Thursday, 8 January 2015

Understanding film and TV: Task 1

 



Unit 8 case study

Technologies

Satellite and cable

Disney is both satellite and cable as it has over 70 million subscribers to the channels in Europe and in the US 89% of households have the Disney channel package. The channels are broadcast worldwide and are broadcast in several different languages including Spanish, English, French and German and many others.

Digital

Disney runs as a digital channel as it is not one of the analogue channels as they are the 5 main channels in the UK including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, but Disney is broadcast to the UK via Sky, Virgin, BT or any other providers.

Film based

A huge amount of Disney’s profit comes from film making and their latest film Frozen grossed over 1 billion dollars. Overall since Disney is one of the leading film makers their films are expected to get high gross figures with every release.

Interactive

Disney has many ways to interact with its customers for example they have programs like Disney mobile which is part of the Disney interactive sector and it designs mobile apps, wallpapers, ringtones  and games that children can play with their favourite characters on. The Disney Interactive company, which is a subsidiary of Disney, makes the games and is part of the Disney internet group.  Disney also runs Disney on Ice, which is a Disney tour that goes all the way round the world and gives fans of the movies a chance to see their favourite characters perform their favourite parts from their films.

Internet

Disney has a set sector for dealing with its online activates and they are the Disney Internet group which is a subsidiary of the Disney Corporation.  Disney runs a main website with several links to other websites for example the main Disney website has links to the website for Disney Land and the Disney channel.

 

Ownership

Private Ownership and Commercial usage

The company is owned privately and by shareholders and a board of directors. The company’s biggest shareholder is Steve Jobs who owns a 7% stake in the company and although dead is still listed on the board of directors. The company CEO is Robert Iger who has been in charge of the company since March 2012 was elected to govern the company by Tim Cook, who now is Apple’s CEO. The Disney Company does not advertise on all of but one of its channels, the odd one out is Disney XD, which mainly advertises children’s toys, but apart from that channel, the other channels advertise other Disney shows, films or products made by Disney. Disney is not a public service, an example of a public service is the BBC because it has no owner and is paid for by the public.

Corporate, global company and monopoly

Disney is a corporation because it is a large company, which acts as a single entirety for example the Disney Animation Company, is sold as part of the main Disney Company. It is also a global company because its products and material are broadcast and distributed worldwide and are sent out through Disney’s distribution arm of its company. As a story, monopoly company Disney does not spend much of its budget on a film paying other film distributors to send it out to the world because they have the power to do it on their own. Disney is not an independent company, and example of an independent company is Paramount who only produces the films but need the help of bigger companies to distribute it around the world. Although Disney is a monopoly, there are other companies that are also oligopolies for example Paramount is an oligopoly because it relies on other companies to help advertise their films.

Vertical and Horizontal integration

Disney is both vertical and horizontal because of the companies that it has bought and taken them under their wing. Disney’s takeover of ESPN would be considered as horizontal integration, as the company does not form a part of the production process of any Disney productions. Its takeover of ABC would be considered as vertical integration, as the TV network forms a place where Disney can broadcast its productions, this is the same as when Disney bough Pixar because they use Pixar to produce and broadcast their material.

 

Funding

Licensing fees

When a company wants to sell Disney’s products they must first meet a set stand set by the Disney Company, which they must meet, some of these are; the company must have been manufacturing and distributing toys and other related products for at least 5 years and, the company must not be an intermediary. Then once these criteria have been met by the company they must agree to set terms and conditions which also include that Disney will receive 50% of all profit made but will not pay distribution fees and a set amount of money must be agreed at the start of the financial year depending on profit made in the previous year. Viewers of Disney don’t pay a license fee like people in the UK do for the BBC because Disney is a private company that doesn’t run off public funds whereas people pay for the BBC and this means the BBC is funded by the public and belongs to the public.

Subscription and Pay per view

Disney runs several channels and most popular is the Disney channel, which is subscribed to 86% of televisions in the US, which earns the company around $750 million a year. Disney runs subscriptions through Virgin, Sky and BT and they receive a set amount from every fee paid. Disney also runs a pay per view system with the Sky Movies Disney channel and has been known in the past to run it on its Disney channel when a film has premiered on the channel.

Advertising

Last year the Disney Company spent $1.93 billion on advertising worldwide sending advertisements out to over 50 different countries. Although Disney spent a lot on advertisements, they are third in top five film major film studios. Disney’s advertisements on their channels are mainly made up with ads for their own shows and do not plug products. The only Disney channel to play ads is Disney XD and the ads are generally for kid’s toys.  Walt Disney Co. spent $1.93 billion on ads;

       TV: $546 million

       Magazines: $178 million

       Newspapers: $88 million

       Internet: $187 million

       Other: $933 million

*other includes things such as Radio advertisements, billboards, and gaming adverts.

Disney still spends an average of two billion dollars a year worldwide on getting the Disney name hot on the world’s consciousness and to keep the interest in the company high.

Product Placement

Disney tends to product place in its own work, for example in the old animated films Mickey Mouse, Donald duck, Goofy would all make appearances in the background for example they are in the background of Little Mermaid, Snow white, and Cinderella.  Disney also have product placement on films such as Saving Mr Banks. This also links very closely with the fact that Disney is a big believer in self-advertisement and the fact that the company is trying to spare extra expense by keeping the Disney name in people’s heads.

Private Capital

Disney’s whole company is riding on the stock market. This is a good way of bringing in profit because if they take a loss then all of the shareholders take a small hit. This means though when the company earns a profit the profit is shared amongst its shareholders. This is also a great way to merchandise the company with fans wanting to own a part of Disney and this earns Disney and immediate profit. The biggest shareholder of Disney is Steve Jobs who owns 7% of the corporation despite the fact he is no longer alive. The average Disney share price is $40 and then once the fee is paid to Disney the shareholder then would own 0.007% of the company.

 

 

 

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