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Contemporary Media Review Questions

Contemporary Media Today

Review the lecture outline

  1. What are the major elements of communication process? (Hint: “sender” and “receiver” are two.)
  2. What are the differences between interpersonal and group communication? What is different about mass communication?
  3. Describe the differences between analog and digital.
  4. What is convergence and what are the three Cs of convergence, according to Turow?
  5. What are four primary strategies of media use, according to Turow?
  6. What are five tools that can equip us for media literacy, according to Turow?
  7. How does digitalization enable these new forms of media use: interactivity media, social media, asynchronous consumption, audience fragmentation?

Testable Terms: Contemporary Media Today

  1. medium vs. media
  2. mass communication
  3. convergence
  4. digitalization
  5. interactive media
  6. social media
  7. asynchronous vs. synchronous media
  8. audience fragmentation
  9. media literacy

Internet

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  1. Contrast these different features of the Internet: it is a digital network, it is a computer network, it is an interoperable network, it is a wide-area network.
  2. Why was ARPANET designed as a decentralized, distributed network?
  3. What were some factors for the explosion of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s?
  4. What is the difference between what is called web 1.0 and web 2.0?
  5. What are the three types of Internet service providers?
  6. Contrast the two different kinds of dedicated high-speed data transmission: wired/Ethernet and wireless/WiFi.
  7. According to Turow, what are the three kinds of Internet businesses?
  8. Contrast the two major kinds of born-digital Internet businesses: search engines and social media sites.
  9. Contrast the three different kinds of Internet advertising.
  10. How do advertisers track your activities on the Internet? How does this help them better serve ads?
  11. What is a “second-screen” activity?
  12. What are the two opposing sides of the net neutrality debate?

Testable Terms: Internet

  1. advertising exchange
  2. advertising network
  3. applications
  4. ARPANET
  5. behavioral targeting
  6. cookie
  7. data mining
  8. digital divide
  9. Ethernet
  10. HTML
  11. interoperability
  12. Net Neutrality
  13. search engines
  14. smartphone
  15. social media sites
  16. user-generated content
  17. Wi-Fi
  18. world wide web

Books

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  1. In terms of sales, what is considered a successful book? What is a bestseller? And what is a blockbuster?
  2. What are the different adoption processes for textbooks for the K–12 market and those for the higher-education market?
  3. How does a book author get paid?
  4. How might a conglomerate use a book property for the purposes of synergy across other media divisions, such as movies, TV, etc.? What effect might this have for the production of original stories and creative content?
  5. How do the categories of consumer books refer to the places books are distributed?
  6. Why are “trade books” not similar to “trade magazines?” What segment of the book industry is designed for people who are working keep up-to-date in their areas?
  7. Who are the Big Three Distributors and what role in book selling do they serve? Why are the biggest publishers able to bypass these distributors?
  8. Contrast the roles of the three kinds of editors employed at a typical book publisher.
  9. What are the two most popular forms of non-print books in the digital age?
  10. Contrast between the four types of booksellers: nationwide bookstore chains, university bookstores, independent bookstores, online bookstores.

Testable Terms: Books

  1. acquisitions editor
  2. audiobooks
  3. Big Five Publishers
  4. Big Three Wholesalers
  5. brick-and-mortar bookstore
  6. development editor
  7. ebooks
  8. imprint
  9. literary agent
  10. mail-order books
  11. mass market paperbacks
  12. presold title
  13. production editor
  14. professional books
  15. religious books
  16. scholarly books
  17. subscription reference books
  18. synergy
  19. textbooks
    • higher education
    • K–12
  20. trade books

Newspapers and Magazines

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  1. Describe the differences between the different types of daily and weekly newspapers?
  2. What are the five kinds of magazines?
  3. What are the four types of advertising that newspapers sell?
  4. How did daily newspaper chains historically leverage their power to achieve total market coverage into higher advertising revenues? Do they still have this power?
  5. What are the sources of newspaper content?
  6. What are the four factors newspaper consider when distributing the finished issue to the point of exhibition (point of sale)?
  7. What are the five recent innovations and features that newspapers have developed for building a digital audience?
  8. What are the eight ways that magazines can extend their brand beyond the mass-circulated print magazine?

Testable Terms: Newspapers and Magazines

  1. academic journals
  2. adversarial press
  3. advertising-editorial ratio
  4. alternative weekly
  5. business-to-business (b-to-b) magazine or trade magazine
  6. circulation
  7. classified ad
  8. consumer magazines
  9. controlled-circulation magazine
  10. cost-per-thousand (CPM)
  11. daily newspapers
  12. freelancers
  13. freestanding inserts
  14. graphic novel
  15. literary reviews
  16. magazine publisher
  17. media kits
  18. native advertising
  19. news hole
  20. newsletter
  21. newspaper publisher
  22. pass-along rate
  23. paywall
  24. single-copy sales
  25. syndicates
  26. slotting fees
  27. subscription
  28. total market coverage
  29. weekly newspapers
  30. weekly shoppers

Recorded Music

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  1. What products constituted the music industry before the popularization of sound recording at the turn of the 20th century?
  2. Who are the Big Three of the recording industry oligopoly? Why are Independents able to play a significant role in the recording industry?
  3. How does the iTunes Music Store—and digital downloads in general—deprecate the packaging of songs into singles and albums?
  4. What are the four forms of physical media sold by the recording industry?
  5. According to Turow, what are three ways a major recording company might promote an artist that an independent recording company might not be able to do?
  6. According to Turow, how are record labels in the recording industry akin to imprints in the book industry?
  7. Explain the difference between the two kinds of royalties paid to composers, publishers, and performers.
  8. What two forms of piracy, described by Turow, existed before the digital age? What new form of piracy came to be in the digital age?

