Resource Materials 9:25 a.m.

Hi Jack! Here are the notes from my group.

-Riley Ludwig

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

o   English has 44 sounds

o   smallest unit of sound

·         morpheme- singular sounds/smallest unit with meaning attached

o   shh

o   mm

o   o

o   a

o   I

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'

o   cannot end in preposition

·         must follow the order of a language

o   subject

o   verb

o   predicate

·         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

o   language, writing, printing, telegraph/telephone, photography/motion pictures, radio/TV, digital media/handheld devices

o   Highest rate of literacy: 1800s (enlightenment)

o   Everything in media is an extension of the telegraph

·        Importance of  “writing”

o   Writing creates division

§  People who can and cannot read

§  Stored info so it could be passed down among generations

·        Printing

o   China invented paper and block printing and moveable type

·        Gutenberg Revolution

o   Gutenberg invented printing press

§  Popularized common language

§  Spreads information easier and faster

§  led to the development of current concept of “news”

·        Technological determinism

o   the view that technology drives historical change

o   a 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

o   Telegraph= birth of electronic media

o   Created instantaneous point-to-point communication at huge distances

o   first technology to use digital signals—dots and dashes

o   by 1850, almost every city on our Western frontier was linked with other cities

o   in 1866, the U.S. laid a trans-Atlantic cable connecting America with Europe

o   Privately owned, not gov’t regulated

·        Cultural impact of radio and TV

o   Radio

§  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)

o   TV

§  In 99% of all households

§  3^rd largest time consumer

§  share a national, even global, consciousness through the common visual icons provided by television

·        Digital media (mobile parenting, time softening)

o   the 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

o   gets rid of middle man (gov’t can now directly reach the people)

o   divides people that can afford and train to use technology and those who can’t

o   mobile parenting- connected with your children through technology (ie: tracking)

o   time 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.

TR 10:50 a.m. Resource Materials for Exam

Steps of an ad campaign:

1. Choose the marketing agency and select a marketing strategy. The agency needs to research the target audience (the people to whom they want to tailor their ads) and the marketing objective (the goal of the ad campaign). This stage also involves positioning the product in relation to other products. For example, orange juice is positioned as a breakfast drink (also in mimosas), healthy, a cold remedy, etc.
2. The second step is determining theme or mass appeal. This will be the theme that is translated across various mediums as part of the campaign, i.e. McDonald’s “I’m lovin’ it” campaign. It should be broad enough to be adapted into different media formats but still specific enough to the brand to be effective and memorable.
3. Translate theme into various media- billboards, media billboards, tv commercials, radio commercials, on the side of a taxi, full page ads, etc
   
   
   this step involves finding out the market behavior, knowing the competitors, what type of advertising they are using, what is the response of the consumers, availability of the resources needed in the process, etc.
   
   

   Take the information you’ve learned about your client and target audience and start brainstorming. Jot down words and phrases. Doodle. Combine ideas. Don’t stop until you have at least 20 ideas. 

   
   

   The advertising professionals will work up proofs, or in the case of commercials, storyboards, that bring your ideas to fruition. Review the preliminary concepts for consistency with your ideas and their ability to achieve your goals. Avoid cost overruns by confirming in advance how many revisions you are entitled to before incurring additional charges. 

   
   

   4. 

   the next step is to identify the target consumers most likely to buy the product. The target should be appropriately identified without any confusion. 

   Ex. if the product is a health drink for growing kids, then the target customers will be the parents who are going to buy it and not the kids who are going to drink it.

