Intro to Media Industries is the course where you learn about how the so-called "biz" works.
If you're in "the business," that means you work in media in some capacity, often in the entertainment industry.
You'll learn about the studio system, the TV systems, the movie industry, video games, media law, the effects of media, Nielsen ratings, the importance of advertising, etc.
Please read the article posted below and write a 250-word reaction addressing the following:
Do you believe that this model of having live audience members purchasing virtual gifts for the performers can work here in the United States? Why or why not?
Right now, Americans still flock to TV for "live" events-- football, musical specials, award shows, news, programs like The Voice, etc. Can you imagine a day in your lifetime where the majority of the audience would go online to watch the Superbowl, the Academy Awards, The Voice, etc.? Why or why not?
Please post your reaction piece on Sakai.
It's due Sunday, November 1, 2015 by midnight PDT.
Lucrative Stardom in China, Using a Webcam and a Voice
Photo
Poison performing on YY.com. She is one of China’s most popular attractions on the web.CreditGilles Sabrie for The New York Times
ZIGONG, China — Dolled up with makeup and a blond wig, the pretty young Chinese woman sat at home in her bedroom on a quiet Sunday evening and began singing karaoke.
A large microphone and three webcams clipped to a desktop monitor streamed the performance over the Internet, to thousands of fans who knew her only by her stage name, Poison.
“Hey, Big Brother!” she greeted one fan in between songs. “Did you just get back from vacation in Sanya or are you watching on a laptop?”
Poison, 26, still lives with her parents and her dogs Blueberry and DuDu in a modest apartment. But she is one of the most popular attractions in a thriving new business in China: live interactive web entertainment.
Media and technology companies across the globe have tried for years to attract viewers en masse to live Internet broadcasts, with X-rated websites the only real success stories. China, though, appears to have cracked the code. Millions are now tuning in every night to watch karaoke performances, comedy skits and talk shows — moving beyond the common web fare of scantily clad women doing erotic dances.
Millions of Chinese are watching live interactive web entertainment, like the popular karaoke performer seen in this clip, who goes by the stage name Poison.
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The shows are typically low-budget productions by amateur entertainers who work out of tiny apartments, fitted with webcams. And viewers spend large sums online to buy credits to give virtual gifts of roses, chocolates and Chanel bags to performers, who receive a slice of the revenue from Internet companies.
The strategy offers a potential path for the rest of the world, which is struggling to move profitably into online programming. Services like Netflix and iTunes have prompted some consumers to drop cable. But viewers in the United States and elsewhere are largely sticking with traditional television for live shows.
Given the government restrictions on all manner of media, consumers in China seem more willing to go online for movies, music and even role-playing fantasy games. State-run television — with its steady diet of propaganda, game shows and stale dramas — just doesn’t offer the same variety.
The websites mix video feeds with streaming-text commentary from the audience. In the upper left corner of the screen is a running count of how many viewers are in the virtual concert hall. Digital cars — representing the V.I.P.s who spend large sums — speed in and out of the imaginary hall.
“I’ve spent more than $15,000 in each of the past two years,” says Mi Tian, a 29-year-old architect from Shandong Province. “I’ve given virtual gifts to basically every performer I’ve watched.”
The leader in China in this industry is a fast-growing start-up called YY.com. It has 92 million monthly active users and more than a million channels.
David Li, YY’s 40-year-old co-founder and chief executive, says live web entertainment is transforming an industry that has been savaged by copyright infringement and online file-sharing services.
“Now we’ve found a whole new way to rejuvenate the music industry,” Mr. Li said. “This will help entertainers make money.
Investors are betting he’s right. Shares of YY have soared 500 percent since the company’s public offering on the Nasdaq stock market in late 2012.
YY was the vanguard for other Chinese webcasters considering listings in the United States, 6.cn and9158.com. And while some critics dismiss it as a fad, Sina and Tencent, two of China’s biggest Internet companies, have jumped on the bandwagon with their own live karaoke shows.
The companies have latched onto a new business model: turning amateur entertainers into live broadcasters who control their own programming, and offering them revenue-sharing deals to split the proceeds from virtual gifts, an idea adopted from the gaming industry. Instead of 100 or 500 channels, there are millions, each with a person creating his or her own live content.
“This is something on the border of movies and video games,” says Eric Wen, an analyst at China Renaissance. “It’s a challenge to the Hollywood model, which, because of copyright theft, didn’t really work in China.”
