Australian Media Organisations - Mr Cook

1. Unit 2 Media – Area of Study 3

2. Commercial
• These organisations make most of their profits from
advertising revenue.
• They exist to make money and this mindset shapes
the content that they produce and distribute to the
public.
• Usually owned by a larger company or corporation
rather than an individual person. This larger group
may own many media outlets of the same or
different varieties such as television, radio or print
(newspaper).

3. Free-To-Air Television
 Seven, Nine and Ten broadcast the same content at Prime,
Win and Southern Cross in regional areas. (local news is an
exception)
 Profit is made by these companies by selling commercial
break adverts which air during and between shows.
 Advertising rates vary due to the time of day, the type of
audience watching & the total number of people expected
to be watching the program.
 The cost of advertising during a program advertised past
midnight would be less than that of a program shown at
8PM at night because there would be less viewers. ($100K
for AFL Grand Final)

4. Free-To-Air Television

5. Imparja Television
 Commercial TV company
from Alice Springs, NT.
 Purchases programming
from the Nine Network.
 Locally produces
Indigenous programs to
promote indigenous
culture, values and to cater
to the local Indigenous
community.

6. Subscription Television
 Another form of Commercial
TV that is not Free-To-Air.
 Viewers pay a fee to receive
signal by satellite or fibre
optic cable.
 Largest pay TV provider
which was introduced in
1995.
 Originally had no
advertisements because
subscription fees used to
cover service costs.

7. Online Television
• Provided online generally
usually through a partnership
with an online or digital
provider (Yahoo, MSN,
Telstra).
• Delivers additional content
such as: sneak peeks, behind-
the-scenes footage, discussion
forums, etc.
• Bigpond (owned by Telstra)
streams media content to TV
(sports, films, news, music)
via an internet connection.

8. Television programming & income
 How these companies receive their income/funding has an effect on
what content is made and delivered to Australian audiences.
 Commercial Television’s content is driven by ratings and popularity.
 There is an increasing trend of these networks buying content
(local or overseas) rather than creating their own.
 Networks buy content that will rate well with their audiences which
then gives their advertisers exposure to their target audiences.
 Subscription TV has more opportunity for niche programming as
they do not find advertising to be their sole source of income.

9. Questions
1. How do commercial television networks obtain their
income?
2. What role do ratings play in commercial television?
3. What advantages and disadvantages for both producers
and viewers that can you identify when television content
is driven by ratings?
4. Why do the major commercial TV networks (Nine, Seven
& Ten) have smaller additional stations such as GO,
7Mate and Eleven?

10. Print Media
 News Limited (aka News
Corp Australia)
 Run by Rupert Murdoch &
son Lachlan Murdoch.
 Own newspapers such as:
 The Australian
 Daily Telegraph (NSW)
 Herald Sun (VIC)
 Courier-Mail (QLD)
 The Advertiser (SA)
 The Leader (VIC)
 mX
 Fairfax
 Run by Greg Hywood &
Roger Corbett.
 Own newspapers such as:
 The Age (Vic)
 Sydney Morning Herald
(NSW)

11. Print Media
 Magazines are also produced by only a handful of companies
such as: News Corporation, PBL and Pacific Magazines.
 Main purpose of Print Media is to make a profit, which largely
comes from selling advertising space within publications.
 Unlike free-to-air TV, most people pay for their choice of print
product. This is a small amount compared to how much it
costs to create each product.
 Leader newspapers and the former mX were free to
consumers.

12. Advertising in Print Media
 Advertising revenue in Print Media generally comes from
two sources: display advertising & classified advertising.
 Display advertisements are usually from companies and
can be repeated several times. Usually selling a brand. (eg.
car companies, supermarkets, etc).
 Classified advertisements are usually from individuals. This
could include employment, jobs, services, etc.
 Classified advertisements are largely becoming redundant
due to the likes of eBay, Gumtree, Carsales, etc.

13. Ethics of Print Media
 Although there is a
journalistic ‘code of ethics’
regarding not letting
commercial interests
interfere with reporting
and that content shouldn’t
be shaped by these
interests, as we saw in
Outfoxed, some
companies still do it which
is generally frowned upon.

14. Radio
 Commercial Radio in Australia is dominated by 5 major
broadcast networks who take up 75% of the radio market.
 These include:
 Austereo Group
 Australian Radio Network
 DMG Radio Australia
 Fairfax News Network
 NOVA Entertainment
 Broadcast on AM, FM and in digital format.

15. Radio
 Advertisement revenue also covers commercial radio
production.
 The style of the organisation influences what they
broadcast.
 Critics believe commercial radio is too bland or safe
because it caters to a large majority.
 Often linked with ARIA as well as other music
distribution networks. Music that is high in the popular
charts generally get more air time on commercial radio.

16. Questions
1. What is the main source of revenue for commercial print
publications?
2. Do you listen to commercial radio? Why or why not? If
yes, how does it meet your needs/wants?
3. What potential conflicts of interest do you think could
occur under the commercial print AND radio models?
4. Would or do you pay to access news online? Why or why
not?