Media economics

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Media economics embodies economic theoretical and practical economic questions specific to media of all types. Of particular concern to media economics are the economic polices and practices of media companies and disciples including journalism and the news industry, film production, entertainment programs, print, broadcast, mobile communications, Internet, advertising and public relations. Deregulation of media, media ownership and concentration, market share, intellectual property rights, competitive economic strategies, company economics, "media tax" and other issues are considered parts of the field. Media economics has social, cultural, and economic implications.

Regular study of media economic issues began in the 1970s but flourished in the 1980s with the addition of classes on the subject and U.S. and European universities. The Journal of Media Economics began publishing in 1988, edited by Robert G. Picard, one of the founding fathers of the discipline. Since that time the field of inquiry has flourished and their are now hundreds of universities offering courses and programs in media economics. Other significant figures in the field have included Steven Wildman, Alan Albarran, Bruce Owen, Stuart McFadyen, Gillian Doyle, Karl Erik Gustafsson, Nadine Toussaint Desmoulins,and Stephen Lacy,

Location of media economics research in academe varies depending upon the tradition and history of institutions. In some universities it is located in business schools whereas in others it is located in communication, media and journalism schools or departments or in departmetns of economics.

The term "cultural economics" is sometimes used as a synonym for media economics but there are not substitutable. Cultural economics includes a wide variety of activities that do not necessarily involve mediated dissemination such as museums, symphonies, operas, and festivals. At times these may cross over into media economic issues, such as when audio or video recordings are made of performances or museum holdings are put on CDs.


Contents

[edit] World wide media

There is no definitive list of every radio and television station in the world. The National Association of Broadcasters cites the estimate from the U.S. C.I.A. World Fact Book, which reports that "as of January 2000, there are over 21,500 television stations and over 44,000 radio stations." (CIA World Fact Book references --Radio, TV)

In the United States the FCC provides a list of "Licensed Broadcast Station Totals (Index) 1990 to Present," which may be found here. According to the FCC report --

  • The Commission has announced the following totals for broadcast stations licensed as of March 31, 2004
         AM RADIO                    4781
         FM RADIO                    6224
         FM EDUCATIONAL              2471
         _____________________________________________
         TOTAL                       13476

         UHF COMMERCIAL TV           773
         VHF COMMERCIAL TV           589
         UHF EDUCATIONAL TV          255
         VHF EDUCATIONAL TV          127
         _____________________________________________
         TOTAL                       1744

         CLASS A UHF STATIONS        498
         CLASS A VHF STATIONS        112
         _____________________________________________
         TOTAL                       610

         FM TRANSLATORS & BOOSTERS   3842
         UHF TRANSLATORS             2658
         VHF TRANSLATORS             2079
         _____________________________________________
         TOTAL                       8579

         UHF LOW POWER TV            1605
         VHF LOW POWER TV            523
         _____________________________________________
         TOTAL                       2128

[edit] Advertising revenues

In the United States, a report from the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) states that in 2002, radio's revenue reached $19.4 billion, an increase of 5.7% from the $17.7 billion earned in 2001. For additional details see RAB's Radio Fact Book. Total broadcast revenues for 2001 were $54.4 billion, as reported by The Television Advertising Bureau (TVB).

[edit] Advertiser spending

Quote -- "Annually advertisers spend approximately $150 billion to sponsor TV and radio programs, in the hopes of making two-to-three times as much in return from media consumers who buy their products and services (Fox, 2002). From the 1970s to the 1990s, the daily number of ads targeted at the average American jumped from 560 to 3,000 (Fox, 2002). In that same time frame, the number of ads to which children were exposed increased from 20,000 per year (Adler et al., 1977) to more than 40,000 per year (Kunkel & Gantz, 1992; also see Strasburger, 2001).: [1]

[edit] References

  • Albarran, Alan B. (2002). Media Economics: Understanding Markets, Industries, and Concepts (2nd. ed.). Blackwell. ISBN 0-8138-2124-X.
  • Albarran, A. B.; Chan-Olmsted, S. M., Wirth; M. O.(Eds.) (2006). Handbook of Media Economics. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. ISBN 0-8058-5004-X.
  • Alexander, Alison; Owers, James; Carveth, Rod; Hollifield, C. Ann; Greco, Albert N. (Eds.) (2003). Media Economics: Theory and Practice (3rd ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. ISBN 0-8058-4580-1.
  • Doyle, Gillian (2002). Understanding Media Economics. SAGE Publications. ISBN 0-7619-6874-1.
  • Greco, Albert N. (Ed.) (1999). The Media and Entertainment Industries: Readings in Mass Communications. Allyn & Bacon. ISBN 0-205-30010-3.
  • McChesney, Robert W. (1997). Corporate Media and the Threat to Democracy (Open Media Pamphlet Series). Open Media. ISBN 1-888363-47-9.
  • McChesney, Robert W. (1999). Rich Media, Poor Democracy: Communication Politics in Dubious Times. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-02448-6.
  • Picard, Robert G. (2002). The Economics and Financing of Media Companies. Fordham University Press. ISBN 0-8232-2174-1.
  • Picard, Robert G. (1989). Media Economics: Concepts and Issues. Sage Publications. ISBN 0-8039-3502-1.
  • Picard, Robert G., ed. (2002). Media Firms: Structures, Operations, Performance.. Lawrence Erlbaum. ISBN 0-8058-4165-2.

[edit] External links

Media Economics: Theory and Practice "focuses on the principles of economics in the business sector and applies them to specific media industries. It examines the process of media economics decision making through an exploration of such topics as industrial restructuring, regulatory constraints upon media operations, and changing economic value, providing key insights into media business activities." (PDF file)

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