None of this was by design. YY began as an online community dedicated to World of Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment’s popular role-playing fantasy game. And6.cn started as a video-sharing site, much like YouTube.
When faster Internet speeds arrived in China, video sharing gave way to live broadcasting. The early adopters were online gamers. Then came singers, DJs, hip-hop dancers and comedians.
The viewers tend to be single men in smaller locales with fewer entertainment options. Many are wealthy enough to spend thousands of dollars to get the V.I.P. privilege of driving a virtual Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Roadster to and from the virtual concert halls during performances. They pay $1,100 for the privilege.
“People don’t understand why Chinese spend so much money like this, but it’s partly cultural,” said Yan Liu, the chief executive of 6.cn. “Even in the time of Peking Opera, performers were paid with gifts.”
The most popular performers are female “hostesses,” many of whom practice the art of sexual tease.
“What is it about me that attracts you guys? Is it my thighs or something else?” one hostess asks on YY. Viewers can respond in real time, through text or voice message with comments like this: “Can you imagine what it would be like if she stripped her dress off?” They never do, though the women often show lots of skin and cleavage.
Critics have complained about the corrupting influence of the live shows, which sometimes feature lewd behavior. But YY and its competitors insist they abide by the law, which forbids nudity or even behaviors that “generate sexual fantasies.”
“We have very clear rules on behavior,” said Mr. Li at YY.
Live web shows are empowering amateur entertainers, some of whom can now earn $90,000 annually, nearly 30 times the average Chinese salary.
One of the most successful lives here in Zigong, a midsize city in a mountainous region of southwest China. “Just call me Poison,” she says when asked her real name.
From a run-down apartment complex, Poison often performs live for more than 10,000 online viewers a night (a birthday concert once drew 36,000 viewers), making her one of the most popular performers on YY’s Entertainment channel. Her popularity earned her a mention in the I.P.O. prospectus YY sent to investors. A former dancer, office clerk and online gaming enthusiast, Poison began performing karaoke on 6.cn several years ago before being recruited to YY.
“The reason I’m doing this is simple. I wanted to be a singer since I was a little girl, but there wasn’t a way I could do it,” she says putting on eyeliner before a performance.
Just before her nightly show begins, around 8, she sits on her bed, surrounded by toy animals, staring at her computer monitor to see what viewers can see. She uses a special webcam to create candy-colored hues around her online image, strokes the locks on her blond wig, and selects karaoke tunes, favoring a mix of Cantonese love songs and theme songs from online games.
A bottle of water and a roll of toilet paper are by her side to deal with thirst and a runny nose. And then her three-hour live show begins, right from the edge of her bed.
“Hi everyone,” she says after going live with an audience that soon that night reached 15,000 people. “Did you miss me while I was away?”
I won't find out the room number(s) until early Monday morning.
At that time, I'll send an email to let you know.
The times are still the same- 11:30 a.m. or 3:00 p.m..
Again, the re-test is intended for those students who struggled on the first exam (grades lower than 70, for instance), but is open to all students as a matter of fairness.
Netflix Inc. has proved itself a competitor to established networks in the world of high-quality television series.
As it moves into feature films with the release of “Beasts of No Nation” on its streaming service and simultaneously in a small number of theaters this past weekend, it showed it is taking a different approach: making the type of movies that studios no longer do.
An African war drama about a child soldier starring Idris Elba, “Beasts” was initially unable to find a studio home and was produced with independent financing, after which Netflix bought world-wide rights for $12 million, about double its production budget.
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Although other distributors expressed interest, Netflix, with its 69 million global subscribers, appeared likely to reach the most people and made a compelling financial offer, said Jonathan King, an executive vice president at co-financier Participant Media.
While major studios are focusing on international-oriented tentpoles like “Jurassic World” and “Avengers” and cutting back on everything else, Netflix and competitor Amazon.com Inc.’s entry into the movie business could signal a revival for prestige dramas and mid-budget star vehicles, albeit more on the small screen than the big one.
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“For Netflix to be a real player and support this kind of very ambitious movie at a time when it’s getting tougher, that’s a big deal,” said Mr. King.
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After “Beasts,” its lineup includes a quartet of comedies starring Adam Sandler, a political film starring Brad Pitt, a satire from director Christopher Guest, and a sequel to martial arts movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”
In part because major exhibition chains won’t play movies also available to watch at home, “Beasts” was in only 31 theaters in the U.S. this weekend. Even on that basis it fared poorly though, grossing just $50,699—a sign that perhaps few people are willing to buy tickets to a film they can watch at no extra cost if they already pay for Netflix.
