Monday, May 23, 2011
Super injunctions and news
Twitter has run rings around the super-injunctions that leave newspapers unable to print details of the people involved. Read this Guardian article about how social media is streets ahead of traditional media output in the world of the super-injunction. Could be a really interesting case study for the exam http://gu.com/p/2p9dk and http://gu.com/p/2p9ac
Friday, May 20, 2011
Exam tips
There are a few things that you must remember to do in your exam answer for Media in the Online Age:
- you must refer to more than one media- we have studied television and film, and so you must refer to both in your answer, but should also bring in other case studies that we've looked at;
- you must remember to refer to historical position of the media that you write about - this does not need to be in masses of detail, but you must reflect back on film and television before the web 2.0 era;
- you must future gaze - where do you see traditional media in the web 3.0 era? will media become more fragmented? more personalised? less 'controlled'? You don't have to have definite answers, but you must make some acknowledgement about the future.
- lastly, and very importantly, you must refer to theory in your answer - at least 2 and ideally 3 'ideas' or theories that you've studied through the unit.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
The Prize
Fascinating article in The Observer this Sunday, which contains powerful evidence of the impact the Internet is having on film distribution In the US. Last year there was an eye-watering 20% fall in DVD sales, largely due to increased competition from streaming and downloads. This is the emerging market that Amazon and Tesco recently grabbed a big piece of in the UK, when they bought out Lovefilm and Blinkbox respectively.
The article also reveals that for the first time in over 20 years the proportion of US homes that own a TV has also fallen. OK we are talking about a tiny drop, from 99% to 97% but could this mark the beginning of the end for traditional TV?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/may/08/tv-sets-fall-america-naughton
The article also reveals that for the first time in over 20 years the proportion of US homes that own a TV has also fallen. OK we are talking about a tiny drop, from 99% to 97% but could this mark the beginning of the end for traditional TV?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/may/08/tv-sets-fall-america-naughton
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Lies, damn lies, and statistics
According to last year's figures from the Office for National Statistics only 73% of UK households are connected to the internet. 1 in 4 UK homes are still not hooked up to the web. This puts the arguments about changing patterns of media distribution and consumption into context and also demands that any talk of a digital media revolution is at least tempered with consideration that a very large minority of audiences are not currently party.
Another set of figures in the report lend weight to Prensky's emphasis on the generational divide in his natives/immigrants/dinosaurs theory:
The chart shows that a far lower percentage of older sections of the population are using the internet and also that a sizeable proportion amongst that group have tried and decided, cheers no thanks.
Finally the report also gives some raw data on usage of online tv and radio. The trend here clearly shows that participation is widening, but also that the rate of growth appears to be slowing. This perhaps hints at as yet unreached sections of TV and radio audiences, who are either economically disenfranchised from the digital revolution or simply satisfied with traditional forms of distribution.
You can view the full report here and fish out a couple of stats to add weight to your own arguments about the impact of the internet on the media industries.
Another set of figures in the report lend weight to Prensky's emphasis on the generational divide in his natives/immigrants/dinosaurs theory:
Finally the report also gives some raw data on usage of online tv and radio. The trend here clearly shows that participation is widening, but also that the rate of growth appears to be slowing. This perhaps hints at as yet unreached sections of TV and radio audiences, who are either economically disenfranchised from the digital revolution or simply satisfied with traditional forms of distribution.
You can view the full report here and fish out a couple of stats to add weight to your own arguments about the impact of the internet on the media industries.
All watched over by machines of loving Grace
Adam Curtis's new series about how computers have not liberated us but distorted and simplified our view of the world around us. He argues that we THINK that the internet makes us feel connected and free, that it democratises society and allows us all to communicate and have a global reach, but actually it serves to reinforce existing heirarchies of power. It starts on Monday May 23 at 9pm on BBC2. WATCH IT IN IPLAYER!! This trailer is really cool.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Every Little Helps
Tesco has just gobbled up 80% of Blinkbox and has positioned itself as the main rival to Amazon (new owners of LoveFilm) for control of the UK video on demand market. Here's an article in today's Guardian that discusses how the move might effect the future of TV and film distribution.
Tesco is the original one stop shop in the UK - the place that people go to buy newspapers, bread, fresh fruit, barbecues, wine, clothes, toasters, meat, fish, insurance, and DVDs. Tesco's business model is based on getting consumers to buy everything from one place - theirs. It has been incredibly successful, today in Britain £1 out of every £7 spent in a shop, is spent in a Tesco. Only about 20 or 30 years ago you would probably have bought those 11 products in 11 different shops, from 11 different companies. That is a definition of convergence for you right there.
Over the last decade Tesco and other supermarkets have been rapidly expanding into selling books, DVDs and CDs. Alongside the huge sales growth of online retail giants (biggest of which Amazon) this has created a pincer movement, that has crushed specialist High Street retailers, who have been unable to compete with the low costs and scale of these gargantuan operators. Our Price, Virgin Megastores/Zavvi and Tower Records have gone to the wall since 2004 and HMV and Waterstones are in rapid decline and look like they are probably on their last legs too.
One of the most interesting aspects of Tesco's move into the VoD market is that it clearly demonstrates the new players entering the TV and film industries that are emerging as likely big-hitters of the future. How the changing ownership and methods of TV and film distribution will effect future production and patterns of exchange, only time will tell...
Tesco is the original one stop shop in the UK - the place that people go to buy newspapers, bread, fresh fruit, barbecues, wine, clothes, toasters, meat, fish, insurance, and DVDs. Tesco's business model is based on getting consumers to buy everything from one place - theirs. It has been incredibly successful, today in Britain £1 out of every £7 spent in a shop, is spent in a Tesco. Only about 20 or 30 years ago you would probably have bought those 11 products in 11 different shops, from 11 different companies. That is a definition of convergence for you right there.
Over the last decade Tesco and other supermarkets have been rapidly expanding into selling books, DVDs and CDs. Alongside the huge sales growth of online retail giants (biggest of which Amazon) this has created a pincer movement, that has crushed specialist High Street retailers, who have been unable to compete with the low costs and scale of these gargantuan operators. Our Price, Virgin Megastores/Zavvi and Tower Records have gone to the wall since 2004 and HMV and Waterstones are in rapid decline and look like they are probably on their last legs too.
One of the most interesting aspects of Tesco's move into the VoD market is that it clearly demonstrates the new players entering the TV and film industries that are emerging as likely big-hitters of the future. How the changing ownership and methods of TV and film distribution will effect future production and patterns of exchange, only time will tell...
Thursday, April 7, 2011
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