ownership patterns in media

The different ownership patterns in Media includes Individual ownership, Corporation ownership, partnership ownership, group/chain ownership, employee ownership and vertical ownership etc.

1. Ownership patterns in media Submitted by:- Swati BAMC Final Yr. 20160440002

2. Media Media is a medium to communicate to the masses. It includes newspapers, radio, television, films, Internet, books, magazines and everything that provides the information.

3. Media ownership patterns The media that exists in our Country is heavily influenced by the ownership form it takes. There are a number of factors – such as content distribution, profits etc. There exist some very basic ownership Patterns.

4. Individual Ownership In this kind of partnership, the Individual has control, which allows him to take decisions for the company. Therefore, he takes responsibility for all the Policy – making decisions and is also accountable for them. It is best suited for small-scale media houses, be it newspaper or news channel. An example of this are the Local Evening Newspapers that usually follow this kind of ownership control.

5. Advantages & Disadvantages In this kind of ownership, power comes in the form of individual and absolute control, which gives the person more secrecy in options. Along with it, the individual can make decisions at his own pace (which is usually fast) and is naturally more connected with the content and the newspaper. However, the secrecy stops the employees from any kind of democratic participation. The owner becomes liable for the debts and losses and the rate of success depends entirely on his ability. There is less scope for expansion and unlimited responsibility.

6. Partnership Ownership Partnership is defined as ‘ the relationship between persons who have agreed to share profits of a business carried on by all or any of them acting for all. The minimum limit is 2 partners while the maximum is set to 20 partners.  In India, Red Chilies Entertainment is an example of Partnership.  It is a motion picture production and distribution company, it is headed by Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan and operates under various divisions like Film Production, VFX, Television shows, TVC production and the IPL Team, KKR.

7. Advantages & Disadvantages In this kind of partnership, responsibility, maintenance and operation cost can be divided. People with different talents come together and pitch in their ideas and solutions which helps in the growth of the company and also sets a democratic environment for all. In a partnership, selfish motives of a partner might harm the firm. Lack of unity and misunderstandings might lead to losses after which each partner will have to incur and pay back his share of debt. Also, there are chances of a partnership/ business getting discontinued after the death of any partner.

8. Corporation Ownership It is the one of the most common forms of ownership pattern. The minimum numbers that can be a part of it are 5. It is an association of individuals under the authority of the law, which has a continuous existence independent of the existence of its members and powers and liabilities distinct of its members. The BBC group is an example of a corporation.

9. Advantages & Disadvantages They are spread across web portals, television and radio. Increasing capital can easily expand operations and transfer of control is flexible. However cooperation taxes are imposed. Decision making sometimes become very time consuming.

10. Group /Chain Ownership This form of ownership is when two or ore same mediums are handled by the same organization. They are formed without a common holding but with a chain of command. Hindustan has 13 editions that are printed in Hindu, under HT Media. Aaj Tak and Headlines Today are two different channels but are held under the same organization i.e. India Today group.

11. Advantages & Disadvantages The advantages of this kind of partnership are that financial, administrative and human resources can be centrally managed. Because of this cost of production becomes low due to best possible utilization of resources – this adds to better training, work environment and more facilities being provided. However, permanence of management is always in question because management is divided.

12. Employee Ownership In this form of Partnership, employees own a major part of the share. They are also responsible for the decision- making. E.g.: Community Media like the Bangalore based advocacy group VOICES organized a gathering of community radio stakeholders. During the inception 1996, a group of radio broadcasters, policy planners, media professionals, and non-profit groups joined hands to study how community radio could be relevant to India and what policies were needed. They wanted All India Radio to allocate an hour of airtime each day to community broadcasting.

13. Advantages & Disadvantages In this, Employee issues can be solved faster and it becomes easier to break interdepartmental barriers. Also, the sense of ownership that the employees own helps the organization to grow faster.  However, it gets difficult to induct new people and employees tend to get more preference than the benefit of the organization. It also becomes difficult to take quick decisions.

14. Vertical Ownership In this, an organization owns or operates different media enterprises or some other enterprise under the same ownership. E.g: India Today Group, Living Media or Big Media-Reliance group. The India Today Group has Mail Today, Business Today, Aaj Tak and Headlines Today under itself – making it a combination of magazines, newspapers and TV Channels, yet they still fall under the same ownership i.e. the India Today Group.

15. Advantages & Disadvantages It helps to promote different enterprises at the same time. It also promotes reduced general expenses. But in this management may not be able to devote sufficient time to any one particular media. Also, since the capital is invested in all media forms, a particular media form might not get the attention that it ought to.

16. Conclusion Media is a channel of communication. It has both pros and cons. The media can’t be provided with absolute rights and privileges. The conditions of access to media are governed by factors like who can distribute the message, nature of message, social impact of message etc. The media ownership patterns shapes the incentives of media use. The Indian media landscape has changed dramatically with diversification of various media companies over the past decade.