Exam question - What impact does media ownership have upon the range of products available to audiences in the media area you have studied?

What impact does media ownership have upon the range of products available to audiences in the media area you have studied?

Refer to Kill list, Ex Machina and Mad Max: Fury Road in your answer.

Media ownership is having an increasingly large influence on the range of products available to audiences. This may be due to the relationships between the conglomerates and the subsidiary companies which ultimately affects asmaller film companies ability to provide a range of products.The 'big six' dominate approximately 90% of American media which highlights the significant impact they have on what products are distributed. Films such as Mad Max:Fury Road (2015) which was produced by one of the 'big six' are able to provide a wide range of products (in relation to production values, distribution budgets, film products and entertainment super-texts).  In contrast to this, films produced by smaller companies such as Kill List (2011) and Ex Machina (2015) are limited in this area as they don't have the same span of control or money. 

Firstly, it is important to consider the fact that bigger production companies such as Warner Brothers, 20 first century fox etc will be able to financially support the range of products available in relation to a certain film because they have links with other companies. Mad Mad: Fury Road which was financially supported by Village roadshow pictures and RatPac Entertainment (budget of $150 million) is available to watch in the widest variety of formats of the 3 movies - DVD, blu ray,VOD, and 3D as well as being shown in IMAX cinemas and normal cinemas across the country. However, Ex machina (budget of $13 million) is available in dvd, blue ray, VOD, and was only shown in normal cinemas. Kill list (budget of $800,000) is available in dvd and blue ray and was shown in cinemas for a short period of time. The lower budget of Ex Machina and Kill List may be due to the fact they were both produced by smaller film companies - Kill list was produced by warp x films and film 4 productions and Ex Machina was produced by DNA films and also Film 4 productions. Consequently, as these films were produced by companies which don't have as many connections it will impact what they can release. Conglomerates such as Warner Brothers own subsidiary companies in nearly all aspects of media, this therefore means it's significantly easier for the films they release to have a variety of products as the company has many sections which would be beneficial. 

Bigger film companies are more likely to make a profit on their film. Mad Max: Fury road grossed $375.8 million which means they made over double their budget and therefore means they made a profit. This means that Warner brothers can use money made by the film to invest into other products related to the film. Mad Max:Fury road has a host of merchandise available to fans including an official Mad Max video game, Mad Max energy drinks, a mad max anthology etc. The wide variety of products related to the film is most likely due to the the production companies working on the film and the fact that bigger film companies usually make a profit. In contrast to this, Ex Machina does not have the same range of products when it come to merchandise. This may be due to the film production companies which worked with it not having to connections to make merchandise. Additionally, bigger companies tend to make mainstream movies which usually from popular genres such as science fiction and action movies, this means that they will most likely make money from products being released as they have an audience who will buy them. Smaller film companies may not have the budget to release big blockbusters so they may resort to production cult films which may not have to same popularity and therefore there may not be an audience for the products. 

It is also important to consider the collusion of release dates for films produced by bigger film companies. The 'big six' may schedule their film releases with each other so that they their films can be successful and not clash with each other meaning that big releases can make as much revenue as possible. This therefore makes it significantly harder for smaller film companies to release a film at the right time because the film schedule is filled by films with a bigger buzz surrounding. This may mean that smaller companies struggle to get their films on screens and therefore impacts on the range of products made available by smaller companies. Kill list was only shown on 2 screens on its opening weekend, whereas Mad Max: Fury road was shown on 3,702 screens on it's opening weekend. This highlights how it is significantly easier for films produced by larger companies to be shown. 

Media ownership allows films to have successful marketing and distribution campaigns. This made mean that a film is able to buy more products because there is a larger buzz surrounding the film, this will increase people interest in the film and mean that they may be interested in the range of products available. It could be argued Mad Max:fury road was marketed successfully as it had interesting trailers and was shown on the advert for the NBA playoff which would have been shown to millions of people etc. This may impact on the products available because it means that more people watch the film and therefore are interesting in the film. Similarly, Ex Machina had a successful marketing campaign which is possibly responsible for it's success as it was a small budget film. This means that Ex Machina had a larger audience due to people who had been attracted by advertisement however it doesn't have as wide a range of products as Mad Max:Fury road which may suggest that media ownership has a big impact on products because of the money and the links that they bigger companies have. 

It is also possible that media ownership has a significant impact on the range of products due to the fact that the bigger film companies tend to release sequels such as Mad Max:Fury road which was the 4th film in a series. Ex Machina and Kill list are both independent films. This suggests that because bigger film companies often produce films in a sequel they're able to expand the franchise for that perticular film because it collects a fan base.  For example the Harry Potter movies were produced by Warner Bros which now has a vast range of products averrable including a Harry Potter theme park. Ex machina was a success and made a profit but was not made available in as many products as Mad Max:fury road which may be due to the companies working with it. 

To conclude, media ownership has a significant impact on the range or products available. This may be due to the fact that bigger companies have connections and more money in order to expand and smaller companies don't have the same control which means they have to work hard to get their films recognized and making a profit.