Still, one of Netflix’s goals was simply to make “Beasts of No Nation” eligible for Academy Awards, which is why it had to be released in some theaters, not just to watch at home via streaming.
Amazon is said to be taking a different approach, promising filmmakers their work can play in theaters for several weeks before streaming on its Prime Video service. Its first project, from director Spike Lee, may have its premiere before the end of the year.
Mr. Sandler’s movies, meanwhile, won’t play in theaters at all since awards consideration is not a factor for him and small ticket sales could only hurt the star’s public image.
“It actually takes a lot of pressure off when you don’t have to worry about the box office anymore,” said a person who has worked on a Netflix movie.
The company’s goal is to produce a diverse film slate that, in total, keeps its existing subscribers happy and draws new ones. On Wednesday, Netflix reported that it added fewer U.S. subscribers than expected in the most recent quarter. Its stock fell 8% Thursday on the news.
As with television shows, Netflix’s movie selections are largely data-driven. Mr. Sandler, for instance, is coming off a series of box office flops including “Pixels,” “Blended” and “Jack and Jill,” but his movies are very popular on Netflix. In the case of “Beasts of No Nation,” Netflix observed that the similar “The Last King of Scotland” has performed well on the service, said chief content officer Ted Sarandos.
The vast majority of movies made outside the studio system fail to garner much attention or money, making financing them “almost like philanthropy,” noted Mr. Sarandos. Netflix’s new willingness to buy them could help change that equation.
Its different economic model, along with the desire to make a strong statement to the creative community as it enters the movie business, has led to Netflix paying more for certain movies than studios were willing to pay.
In the case of Mr. Sandler’s satirical Western, “The Ridiculous Six,” which makes its premiere in December, Netflix spent about $60 million, said people close to the production. Sony Pictures Entertainment, Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures, and Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros. all previously considered the picture but declined to make it for that cost, knowledgeable people said.
Mr. Pitt’s “War Machine” was initially shopped to studios, which were wary of its cost and risky commercial prospects, said people involved in the discussions. Netflix, however, agreed to pay $75 million, according to a person close to the movie.
In reaching that figure, people behind “War Machine,” a satirical comedy in which Mr. Pitt will play a character based on former U.S. commander in Afghanistan Stanley McChrystal, considered that the minimum production budget would be about $30 million, the knowledgeable person said. The rest of the money covered the cost that so-called above-the-line talent like Mr. Pitt, other actors, the producers and director would make if the film performed well commercially.
“Then there was a little premium because Brad working at Netflix is a big deal for them,” the person added.
Typically, talent like Mr. Pitt are paid in part through a percentage of the revenue generated at the box office, on DVD, and other media. But because virtually everyone who sees “War Machine” will do so via their Netflix subscription fee, such revenue-sharing isn’t possible.
Communication: Mass and Other Forms (blog + class + text)
Elements in the communication process
-source: what the content originated from
-encoding: how the content is presented
-message: what the content is
-channel: how the content is distributed
-decoding: how the content is understood
-receiver: who’s receiving the content
-feedback: a response from the receiver toward the source
-noise: anything disrupting the content
The major mass media- print (newspapers, magazines, books) or electronic (television, radio, internet, movies, sound recordings, video games)
Intrapersonal communication: communication within yourself (thinking)
Interpersonal communication: communication between two people
Small Group communication: communication between multiple people (con: group think, where one person proposes a bad idea and everyone else agrees, Wringleman Effect: lack of division of labor)
Public communication: one person to many in real time
Mass communication: one person to many through a mediated device (television, radio, etc.)
Common characteristics of traditional mass media outlets
-complex and formal: divisions of specialized labor, bureaucracy
-multiple gatekeepers: who has control over what content is distributed (more gatekeepers with a more complex organization)
-need vast cash to operate: millions of dollars to produce content= media consolidation
-exist to make a profit: make more than you spend
-highly competitive: many production groups, but only so much money in the world
Future of mass media (segmentation, convergence, disintermediation)
·Segmentation: media has become more specialized for certain audiences
·Convergence: coming together in some form to become more efficient (corporate, operational, device)
·Disintermediation: eliminating the middle man (using Twitter to learn about current events or news)
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Perspective on Mass Communication
Surveillance: The media warns us of every type of news
Interpretation: The way the viewers interpret the news interpretation of the news
Linkage: Bring Groups of people together between media. Most important element of Mass communication
Transmission Value: Socialization - The exchange of personal beliefs and emforcement of social norms
Entertainment: Without entertainment we can't have media.
