Ownership and Funding

Ownership concepts

• Public Service Broadcasting - often referred to as PSB, this refers to broadcasting intended for public benefit. OFCOM requirements state that certain television/radio broadcasters such as the BBC fulfill parts of the requirements as part of their licence. The BBC was the first public service broadcaster in the UK.
  
• Commercial Broadcasting - also called private broadcasting, this is the broadcasting of programmes by a privately owned corporate media. Commercial broadcasting is based upon the airing of advertisements for profit, and channels such as ITV and Channel 4 do this. 
  
• Corporate and Private Ownership - corporate ownership is the shared ownership of a product by two or more corporations. It is considerably complex as although an individual or company may own all the shares, they are not personally responsible for it. A corporation has many rights, such as to enter into contracts, loan and borrow money, sue, hire, and pay taxes. However, private ownership is the ownership by a private individual or organization, such as News Corp, compared to that of a state/public organization. Private ownership is funded simply by advertising, therefore private ownership is more able to satisfy the company shareholders rather than the public’s interest. Private ownership defiantly has more varied channel choices, although certain channels are only aimed at one type of audience (for example MTV is aimed at an audience between the ages of 16 - 24, therefore the advertisements on these channels would be different from the adverts on a Discovery Channel). However, the BBC is targeted at all types of audiences so the shows on this channel are varied and have different target audiences.
  
• Global companies - also multinational corporation or worldwide enterprise, these are organizations that own/control certain productions of products in two or more countries other than their own. Toyota (automotive manufacturer) is an example of one of the world's largest multinational corporations. 
  
• Vertical Integration - this is when the supply chain of a company is owned by that particular company. An example of this is Netflix, a company that manufactures it's own content.
  
• Monopolisation - this is the domination of a market to the exclusion of others, operating with exclusive licensure, anti-competitive subsidisation and/or tariff protection. Monopoly is a theoretical economic construct, and an examples of this is Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, who built his fortune on a series of monopolistic companies, most notably his telecommunications firm America Movil. 
  

Types of Funding

The Licence Fee - in the UK, paying the Television Licence Fee grants legal permission to install or use television receiving equipment to watch or record television programmes, and to download or watch BBC programmes on demand, including catch up TV and BBC iPlayer.

Subscription - not to be confused with pay-per-view TV, this is a subscription-based payment television service, often provided by both analog and digital cable and satellite television. The subscription is often bundled with a phone line and broadband. Pay television services, such as Sky, often provide free previews of their services, in order to gain potential subscribers by allowing a wider audience to sample the service for a period of days/weeks.

One off payment ownership - services such as iTunes require a one time purchase of a product such as a feature length film, television series or an album. After this payment, the product is owned by the purchaser. Another type of one off payment is that of CD's and DVD's.

Pay-per-view - this is a type of television service by which a subscriber of a television service provider can purchase events to view via private telecast. Often particular niche sports events are broadcast using this format, such as Boxing (UFC). The UFC website offers a pay-per-view service for their fights averaging at around £25 per fight. Here is a link to the UFC website - https://www.ufc.tv/events

Sponsorship - Sponsoring something (or someone) is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services, and popular programmes are often 'sponsored' by a certain company to boost reviews and ratings. For example, popular ITV2 programme Love Island is sponsored by high-street giant Superdrug (see below). 

Advertising - Television advertisements (such as the Andrex campaign below) are shown in an alotted time during television braodcasting. This space is paid for by an organization in which produced advertisements are played to convey a message, typically to market a product or service. Advertising revenue provides a significant portion of the funding for most privately owned television networks.

Product placement - this is a subtle advertising method used by companies to create a connection between a programme/film and their product. A company pays a fee in order for their product to be used, displayed or significantly featured in a (often popular, so as to gain more recognition) production. For example, Coca-Cola would pay a fee so that the main character is shown drinking the beverage, or Toyota would pay for the main character to be seen driving their newest car.

Private Capital - a private capital is an amount of money as a loan or equity investment that is provided to a business. This money does not come from an institutional source (for example, a bank or government). This is private money from individual investors whose actions are not regulated by the government, and this type of investment typically happens in a transaction between the business and the investor. Unfortunately, the film industry has a reputation to be a high risk investment, as most British films or films produced by unknown producers often don't make it to the US Box Office, the world's largest movie market, therefore investors usually play it safe by investing with experienced creators. The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) was designed to encourage such investments in small, unknown companies, and has helped many such as Po Na Na, a north-African bar and nightclub chain. Here is a link to the EIS website - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-enterprise-investment-scheme-introduction/enterprise-investment-scheme
Here is a link to an article written for the Telegraph about some companies that EIS funding has helped launch - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/2753939/Companies-that-took-the-EIS-route-to-listing-success.html

Crowdfunding - this is a method of raising funds by asking for small donations which in turn equate to a large amount of funding. Investors fund projects or ventures because the believe in, agree with or see potential in them. A lot of unknown film producers use this platform as the Film and Television industries are unfortunately known as high risk investments, as most British, first time and unknown films do not make it to the American box office. The worlds most popular crowdfunding website is Kickstarter, and this site has helped fund many films such as Veronica Mars and Lazer Team. Here is a link to the Kickstarter website - https://www.kickstarter.com/

Development funding - founded in 1933, the BFI (British Film Institute) is an example of a development funding company. They use Lottery funds to support the production and distribution of select new British films made by often unknown or first-time producers, and the BFI have helped launch the careers of many new directors and has sparked the fame of British films such as 71, Frank and Sunset Song. Here is a link to the BFI website - http://www.bfi.org.uk/