Players in the Media Industry in the UK - Case Study Example

WalltoWall Production Company Profile Student Name: Name of Institution: Course Code: Date of Submission: Introduction Market in the media industry continues to experience more and more advancements in the name of technology, fierce market competition, and foreign collaborations. Even the oldest and more experienced media houses are facing challenges in developing new genres other than News genre.Most channels are bow considering new genres like fashion, kids, and English entertainmentamong others. Obviously, this ideahelps companies provide their viewers and customers with better and improved options to choose from and minimize viewer'sinclination towards other competing channels. As an independent production company, Wall to Wall is making manyplans to ensure that its customers get more entertainment and to promote the society’s culture and education through technology and strategic planning (Bignell, 2003). Some international networks like BBC, FOX, and CNN have enjoy a very high reputation after being singled out as trustworthy and informative television channels. News bulletins and quality of entertainment for instance constitute a major factor in the success of any television channel or network. Therefore, new market entrance may face quite some difficulty in winning trust of audience and therefore may take quite some time to attain the desired success. The main concern of this paper is to develop the profile of one of the major players in the media industry in UK and international markets as well, Wall to Wall Production Company with the view of assessing it status as an independent production company. The paper also examines the company’s genres, principle broadcasting clients and principle non-broadcasting clients, and the most successful formats of broadcasting in an international market (Timothy, 2006). Wall to Wall Production Company Profile Wall to Wall production company an independent affiliate company of the Shed Media Group television production company that produces a range of genres from drama, factual entertainment, science and history programs, and arts for broadcast by networks in both the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Wall to Wall’s agreement to join the Shed Media Group as an independent production company was in November 2007. The company has its headquarters in London, where it was founded in 1987. Since its initiation, the company has been dedicating efforts towards improvement of its services and quality of products that saw the company’s first feature film Man On Wire scoop a BAFTA award for Outstanding British Film in 2009 and followed this success with an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature the same year. The derivation of the company's name is referred back to some negativeand unjustified references made in the mid-1980s, by then director British Broadcasting Corporation -General Alasdair Milne and again in the title of a book byChris Dunkley, a then Financial Times journalist titling the book "wall-to-wall Dallas". The general perception of this negative reference indicated a possible aftereffect of the deregulation of UK broadcasting which was on the verge of taking effect. Several individuals and players in the industry considered the negative reference perceiving it as a negative, conservative view, and a puritanical reference to the medium’s possibilities. Jane Root future BBC2 controller and other founders decided to adopt the name "Wall to Wall Television" as a conscious celebration of the medium. On its founding, the founding members considered it the "establishment" of the time that other media channels should be frightened of. Being a major co-producer in the UK broadcasting market, Wall to Wall collaborates with The Voice of UK, Channel 4, PBS in the US, Talpa Media Holdings in Netherlands, the Colonial House - Broadcast in UK, the WNET New York, and FX TV production in the UK. The company’s engagement with these production companies is through the sale and purchase of films and other production programs. FOX TV production for instance is the producer of all the programs broadcast by Wall to Wall. Wall to Wall’s Status as Independent Production Company Wall to Wall Company positions itself in the market around its ideology of fair coverage of news and providing quality entertainment and programs that covers real life issues affecting people in the contemporary world. This gives the company the opportunity to accept the market’s differences in culture and ideologies and working together with other players towards development of culture and education.Unlike other production channels, which concentrate and put more efforts onbringing news and entertainment to the viewers, Wall to Wall’s ideology is very vast, very grand and very macro. Wall to Wall channeldoes not just commit itself to providing news, entertainment, andinformation programs to its viewers but commits its programs to invoke reasoning and thinking of tolerance and progress in the areas it covers in the market. This is achievable through its “loud and clear” ideology adopted since its inception. The production company being independent enjoys freedom of developing its strategic plans to encounter competition in the ever-changing media industry. As mentioned earlier, the global Broadcasting Industry continuous to go through major technological advances as proved over the recent past, with features such as IPTV, VOD (Video on demand), Mobile TV, and DVR’s (Digital Video Recorders) among others taking center-stage as the crucial emerging trends. To come up with best methods of coping with these trends, independence is a major factor that contributes autonomy and contributes freedom necessary for decision-making processes (Chalaby, 2004). At the same time, the future of advertisements, which contributes to a greater percentage of broadcasting revenue, has become uncertain because of advancements in sophisticated technologies that allow companies and organizations to utilize ad-skipping tactics. As a leading player in the market, Wall to Wall is forced to adapt technology with high considerations of the potential uncertainties of these technologies in medium-long term future. According to its current position as independent production company, Digital cinema, specific advertisement for niche audiences, creation and development of multiple platforms for advertisements, prompt feedback for content and effective metrics for measuring Return On Investments (ROI) seem to be