Categories of the uses and gratification approach
Cognition: we use media to keep up the news
Diversion: Use media to escape reality. Escape into. Escape from.
Social Utility: Para social relationships and conversational currency - able to talk to someone about media.
Withdrawal: when you take your self out of society.
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Understanding TV Systems
Why do the media exist in the United States?
News (people care about what’s happening nearby/around the world)
Entertainment (provides a stress reliever/satisfaction/people can share excitement)
Interaction with people (talk/share media with each other)
How are the media in the U.S different from media outlets from around the world?
no government regulation, different audiences, different types of programming,
Commercial Broadcast Network System
Networks- ABC, NBC, Fox, CBS, CW
Studios- Disney, Warner Bros, Paramount, Universal, 20th Century Fox, SONY
Affiliates- DMA (designated marketing area) there is 210
Syndicators- (sell TV shows around the world), all the money comes from this, it’s everything
TV
Advertisers- (pay for everything), generate revenue
Studios make money through syndication
Syndication: process of selling a show to a different network
Networks make money by selling TV commercials
Affiliates make money by networks (in payments) for airing programs, produce local news
Syndicators get 10% of whatever they sell
Advertisers sell products and get money
Cable/Satellite Television System
ex. USA, TNT, ESPN
makes most of its money through subscription fees
median cost is $200 per month (per household)
selling commercials is the other way they make money
they have advertisers, syndicators, and cable companies
Comcast and Time Warner are the 2 biggest cable companies
Public Television System
PBS (public broadcast system)
private station supported by tax dollars
corporation for public broadcasting→ private corporation
Nielsen Media Research Company
provides TV ratings to the entire country
shares= % of homes watching
rating= % (households that watch→ % of homes that watch NOT people)
shares are more important than ratings
low rating, high share= profitable
key demo age= 18-49
key demo rating is more important than overall
Major Networks/Parent Companies of each
CBS = CBS corporation
NBC = NBCUniversal
ABC = Disney
Ad Rates for the top shows in 2015
Empire
$521,794
Sunday Night Football
$637,330
The Walking Dead
$502,500
The Big Bang Theory
$289,621
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Rules of Language
1.Phonemic
·phoneme- sound we make
oEnglish has 44 sounds
osmallest unit of sound
·morpheme- singular sounds/smallest unit with meaning attached
oshh
omm
oo
oa
oI
2. Semantic
·what words mean
·must be in relation to the language
3. Syntax
·rules about grammar
·formal and informal rules
o'who are you going with' vs 'with whom are you going'
ocannot end in preposition
·must follow the order of a language
osubject
overb
opredicate
·word order matters
4. Pragmatic
·how we use language
o'do you know what time it is' --> yes
o'what time is it' --> 00:00
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7 Basic Steps to any Ad Campaign
1) Choose a marketing strategy.
·What’s the strategy for reaching as many people as you can?
2) Theme.
3) Translate your theme.
·(position your product)
4) Produces ads.
·Maybe using humor, as it goes a long way.
5) Space/time.
·Get a broker.
6) Execute.
7) Evaluate.
·Did it work? Did it not?
·Did it bring in money?
Ways to advertise
·Radio commercials
·Television commercials
·Print (newspaper ads, magazine ads, etc.)
·Local (park benches, bus stops, cars, etc.)
·Through product placement (movies, tv shows)
Steps to a Typical Ad Campaign
1. choosing the marketing agency
2. selecting the main appeal or theme
3. translating the theme into the various media
4. producing the ads (see above for ways to do that)
5. buying space and time
6. executing and evaluating the campaign
Ad research goes on during all phases of the campaign and helps agencies and their clients make informed decisions about their strategies and tactics.
App Inventor: A website designed for making program accessible to the masses.
Designer: A blueprint for a project used for implementing elements of the user interface.
Pallet: Found in the designer. Categorizes blocks by type, allowing user to drag objects into viewing screen.
Viewer: Visual representation of what is in the user interface
Components: A list of what objects are in the viewing screen. This is where you can select them and adjust their names and properties.
Properties: Place where you can adjust height, width, picture, speed, ect of objects selected.
Blocks: Preprogrammed code designed to seamlessly connect with other blocks
Drawers: categorizes block by functions
Event Handler: initializing blocks that trigger other blocks
Setters: define what will happen when event handler specific action occurs
Getters: allows for additional parameters to be set such as distances, locations, speed.