   
   

   Take the top two or three ideas and expand them into rough advertisements. These don’t have to be finished, but need to represent what you’re trying to communicate 

5)Buying space and time:  Buy commercials on TV, radio, youtube etc. or buy space on billboards etc. Media brokers pre buy your ads + pay money up front

6) Executing and evaluating the campaign: Put your plan into action and you can evaluate by the sales to see how successful you were  

Rules of language:

1.     Phonemic Rule: There are 44 basic human sounds in English, which are known as phonemes.

• Phonemes refer to the sounds that we make, when pronouncing letters and combining them into words.
• Morphemes are the arrangement of words and sentences or sounds to create meaning. For example “Shh”

2.     Semantic- The study of meaning; dictates what we mean when we say things.

-Relating to meaning in language or logic -Of relating to, or arising from the different meanings of words or other symbols - Focuses on the relations between signifiers, like words, phrases, signs, and symbols, and what they stand for 3.Syntax 

-Rules about grammar -Arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language -Dictates how words from different parts of speech are together in order to convey a complete thought -Formal and informal rules -Syntax and diction are closely related. Diction refers to the choice of words in a particular situation while syntax determines how the chosen words are used to form a sentence

4. Pragmatic rules

- how we actually use language

- "What time is it? How's it going?" etc.

- Speech Act Theory explains the acts tied to words -- asking a question and offering someone food, using questions as greetings ("how are you")

- normative rules - language must follow social norms

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Communication: Mass and Other Forms (blog + class + text)

Elements in the communication process

• Source- objects which encode message data and transmit the information, via a channel, to one or more observers (or receivers); can be single individuals, groups, or even organizations. (Example: TV provider)
• Encoding- the activities that a source goes through to translate thoughts and ideas into a form that may be perceived by the senses. i.e.- face-to-face conversation, the speaker encodes thoughts into words. (Example: a TV show being produced for air)
• Message- the physical product that the source encodes and can range from being directed at one specific person or at trillions (Example: the TV program you are watching)
• Channel- the ways the message travels to the receiver. I.e.- Sound waves carry spoken words  
• Decoding- the ways the message travels to the receiver. I.e.- Sound waves carry spoken words  (Example: viewer watching watching the show)
• Receiver- the target of the message and can be a single person, a group, an institution, or even a large, anonymous collection of people. (Example: Viewer of a TV show)
• Feedback- Those responses of the receiver that shape and alter the subsequent messages of the source (Example: a viewer tweeting about a show they're watching)
• Noise- anything that interferes with the delivery of the message
• semantic- different people have different meanings for different words and phrases or when the arrangement of words confuses the meaning. I.e.- ask for a soda in NYC expecting something with ice cream in it.
• Mechanical- when there is a problem with a machine that is being used to assist communication. I.e.- TV set with a pixilated picture
• Environmental- sources of noise that are external to the communication process but that nonetheless interfere with it. I.e.- A person trying a conversation in a noisy restaurant

The major mass media

·      Intrapersonal communication- communications with yourself (Example: a person's inner thoughts)

·      Interpersonal communication- a person (or group) is interacting with another person (or group) without the aid of a mechanical device. (Example: communicating with a few others)

·      Small Group communication- working in small groups

·      Public communication- one person talking to many

·      Mass communication- the process by which a complex organization with the aid of one or more machines produces and transmits public messages that are directed at large, heterogeneous, and scattered audiences (Example: one person or entity addressing many)

Common characteristics of traditional mass media outlets

• complex and formal: companies are involved in several different markets (NBC Universal does music, theme parks, and other things in addition to TV)
• multiple gatekeepers: content must go through multiple "checkers" to be approved (Example: if you want to pitch a show you have to go through multiple people & heads of departments etc.)
• need vast cash to operate: operations are giant, costs lots of money to keep them all going
• exist to make a profit: first and foremost goal is to be profitable
• highly competitive: stakes are high, lots of competition

Future of mass media (segmentation, convergence, disintermediation)

• Segmentation- multiple different sources for content instead of one platform for everything

• Convergence- The blending of communication technologies, operations, or businesses. (Example: watching TV online)
• Disintermediation- No gatekeeper like in personal social media; content doesn't go through other operations in order to be published

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Television Systems Review Sheet:

Commercial Broadcast Network Systems:

Networks: ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CW. Appeal to the key demo (18-49). New networks go after minority and teen programming. ABC: Family sitcoms, CBS: Crime Drama, FOX: Animated Sitcoms and NBC: Live Action comedy, CW: Teen angst. Make money through advertising

Affiliates: Designated Market Areas (DMAs): Geographic area that represents specific television markets as defined and updated by the Nielsen Company. New York, Los Angeles and Chicago are top 3.

