Task 5: (Research) Timeline and major companies

 Who are the major players in this industry?

• CBS
• FOX
• ITV
• ABC
• BBC

Images from The top ten shows on ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX in August 2015: reality TV rules | The Drum show that FOX and CBS both had most of their traffic directed to reality TV shows such as "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Big Brother".

Furthermore • UK: TV broadcasters market share 2017 | Statista shows us that the BBC and ITV had the highest share of audience in the UK in 2019.

Also, as we can see in this summary from Television Industry - Statistics & Facts | Statista about TV statistics in the US in 2019, FOX News was the leading cable network and CBS was the leading ad supported broadcast and cable network.

How do companies finance, distribute and exchange their products? Also how do audiences access them?

The BBC is primarily funded by the TV license, the content available on BBC is distributed over their channel or online, via their BBC player, similar to the ITV Player. However, consumers must have a TV license to view the BBC content on any platform around the world.

FOX news is funded by cable "carriage fees" and advertising. FOX content can be accessed through their website, their app, through devices such as AppleTV and SamsungTV etc (demonstrating the use of new devices that can provide access to media). This means viewers have a wide range of viewing options to watch FOX's content.

CBS is funded by money from trading in advertising time on their channel, from licensing and distribution of their content e.g. subscriptions. This also links to how consumers access their content, the programming is produced primarily for the network television, however it is also distributed on basic cable and through subscription services.

ITV is funded by advertising revenue produced by selling advertising slots on their channel, prices vary on the time of day. ITV primarily distribute their content on their channel, however with the development of technology they have also opted to using an 'ITV Player' that is easily accessible on many devices. As a result, viewers can access their favorite shows conveniently.

ABC is  funded by grants that come directly from the Australian government. ABC is distributed on cable TV and through other platforms, such as the ABC app and the ABC website for easy viewer access.

Timeline