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Historical and Cultural Context
·Media time line- page 54
olanguage, writing, printing, telegraph/telephone, photography/motion pictures, radio/TV, digital media/handheld devices
oHighest rate of literacy: 1800s (enlightenment)
oEverything in media is an extension of the telegraph
·Importance of “writing”
oWriting creates division
§People who can and cannot read
§Stored info so it could be passed down among generations
·Printing
oChina invented paper and block printing and moveable type
·Gutenberg Revolution
oGutenberg invented printing press
§Popularized common language
§Spreads information easier and faster
§led to the development of current concept of “news”
·Technological determinism
othe view that technology drives historical change
oa moderate position might suggest that technology functions with various social, economic, and cultural forces to help bring about those changes
·Significance of the telegraph to mass communication
oTelegraph= birth of electronic media
oCreated instantaneous point-to-point communication at huge distances
ofirst technology to use digital signals—dots and dashes
oby 1850, almost every city on our Western frontier was linked with other cities
oin 1866, the U.S. laid a trans-Atlantic cable connecting America with Europe
oPrivately owned, not gov’t regulated
·Cultural impact of radio and TV
oRadio
§New entertainment genre develops- soap opera
§Popularizes new music
§First medium to introduce mass content aimed at children
§Personalized news
§1930s-40s radio becomes prime source of American entertainment and news during early evening hours (prime time)
oTV
§In 99% of all households
§3rd largest time consumer
§share a national, even global, consciousness through the common visual icons provided by television
·Digital media (mobile parenting, time softening)
othe notion of what “community” means may have to be rethought, with relationships that can be formed on the basis of needs and interests rather than locale
ogets rid of middle man (gov’t can now directly reach the people)
odivides people that can afford and train to use technology and those who can’t
omobile parenting- connected with your children through technology (ie: tracking)
otime softening- causes people to lose track of time and be less punctual (can you still be late if you are in contact?)
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Women in TV
The golden age of women on TV is not a trend but rather a spike
The number of female writers in the industry is disproportionally small compared to the number of female viewers.
There are similarities between the spike in women on TV in the 90s to the current one. For example, in the 90s “Golden Girls” “Designing Women” and “Cheers,” all shows that prominently featured women, were nominated for outstanding comedy series. It wasn’t until 30 Rock in 2006 that another show created by a woman reached that level.
In 2011/12 18.6% of executive producers were women where as in 2012/13 only 15.1 % of executive producers were women.
Since 2001 women’s employment in television has basically flat lined, hovering around 29%.
TV Vs Internet
Many other industries have been effected by the internet like music and news. TV has so far managed to avoid being effected much.
TV has learned from the mistakes of the music industry. Whereas the music industry is closely tied with youtube, the TV industry has not allowed TV to be effected the same way by YouTube. You cant watch copyrighted television content on YouTube.
TV revenues rose from 36 billion in 2000 to 93 billion in 2010.
According to Michael Wolf, people who drop cable for Netflix do not significantly hurt cable companies because those same companies provide the internet to people and with no internet there is no Netflix. He also says that many people still enjoy waiting week to week for new episodes and because of that, conventional TV will always be around.
Future In Questions
Ratings are more difficult to obtain because so many people are watching on demand or DVR or Hulu and various other platforms besides live television. This also makes it more difficult to determine commercial success.
A new qualifier for how well a show is doing is how well its doing on social media (twitter activity, trending, live tweeting.) This often leads to mass social media campaigns encouraging people to tweet about shows that when “too forced” often fail.
People have turned away from mainstream sources to get content for free from the “black market.” A big issue for cable companies, networks, and advertisers is convincing people not to turn to these sources.
Often shows that are really well received and well loved like Arrested Development, are cancelled.
Things We Learned From Premiere Season
Schedules still matter. When shows premiere still highly effect how many people watch it, even in the age of Netflix and Hulu.
Shows based on movies or other shows (like Limitless, Minority Report and Heroes Reborn) cant coast on familiarity. Although Limitless is doing pretty well Minority Report and Heroes Reborn are not.
The link between TV and social media is stronger than ever. Twitter especially is a very powerful tool for selling a TV show and monitoring interest in a TV show.
Premieres aren’t everything. It’s sometimes good to let the show grow before judging it.
TV Vs Film
Movies used to be more artistic and daring but now TV series’ are the daring ones and movies are more cautious and funding for films becomes harder to find.
TV is what’s making money for companies.
More cable networks and more streaming services creating more chances for shows to go into syndication.