Networks also own affiliate stations. EX: In Connecticut, ABC owns Channel 8

    

Studios: Disney owns ABC, Universal owns NBC, Paramount owns CBS, 20th Century FOX owns FOX and Warners Bros owns CW.

           

Syndicators: Sell TV shows to different networks across the world, make money through auctioning shows. A show needs about 100 episodes to be syndicated. KingWorld Distribution, for example, revamped Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, sold them as a package and became the most successful syndication programs in history.

           

Advertisers: Pay networks for access to ads and an audience

Why do media exist in the United States?

• Surveillance:  Relaying of information - People look for the weather, news, economic news, movie times, sports scores, etc.  
• Interpretation: “What does this news mean?”  - People can get opinions and insight into the news and events.
• Linkage***: Links two groups of people together, for example, links the ads and the audience.
• Transmission of Values: People come to adopt the behavior of people they see in the media and take on their values and beliefs as their own.
• Entertainment: People rely on the media to entertain them with TV shows, movies, etc.

How is media in the U.S. different than media around the world?

• 1) In the U.S. the sole purpose of media is to make money (with the exception of PBS)
• 2) There is no government funded media in the U.S. (England has BBC, which is paid for with taxes people’s taxes)

Nielsen Media Research: Share vs. Ratings

Shares:

-A Share is the percentage of people watching a show among all of those who are watching TV.

-Shares are far more important than ratings

-They are responsible for driving up the cost of advertising

Ratings:

-TV ratings give a percentage out of all TV homes

- a percentage of the potential audience

-Low ratings can have high shares ex. Ellen, Kimmel

TV’s Priciest Shows (Commercial Costs) -

• Sunday Night Football: $637,300
• Empire: $521,794
• The Walking Dead: $502,500
• The Big Bang Theory: (Mondays) $289,621

Major Networks and Their Parent Companies:

-Disney -- ABC

-Universal -- NBC

-Paramount --CBS

-20th Century Fox --FOX

-Warner Bros. -- CW

Public Television System:

• Things you can’t get anywhere else, but we don’t want government involved
• Corporation of Public Broadcasting (private company) — some of our taxes go into it (National PBS/Local PBS, NPR)
• PBS used to be original and have programs like children’s programs, home improvement, government intervention
• PBS is only network that doesn't have corporate interest, only owned by themselves (private)
• Shows on PBS don't share the profit with them because it’s a private company

Cable/Satellite Television System:

• Makes money in 2 ways: Subscription fees (minimum for cable is $200, ESPN subscription is $5.54 — most successful)
• Comcast, Time Warner, Verizon, Direct TV, Dish are the most popular (offer wifi as well)
• Cable companies bribe local companies for exclusive rights for their company - FRANCHISE
• Time Warner & Comcast are the largest companies

- Affiliate Stations (DMA - Designated Market Areas)

- Syndicators (dominates industry)= sells packages of TV shows across the world, re-runs

- How do networks make money? - Advertising.

- How do studios make money? - Syndication revenue.

- How do local affiliates (stations) make money? - Receiving payment from the networks, production of news (cheap to produce), show re-runs (syndication).

- How do syndicators make money? - Auction of shows and keep a certain percentage.

- How do advertisers make their money? - When people buy their services and products.

3 Systems of Television & How They Make Their Money

1. Commercial broadcast system - relies on advertising.
2. Commercial cable/satellite system - subscription fees and advertising.
3. Public System - relies on funding from the CPB (Corporation for Public Broadcasting - a private corporation funded by tax dollars), and donations from viewers, foundations.

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Here are our notes for Perspectives of Mass Communication:

-The functions of Mass Media are surveillance, interpretation, linkage, transitioning values, and entertaining. 

