Media Economics

Economics drive most media companies because most of these companies are interested in what makes them money. They type of media that makes money and gains viewers is media that is considered more popular. For example Rupert Murdoch says the reason his company (Fox News) focuses on conservative talk is because it is more popular. America runs on capitalism which is a money-driven system. If media companies such as NBC and Fox News don't make profit then there is no way for them to stay in business. The way that these corporations generate most of their profit is a mix of advertising and sales. Media Chains are another way to increase profit. One step further is to make a conglomeration. By adding on smaller companies to a large company one can diversify their product range and gain more profit because of their increased market offering. Conglomerations are huge enterprises. One example is a company known as Time Warner which generates a revenue of $37 billion a year from movies, books, television, magazines, internet sites, and so on. New areas of revenue are being created to finance mass media as well. This is because for some media, the role of advertising will decrease as advertisers find new ways to use the internet to connect directly with the customer. These types of things need to be taken into account to gain the maximum amount of profit. All of these facts are reasons why economics drive media. It's not always about the quality of media being presented, but the popularity and quantity of different forms of media.