An engaging and accessible introduction to the field, Understanding Media Industries helps students develop deeper and more critical knowledge of industries. This book provides students with a thorough discussion of how media industries work, why they work as they do, and the broader theoretical and practical implications of media industry structure and function. The authors' unique Industrialization of Culture Framework organizes the book and helps students to consider media industries in different nations and historical periods.

Contents

CHAPTER ONE: UNDERSTANDING MEDIA INDUSTRIES
o Understanding Media Industries
§ Why Study Media Industries
-Defining Media Industries
§ Media Industries in Society
-All Media Matter in the Public Sphere
o Agency and Ideology in Media Industries
§ Forces that Circumscribe Agency
-Organizational Cultures
-The Ideological Uncertainty of Media Content
-Cultures of Production
o Understanding Media Industries in the 21st Century
§ Mass Customization and the Rise of Information Economy
-Mass Production
-Long Downturn
-Mass Customization
o Questions

CHAPTER TWO: THE INDUSTRIALIZATION OF CULTURE FRAMEWORK AND KEY ECONOMIC CONCEPTS
o The Industrialization of Culture Framework
§ Mandates
§ Conditions
§ Practices
o How Does this Framework Work?
o Key Economic Aspects of the Media Industries
§ Fundamentals of Media Commodities
§ Media Industry Response to Risk
-Ownership and Conglomeration Strategies
-Formatting
o Conclusion
o Questions

CHAPTER THREE: MEDIA INDUSTRY MANDATES
o What Are Common Mandates
§ Commercial Media
§ Noncommercial Media
-Public Mandate Media
-Community, Alternative/DIY Mandate Media
-Governmental Mandate Media
o Mandates in Action
§ Establishing the Mandate of U.S. Broadcasting
o Limits of Mandates
o Questions

CHAPTER FOUR: REGULATION OF THE MEDIA INDUSTRIES
o Why is Broadcasting Different?
o Who Regulates?
-International Regulations
-Self-Regulation
o What is Regulated?
§ Content Regulations
-Copyright
§ Structural and Operational Regulations
-Ownership Regulations
-Economic Regulations: Rate Control and Subsidies
-Licenses and License Renewal
-Monopoly and Anti-Trust Restrictions
o Other Regulatory Conditions
§ Regulations Governing Distribution
§ An Emerging Area: Broadband Policy
§ Pro-Social Regulation
§ Technological Standards: The Case of the Digital Television Transition
o Conclusion
o Questions

CHAPTER FIVE: ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN MEDIA PRODUCTION
o The Creative and Cultural Implications of Cost Structures and Financing Mechanisms
§ The Costs of Making Media
-Development Costs
-Production Costs
-Marketing and Distribution Costs
-Overhead Costs
§ How Are the Costs of Creating Media Products Funded?
-Independent Financing of a Single Good
-Financing a Single Medium through Publisher Funding
-Financing a Continuous Medium
o The Economics of Audiences: Ways of Paying for Media Products
§ Characteristics of Advertiser-Supported Media
§ Characteristics of Media Not Supported by Advertising
-Direct Pay
-Subscription
-Emerging Payment Models
§ Characteristics of Media with Dual Revenue Streams
o Emerging Economic Strategies for Media Industries
o Conclusion
o Questions

CHAPTER SIX: TECHNOLOGICAL CONDITIONS OF THE MEDIA INDUSTRIES
o Theories of Technological Change
§ Circuit of Cultural Production
o Technology and Other Conditions
§ Technology and Industry Structure
§ Technology and Prevalent Revenue Models
o Technological Conditions and Media Industry Practices
o Industrial Restraints on Technological Innovation
o Conclusion
o Questions

CHAPTER SEVEN: CREATIVE PRACTICES AND MEDIA WORK
o Creative Visions: Approaches to Making Media
o Creative Roles Above and Below-the-Line
o Industry Executives: Enabling and Limiting Creativity
§ Commercial Influences: Audience Research
§ Commercial Influences: Industry Norms, Organizational Cultures, and Circumscribed Agency
o Creativity in an Era of Change
o Conclusion
o Questions

CHAPTER EIGHT: MEDIA DISTRIBUTION AND AGGREGATION PRACTICES
o Distinguishing Distribution and Aggregation Practices
o Distribution and Aggregation Industry Roles
§ The Roles of Distributors
§ The Roles of Aggregators
o Distribution and Aggregation Strategies
§ Windowing: A Changing Strategy of Media Distribution
o Conclusion
o Questions

CHAPTER NINE: DIGITIZATION
o Understanding Digitization
o Digitization and Shifts in Production
§ Print
§ Audio
§ Video
o Digitization and Shifts in Aggregation and Distribution
§ Digital Distribution in the Newspaper Industry
o Digitization and Changes in Use
§ Choice
§ Fragmentation
§ Convenience
o Coming Change
o Conclusion
o Questions

CHAPTER TEN: MEDIA GLOBALIZATION
o The History of Media Globalization and American Dominance
o Drivers of Media Globalization
§ Film
§ Television
§ Gaming
§ Music
§ Magazines
§ Newspapers
§ Advertising
o Barriers to Media Globalization
§ Cultural Barriers
§ Technological and Regulatory Barriers
o Overcoming Barriers to Globalization
§ Global Promotions and Buzz
§ International Co-Production
§ Dubbing and Subtitling
§ Localization
§ Outsourcing
o Media Globalization in the Global South
o The Commercial and Social Consequences of Media Globalization
§ Expanded Markets and Innovation
§ Cultural Imperialism vs. Hybridity
§ Connecting Dispersed Communities
o Conclusion
o Questions