a reality for Wall to Wall company. The company is always first on broadcasting new things such as color TV, HD, and 3D channels. This indicates that the company operates in a post- modernism system that meets current market demands. Furthermore, the company’snews is very regular in their updates andis always up to date.The company also has a Digital-text service that enables people to ensure that they are up to date on upcoming news and events. This is contrary to other channels that charge people on trying to update their news yet they would always be able to access this service free of charge. The production company also uses citizen journalism to display images online and on the news meaning that viewers who want to send their views to the channel at the risk that there content may appear on the news will be at ease (Curtin, 2007). This is decentralization because the company takes its consumers as the primary source of information. Finally, the recently acquired GreenAcre Films affiliate fosters the company’s reputation in the market and expands it filming activities. Thus, the company will be able to venture into a wider market for wider reach of audience. Genres of the Production Company’s Output For over 25 years, the Shed media-owned Wall to Wall production company has been supplying broadcasters all over the globe with ground-breaking, high quality television content that saw the company win various awards across many genres. In a clear view, the company’s productions range across various genres such as entertainment phenomenon and ratings that saw company win an award through The Voice UK to documentaries such as the Oscar-winning documentary Man On Wire. The company also broadcasts dramas and is proud of BBC One’s highest rated drama New Tricks and the internationally acclaimed series “Who Do You Think You Are?” The company also hosts productions in genders such as history, factual entertainment, arts, history, and science. In its current catalogue for instance, Stone Age Italians cuts across three genres of documentary, history, science, and factual. The People’s Supermarket and Arthur’s Hell on High Water are two good examples of the company’s Factual-Entertainment genre productions (John, 2012). Concisely, Wall to Wall’s productions range across a wide variety of genres that have saw the company win almost every major international television award. Of much importance to note too is the company ability to maintain a regular topping in the UK trade magazine polls as the company rated most highly by its competitors. This enables the company to attract the top talent from across the industry (Dai Vaughan, 2010). Principle Broadcast Clients Wall to Wall production company has broadcast clients across the UK and the US as well. Its broadcast clients include BBC 1, GreenAce Films, FOX, SBS in Netherlands, VTM in Belgium, SVT in Sweden, Canada’s W Network, Germany-based Granada Productions, Time Warner, Wall to Wall Radio, and BBC Television among many other broadcasting channels. All these television channels and radio broadcasting media houses belong to the category that depends on Wall to Wall on one way or another for business purposes. Therefore, they form the principle broadcast clients for Wall to Wall Television Production Company. Principle Non-broadcast Clients Non-broadcasting clients for Wall-to-Wall Production Company include companies that provide services such as insurance, employee medical services, financial agents such as external auditors, and market researchers. Internet and server provision clients, legal firms, stationery providing suppliers, and clients that supply materials such as computers and high-tech cameras for the company’s journalists. The list of non-broadcast clients is indeed non-exhaustive. However, the few mentioned above form the principle non-broadcast clients without which operations at Wall to Wall would not be successful. Most Successful Formats in International Markets Being a co-producer in the UK broadcast market, Wall to Wall adopts a format such as The X-Factor or Britain's Got Talent associated to UK and international markets. In the recent past, players in the broadcasting industry have seen an astonishing growth in the adaptation and assimilation of program formats across the various television systems across the world (Sharon, 2012). Under the currently prevailing market conditions that call for multi-channel cluster resulting from great technological advancements and increased privatization of service, adopting the most successful and customer-appealing Television formats across the globe is becoming an increasingly daily business. The most players in the field take into consideration TV format because it is a commodity affecting various aspects such as production, finance, distribution, broadcasting and marketing knowledge, hence facilitating the international reconfiguration of program making. Wall to Wall, as an international player understands the Global TV Format asaddressing the different stages and issues that affect how it conducts business (Mathijs, Ernest and Janet, 2004). The company tracks down the steps whereby formats are devised, developed, and distributed across the market. However, there are practices of massive piracy taking place so that it is vital to consider legal protection of television formats to avoid piracy. Most often than not, legal protection comes first and last in protecting patent rights and formats in the international broadcasting market. However, the most commonly used formats in the global market are those in television genre and game shows. Since the two formats have their strengths and weaknesses, it is difficult to pinpoint one category as the best for use in the global market. Nonetheless, television genres is becoming commonly in use in the global market. This is because the format contains a range of genres that incorporate several aspects of life issues ranging from entertainments, education, history, and film genres among others (Drinkwater & Uncles, 2007). 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Tasha Oren, Sharon Sharaf, Global Television Formats, Routledge, pp.346-365. Steemers, J 2004, Process and Product – the Global Trade in Television Programmes. In: Selling Television: British Television in the Global Marketplace, London, BFI Publishing, p. 22-48. Timothy, H 2006, ‘Global Television Trade shows' in Global Television Marketplace, Palgrave Macmillan, pp.66-94. Wall to Wall 2010, About Us. UK, Retrieved 16feb 2013 from www.walltowall.co.uk/ Read More