US Media 1
The US Media
The Open Market
Very little government control
•The Federal Communications Commission
•Acts passed by Congress
•State and federal laws
Public opinion
•The "Moral majority"
•The "ratings" -- Nielsen Media Research
•Special interest groups
Trends-- the market dictates
•Creating demand--technology
•Growth of cable TV- CNN
•Home PCs-- interactive media
•Technical quality
High Definition
Screen size
"Surround-sound"
What can we expect?
•More choice -- more cost
•Grey zone: news or entertaiment?
•More "interaction"
•More "couch potatoes"
US Media 2
Newspapers
Freedom of the press
The Constitution
1791-- 1st Ammendment (Bill of Rights)
freedom of worship, speech, press
Still the best way to keep informed?
The "screen" vs. the "page"
Long traditions
Knowledge is power
1st newspaper-- Pennsylvania 1783
1800 -- 20 dailies, 1000 weeklies
1900 -- 2,226 dailies -- peak
1990 -- 1,611 dailies
Consolidation
Media empires
20 newspaper chains-- 80% of market
Circulation: 60 million
National newspapers
USA Today
1984-- satellite communication
1.3m
Easy to read
The Wall Street Journal
A second newspaper
1.8m
US media 3
The Dailies
Generally home-delivered
High standard of journalism
Important forum for advertising
Large Sunday edition
"Aftenposten" format
A few of the most important:
Los Angeles Times 1.2m
New York Times 1.1m
New York Daily News 1m
Washington Post .8m
Chicago Tribune .7m
Detroit Free Press .6m
San Francisco Chronicle .5m
Boston Globe .5m
Political affiliation
No "party" newspapers
More issue-oriented
Equal-coverage
New agencies
AP (Associated Press)
UPI (United Press International)
Investigative journalism
The "fourth pillar of government"
"Watergate"-- Bernstein,Woodward and the
Washington Post
Bill Clinton's personal life -- where do you draw
the line?
US Media 4
Magazines
Large market
top sellers
subscriptions up, single-copy sales down
1. Modern Maturity 22m
2. NRTA/AARP Bulletin 22m
3. Reader's Digest 16m
4. TV Guide 15m
5. National Geographic 10m
6. Better Homes and Gardens 8m
7. Family Circle 5m
8. Good Housekeeping 5m
9. McCall's 5m
10. Ladies' Home Journal 5m
11. Woman's Day 4.8m
12. Time 4m
13. Redbook 3.9m
14. National Enquirer 3.8m
15. Playboy 3.5m
16. Star 3.4m
17. Sports Illustrated 3.2m
18. Newsweek 3.2m
19. People Weekly 3.2m
20. Prevention 3m
Women!
1960 -- 30.5% working
1990 -- 55%
Trends and priorities
Who makes them?
US Media 5
Advertising
You pay for space
"Time Magazine": 12th in circulation, 1st in revenues
25% of advertising money goes to newspapers
23% of this goes to "locals"
5% of this goes to magazines
You pay for time
22% of advertising money goes to television
7% goes to radio
You pay for the experts
6,000 ad agencies
create the ads and commercials: MADISON AVENUE
Who is paying?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Philip Morris Companies
Procter and Gamble & Co.
Sears, Roebuck & Co.
General Motors Corp.
5. Grand Metropolitan PLC
6. Pepsico Inc.
7. McDonald's Corp.
8. Eastman Kodak Co.
9. RJR Nabisco
10. Kellogg Co.
US Media 6
Television
Significant influence
"Total access"
"Immediate gratification"
No effort required
No time to wait for a result
The market: supply and demand
The Networks
1,200 television stations
70% get their programs from the big 4:
ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox
Competing with cable-TV
Discovery, ESPN,TBS (Turner),CNN,USA,MTV,Disney,etc.
NEWS
Entertainment
Fast-paced
Anchormen and anchorwomen
"Talking heads"
SPORTS
Contracts for major sport events
The Super Bowl, the World Series, NBA
the Olympic Games
TV SHOWS
Entertainment and trends
Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Oprah Winfrey
US Media 7
PBS- the alternative
largest network of stations
280 non-profit stations
No commercials
Voluntary membership fees and grants
Freedom from the market
The Ratings
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen People Meter Average Audience
Estimates
The "Tinkerbell Ratings"
4,000 households: statistical sample
One "point" for 920,00 households
Weekly viewing
30 hours a week average
Women over 55: 42 hours
Children: 27 hours- television as baby-sitter
television as "background music"
television as "company"
Commercials
Few restrictions