Home Search Sitemap Contact Bookmark

Free Dissertations - Journalism Dissertations

Increased Consumer Choice In The Television Market Is Likely To Lead To The ...

Increased consumer choice in the television market is likely to lead to the development (which has in fact already begun) of narrowcasting, rather than broadcasting, which would allow advertisers to target their audiences more accurately. That could in fact lead to increased advertising revenue in the longer term, as the products which cater for niche markets and which were previously not advertised on television are taken up by advertising agencies which can use television for the first time as a relatively precise tool' (Underwood: 2003).
Therefore, in terms of the UK, which does not offer niche markets, nor relies so heavily on advertising, impartiality even within commercial broadcasters is kept to a maximum. Even product placement and sponsored programming is a relatively new concept within the UK. However, in the US the reliance upon advertisers to fund their businesses and to adopt strategies for niche markets means that they are less likely to be impartial and directly consider their main audience. Fleming goes on to remind us that in the UK, there are strict regulations regarding commercial broadcasting ownership. The Broadcasting Act of 1990 and the amended Act in 1996 both sought to limit the ownership across media sectors, something that is not adhered to in the US.
‘Proprietors of national newspapers could only hold up to 20 per cent of one license in other terrestrial television, radio or domestic satellite broadcasts, and up to 5 per cent in any other category'.
US commercial News Channels are not regulated in such a manner. Fox News and CNN are both part of large corporations that produce a range of television shows. Although this concept is perhaps no different from the BBC, for example, the latter is forced to outsource 25% of its programme making per annum. Geographically, news broadcasting in the US is important. US news broadcasters are largely based on the East Coast (in New York) and are associated with East Coast attitudes (Fleming: 382). Conversely, the UK, although able to regionalise its programming, is still able to work within a national network and still remain intrinsically linked to the British government. The US, within its public service broadcasting remits, has sought to localise without being regulated by a centralised body.
Current Affairs programming in the US and in the UK regularly provide stories that are not included in regular newscasts. They envelope not only newsworthy stories but also celebrity profiles, hidden camera techniques, interviews, the vengeance or correcting of injustices and biographies, political exposure and coverage of large companies.


Thanks