
At this point
Limitations on ownership of content and transmission have been eliminated
Accounting for the needs of the audience in content is no longer required
The fairness doctrine, already weak, is all but gone
Limitations on advertising minutes have been eliminated
Cross ownership of radio, television, and cable in the 50 largest markets is now allowed
Limitations on cable subscription costs
Prohibitions on the ownership of one television network by another
Requirements for allowing reply by opponents of endorsed candidates or defamed individuals
In short, we are in the midst of momentous changein the media, at least some of which is associated with decreased regulation
Essentials of Broadcast Regulation via FCC Powers
Such regulation is exclusive province of Federal Government
With the presumption that transmission is necessarily Interstate Commerce
And no station can presume ownership of bandwidth
Licensing and License Renewal
Stations are licenced for eight years
Renewal is not automatic, but its pretty close
Recent rules changes have made it more difficult
But the public does have a voice
Governs location, frequency, signal strength, howers of operation, call letters and other issues.
Licensees must be
U.S. citizens
Have resources to operate station without advertising revenue for three months
Have requisite technical skills or the ability to hire people who do
Must be open and honest in dealings with FCC
Limitations on ownership, now gone, attempted to ensure diversity of voices
current rules are complicated
television station ownership limited to 39% of national viewing audience. Allows a company to own as many as 100 stations
No limitation on ownership of radio stations
Cross ownership of stations in a single market is limited
TV
if 18 TV stations, can own three, but only one of the top four
if 5-17 TV stations, can own two
if 5 or fewer, can only own one
Radio
if 45, can own eight
if 30-44, can own seven
if 15 to 29, can own six
if 14 or less, can own three
Cross ownership of media is less complicated
if there are nine television stations, no limits on cross media ownership
if 4-8, a newspaper and half the number of radio stations allowed for market is allowed
of less than 4, no cross-ownership of media is allowed
Attempts to ensure minority ownership have been ineffective
Attempts to judge comparative merits of applicants for broadcast rights has been reduced to a bidding process in which the public does not receive the proceeds
Censorship
FCC has no formal censorship powers, but section 326 of the Federal Communication Act allows penalties if a station violates the law
Obscenity and indecency
Penalties include
Letter of reprimand
Cease and desist order
Forfeiture (fines)
Limited term renewal
Nonrenewal of license (this happens rarely, and has never happened because a station failed to act in the public interest)
Fraudulent advertising has been an issue
Acting solely to promote causes of owner has been an issue
Lack of supervision of programming has been an issue
Lying on the renewal application is the most common problem
Regulation of Content
Children's Programming
Limitations based on principle that children are a special case
Toy commercials must present realistic setting
Buffer between programming and advertising
Limits on commercial minutes per hour: 10.5 minutes on weekends and 12 minutes on weekdays
Obscene and Indecent Material
Fines can be as high as $275,000
There is a safe harbor from 10PM to 6AM when indecent or obscene material is allowed
Obscenity will be covered later in the semester
Indecency has a technical definition that appears to be open to wide interpretation.
The FCC has provided guidelines.
Context and intent matter
News and talk shows have more latitude than other shows
Television Violence
V-Chip
Children's ratings
TV-Y
TV-Y7
General content ratings
TV-G
TV-PG (parental guidance)
TV-14
TV-M
Secondary descriptions
V (violence)
S (sexual situations)
L (course language)
D (suggestive dialogue)
FV (fantasy violence)
News programming is excluded
Popular with broadcasters, but not much used by viewers
Political Programming
The Fairness Doctrine is now gone
Right of reply is now gone
Candidate Access is guaranteed as an enforceable public obligation
This is a right to buy time
and an exception to normal rules that do not treat stations as common carriers
Changes limited to lowest prevailing rate to local advertisers in time slot
Equal opportunity/equal time is also assured
Primarily a right to buy time
Any candidate must be allowed to buy as much as any other purchases
But other use of the airwaves is also protected
with exceptions including news, interview shows, spot coverage of a news event, and incidental appearance in a news documentary
News and Public Affairs
New Technology
Cable
Internet
Assignment due next time (and prep for first paper, due the following week)
Find ten sources that provide additional detail that relates to this case. The most important sources you need to find are those that provide the facts of the case. There is a lot of detail that we didn't find in the newspaper articles. Other useful sources will include overviews of the cases from watchdog organizations that monitor these kinds of cases, statements about the case that may have been made by the plaintiff and defendent and people associated with them, and relevant precedents. Focus, in particular, on the broader issues associated with the case, especially, if their are any, issues that are or should be issues for the public. For the assignment, cite the ten references in an annotated bibliography using APA format. See http://www.wooster.edu/psychology/apa-crib.html and ManualOfStyle for more detail of APA format. Annotations generally immediately follow references as follows.
Author, First. (1998). Title of Book. Publisher Information. Annotations concerning book.
Webauthor, Nameof. (2004). Page Title. Retrieved October 13, 2004 from http://website.com/pagename.htm. Annotations concerning web page.
Assignment for next time
Based on the case you have been researching and brought ten annotated references in for this week, propose a six page paper that overviews the case for a specific audience such as the management of a media organization that would be affected by the case or the directors of or other decision makers associated with a media watchdog organization that might consider participating in the case on some basis (perhaps as a litigant, as the financial support of a litigant, or as a friend of the court). The proposal should be about a page and should specify who you are writing the paper for (certainly not me) and what the essentials of your argument are. Reference your literature in APA format as appropriate.
Overview of the mid-term
I will give you about an hour and a quarter at the end of class next week to complete a mid-term that has the following general structure. Five analytic questions will be posed based on the readings to date. You will need to answer three of those questions in short essay format (about three paragraphs each). You'll have about 25 minutes to complete each essay.
Unless otherwise noted, the contents of this page
were written by participants on the Media Space Wiki, operated by Davis Foulger,
and should be cited accordingly. For example (APA): Foulger, D. and other
participants. (August 27, 2008). Regulation Of Media Fall2004 Session07. MediaSpaceWiki. Retrieved on from
http://evolutionarymedia.com/wiki.htm?RegulationOfMediaFall2004Session07.
MediaSpace Wiki