-Surveillance is the the action of media finding news to learn information about the world in which we live, and then conveying it to an audience.

-Interpretation is the reliance by people on social media to analyze the world for us.

-Linkage is the primary function of media, which is to bring two groups together that would otherwise be disconnected.

-Transition of values is the media dictating to the receivers what is appropriate and what is inappropriate.

-Entertainment is the function that allows receivers to consume media for enjoyment.

-Uses and gratification of media include cognition, diversion, social utility, and withdrawal.

-Cognition is using media to seek out information.

-Diversion is using media to escape, either from something or into something.

-Social utilities are conversational currency (talking about things within the media with fellow receivers) and parasocial relationships (the feeling within a receiver of media that a media celebrity would identify with him/her or that he/she would identify/befriend that celebrity).

-Withdrawal is using media to isolate oneself from society. In this way, society becomes media.

Thanks very much,

Carl Valentine

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APP INVENTOR + FIRST 2 ARTICLES

• App Inventor is an online program which simplifies the process of developing an app for the Google Play Store
• Designer: Where you create what will appear on the screen in your app
  • Palette: Where you find the components and drag them to the Viewer to add them to your app
  • Viewer: Allows you to see what your app will look like
  • Components: Objects inside the Viewer
  • Properties: Color, Size and Behavior

• Blocks: The code which sets up the app behavior
  • Drawers:
    • Built-In Drawers: General behaviors which are not specific to a single component
    • Component-Specific Drawers: Behaviors which ARE designed for specific components

• Event Handlers: Dictates how the app reacts when specific events take place
• Setters: Commands that change the value associated with the property. (the “open puzzle pieces”)
• Getters: Expressions that ‘get’ or contain the current value of the property. (the “closed puzzle pieces”)

GOLDEN AGE FOR WOMEN IN TV

Media has historically been a male-dominated industry and has kept women down in the past - especially in comedy. However, several hit TV comedy shows in the 90s predominantly featured women. While this was a good start, women are still not prominently represented in the industry. For example there are only 2 women writers out of 19 total writers on “Late Show with Stephen Colbert”.

TV VS THE INTERNET: WHO WILL WIN?

The internet is becoming a more prominent player in the world of mass media and is a strong competitor to television. While it is growing in popularity and is constantly expanding in terms of scope of content, both players have their own strengths and weaknesses, which makes it unclear whether or not it will ever overtake TV and become the number 1 provider for visual media content.

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TV 2015- The Future in Questions

* Predicting the future of media such as TV shows is very difficult; because you never know how the show will appeal to the audience. Some high rating shows get canceled sooner then one would expect; Sometimes there is a thin line between successful and unsuccessful show; It’s hard to get accurate ratings because of non-live watching habits

TV 2015- 5 Lessons Learned from Premiere Week 

* a show's timeslot still has an effect on viewership; blaming specific reasons as to why a show is failing won't make the show any better, just make you seem like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum; reboots of beloved series and movies don't always guarantee ratings and audience; Twitter buzz on a show is a good indication of public opinion and likelihood of success; shows sometimes get better as time goes on.  if it isn't immediately a hit, but has potential, then it shouldn't be outright cancelled

TV vs. Film

·         This article talks about the decline of movies and the subtle increase in quality and viewers for television. Main points to take away are the movies being released are either rehashed storylines that people will watch and it slowly falls to the wayside. The writer is trying to figure out what happened to movies based on a 20 year assessment of previous films that did well that weren’t big blockbusters that are still talked about today. The only movies that seem to cause big discussions anymore are movies that haven’t been done before, for example, Inception. The writer notices that television is starting to become the favored form of entertainment how just 20 years ago the movies was considered better quality and better entertainment. 

TV vs. Film II

* TV trounces film in terms of profits; film becomes more expensive to make and market, and attendance has declined; TV shows fail more often than succeed, but profits from success are dramatically large; advertising revenue for companies' TV more than make up for box office failures