a. audiences
b. advertisers
c. owners
d. news sources
True/False
1. Apple makes more money from selling media content, media consumption devices, and
phones than it does from selling computers.
2. The electronic media in the United States are primarily owned and operated by the federal
government.
3. While the number of independent news companies has declined, the availability of news
media has increased.
4. Owning multiple channels allows a media company to repackage media content for different
audiences.
5. The Disney Corporation believes that every division of the corporation should work together
with every other division to promote and profit from a common set of media content.
6. Disney Corporation sells merchandise at every level from watches for children to $5,000 shoes
for adult women.
7. ESPN makes revenue both from people who do watch the sports channel and people who do
not.
8. Fox Broadcasting carries raunchy programs because these shows deliver large audiences.
9. The world’s largest book publisher has its headquarters in France.
10. Bertelsmann is the only one of the top six of the major legacy media companies to be
privately owned.
11. Gannett is the United States’ largest Internet provider.
12. The short head is the portion of a distribution curve where a large number of people are
interested in buying a limited number of products.
13. The long tail is the portion of a distribution curve where a large number of people are
interested in buying a limited number of products.
14. A CD has to sell at least four copies a year in order to justify the shelf space it takes up in a
local music store.
15. Multi-track music recording can now be done at home on a laptop computer.
16. Transmitting home-produced video to a national audience is almost impossible because the
so–called Big Media won’t carry it on their channels.
17. In his book The Long Tail, Chris Anderson writes that we are leaving an era of mass culture
and moving to one that is more individualistic.
18. At Wal-Mart, the top 200 CDs account for more than 90 percent of the music sold.
19. Rhapsody and iTunes can afford to carry so many different songs because they don’t pay the
artists for their music.
20. YouTube attempts to deliver a limited number of programs to a large audience.
21. “Free” media are actually paid for by advertisers who want to reach consumers of the media.
Essay
1. Name two of the top five legacy media companies in the United States and one of the major
new media companies.
2. Name two of the media properties owned by Time Warner.
3. Define media synergy and provide an example of it.
4. Why did the Walt Disney Company have trouble with China in 1996?
5. Which of the so-called Big Media companies owns both the Wall Street Journal and London’s
Sun newspaper?
6. Which of the so-called Big Media companies dominates the music video industry?
7. Which of the so-called Big Media companies is the world’s largest publisher?
8. Who purchased NBCUniversal from General Electric in 2011?
9. Who decides what content will appear on YouTube?
10. What type of media is the U.S. government most likely to regulate?
11. According to your textbook, what types of sources are rarely heard from in the news?
12. In a brief essay, explain how Apple has become a major player in the media business.
13. In a brief essay, define the concept of media synergy and then explain how it works using
examples from the Disney Corporation.
14. In a brief essay, explain what Kevin Kelly’s theory of “1,000 True Fans” is and explain how
it applies to touring musicians such as Doug and Telisha Williams.
15. In a brief essay, explain why you can’t simply say American media are run by six major
conglomerates today.
16. In a brief essay, explain the differences between the long-tail and the short-head media
markets.