Creative media sectors: Radio and Publishing

Radio has been around the UK for over 100 years. Now it is undergoing a digital revolution, which will decide its fate. Radio today falls into three main categories; publicly-funded, commercial and community. This media sector has been growing steadily recently, now employing over 22,000 people, more people than terrestrial TV. They range from the well known radio stations such as BBC, to not-for-profit (or voluntary) community radio stations


Publishing has been around for almost twice as long as radio, but in the age of growing technology, this particular sector in media is now in danger of becoming extinct since less people are using it. They are most common in books, newspapers and magazines.

This industry consists of mainly small companies, 88% of them having less than 10 people. And yet the 3% with 200 or more employees have over half of all those working in the industry on their payroll.

The main area of employment is London and the South East. The rest of the East of England is next, followed by the South West, Scotland and the North West. In Wales and Northern Ireland the sector is mainly made up of smaller newspaper companies.

The most well known newspaper companies are Daily Mirror and The Sun. A less well known company is The Sentinel, since that's regional to Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire.

Media Sectors: Advertising/Marketing and Interactive Media

Advertising is a form of communication intending to persuade an audience to take action, usually purchasing a product or service. It is driven and focussed on the client and advertising need for the product. Advertising crosses multiple forms of broadcast, billboard, print and online.

There are around 13,000 business in the sector who produce £6.2 billion of the UK GVA annually.

Around 70% of the UK's industry is based in London, the north west has the second biggest buisiness concentration with 6%. It is a young industry with 47% under 34. 46% of the workforce is female and only 6% is from black, asian or ethnic minorities.

Some of the best advertising companies include Aegis Group and PhotonMedia in London. A less known advertising company is Thinkingjuice.

The interactive media sector is a very fluid and flexible sector. It overlaps and converges with a lot of other media sectors. It's not really considered a sector, more like a discipline, and it's worth billions of pounds, with more than 43,000 employees.

It also makes up approximately 22% of all media.

Some of the most well known interactive media companies include 2Comm and 3. A less known interactive media company is Bima.

Difference between Public and Private Ownerships

Public ownership is paid through TV licences, which everybody has to have if they own a TV. The public have to pay £145.50 per year for a colour TV licence. However if they want a black and white TV licence (which in these days is extremely rare) they only have to pay £49. There are others though, who get discounts, and sometimes don't have to pay at all. Blind people and care home residents get reduced fees, where people aged 75 and over don't have to pay at all. A prime example of public ownership is BBC, who get funding from the government through the licence fee.








Private ownership is paid through their own methods, such as advertisement, membership and sponsorship. SKY and ITV are good examples of this.

Media sectors: Photo Imaging and Games

Photo Imaging is a small but popular sector in media, comprising of around 43,100 people. About 51% of these are based in the south of England. Around 68% of all these photo editors are independant or freelance.

The companies can be divided into these categories


Image producers
Photo retail
Picture libraries and agencies
Manufacturers
Support services

A few well known companies include Eastman Kodak, Fujifilm and Canon. One less known company is Spiratone.



Games are one of the most popular industries in media and the whole world. The first games were developed in the 1960s and 70s. Games like pac-man and others that have survived through time were developed in the 1980s, at that time gaming exploded into popularity. Today, game making teams and top of the range game titles, like EA and Rockstar North are developing games that now cost even more than movies. Games such as Grand Theft Auto 5 are now costing hundreds of millions of pounds to create and develop.

Some examples of game producers and makers include:

Visceral
EA
Rockstar
Bungie (before it stopped making the Halo series)
343 Studios (for Halo 4)
Activision

TV licences

A TV license is a licence you have to own to watch TV. If you don't have a TV licence and you watch TV, you will be prosecuted, face court and be fined a maximum of £1000.

This is where all the money goes to. We spend £145.50 a year for this.
Or £49 for black and white users but I think those went extinct long ago.

But care home residents and blind people are entitled to reductions to their fees. People aged 75 or over don't have to pay for TV licences at all.

Media Sectors Animation and Film

Animation is one of the least employed, but most popular forms of media in the media industry. This form of media industry has made some characters that are known throughout the world, such as Wallace and Gromit and Shrek. Animation is a very small sector, but it is growing in popularity and success.

One of the most successful animation companies is Disney. A smaller film company is Aardman Animations.


Some of the most famous film series using animation are Toy Story, Shrek and Ice Age.



Film is one of the most popular businesses in the Media Industry. This form of media has made numerous characters and film series' that are known throughout the world, such as the Harry Potter series, Paranormal Activity series etc I could go on all day, but I'll spare you that horror for now. Even today it is still growing on popularity.

A few of the most successful film companies are 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros Studios. A smaller, less known film company is Eon Productions, the maker of the original James Bond film series.