Testable Terms: Recorded Music

  1. album
  2. artist and repertoire
  3. Billboard Hot 100
  4. Big Three Recording Companies
  5. bootlegging
  6. cassette tape
  7. compact disk
  8. counterfeiting
  9. digital download
  10. illegal downloading
  11. independents
  12. Internet radio
  13. iTunes Music Store
  14. mechanical royalties
  15. MP3
  16. peer-to-peer sites
  17. performance royalties
  18. ringtone
  19. single
  20. streaming service

Radio

Review the lecture outline

  1. Contrast the two different terrestrial radio bands: amplitude modulation and frequency modulation.
  2. How do non-commercial radio stations earn revenue?
  3. How many radio stations can a single company own since the Telecommunications Act of 1996?
  4. What are the four elements of a radio station’s format, according to Turow?
  5. What is a daypart? What two dayparts have the highest number of listeners?
  6. In addition to local-originated programming, which is produced by a local radio station for its own use, what are the three sources of radio programming?
  7. What are the three types of radio advertising?
  8. In addition to advertising, what two ways can a commercial radio station earn revenue?
  9. What are two new innovations that have emerged in the digital age that competes with terrestrial radio?
  10. Describe some advantages and disadvantages of HD radio as a means attract listeners that have migrated to the digital “radio” technologies.

Testable Terms: Radio

  1. amplitude/frequency modulation
  2. commercial stations
  3. digital advertising
  4. drive time
  5. format clock
  6. HD radio
  7. listener diary
  8. local advertising
  9. network advertising
  10. non-commercial stations
  11. off-air revenue
  12. online radio
  13. Portable People Meter
  14. radio format
  15. radio market
  16. radio network
  17. rating point
  18. satellite radio
  19. spot advertising
  20. syndicator

Film and Home Video

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  1. Who are the six majors today, according to the textbook, and which conglomerate owns them?
  2. What are the two names of movie theaters with more than one screen? What is the difference between the two?
  3. What are the four release patterns currently used by film distributors?
  4. What are the five MPAA film ratings and what does each mean?
  5. When a film company is vertically integrated what three aspects does it own?
  6. What are the six movie theater chains, as listed in the textbook?
  7. What are some of the post-theatrical windows for movie today?
  8. What terms do distributors and exhibitors negotiate for an exhibition license?
  9. According to Turow, what demographic is the “central moviegoing audience?” How does that impact the narrowing of cultural diversity?

Testable Terms: Film and Home Video

  1. back-end deal
  2. blockbusters
  3. box office receipts
  4. cultural colonialism
  5. data/digital locker
  6. day-and-date release
  7. digital cinema package
  8. distribution rights
  9. guilds
  10. negative cost
  11. on-spec
  12. pitch
  13. previewing
  14. publicity
  15. rental outlets
  16. rough cut
  17. star system
  18. sell-through outlets
  19. talent agents
  20. windows

Broadcast and Multichannel TV

Review the lecture outline

  1. What is the difference between off-network syndication and first-run syndication? Give an example of each.
  2. What are the six steps for the development of an entertainment television program.
  3. Explain the difference between a broadcast TV station and a broadcast TV network.
  4. What is the difference between an owned-and-operated station and a network affiliate?
  5. What are the Big Four broadcast television networks? What other networks exist in the United States?
  6. What are the five TV scheduling strategies detailed by Turow for maintainng audience flow?
  7. What are three day parts on a typical TV weekday schedule? Which of those is where the most expensive programs can be found?
  8. What are the two sources of revenue for commercial stations? What are the three sources of revenue for noncommercial stations?
  9. What are the three types of MVPDs?
  10. What are four factors, according to Turow, for the growth of online and mobile platforms for distributing TV programming?
  11. What is the C3 stanard and why is it used for reporting TV viewership?

Testable Terms: Broadcast and Multichannel TV

  1. billboards
  2. cutting the cord
  3. cord shavers
  4. day parts
  5. high-definition television (HDTV)
  6. household rating
  7. household share
  8. independent broadcast station
  9. lead-in/lead-out
  10. multichannel subscription video programming distributors
  11. license fees
  12. lineup
  13. multiple system owner
  14. over-the-top
  15. People Meter
  16. pilot
  17. reach
  18. sampling
  19. sweeps
  20. syndication

Video Games

Review the lecture outline

  1. Who are the big three video console makers? What flagship console does each company manufacture?
  2. What are the ESRB six ratings and what does each one represent?
  3. What are the four broad self-regulatory principles that the Federal Trade Commission expects the web and mobile industries to follow?
  4. Other than playing video games, what functions do consoles offer that makes them convergence devices?
  5. In addition to consoles, what other two types of hardware play video games?
  6. Why do video game hardware makers publish titles that are exclusive to their consoles?
  7. What are the three different kinds of action video games described by Turow? Give an example of each.
  8. What are the three ways, described by Turow, that a company may advertise with a video game?
  9. How is personal data used as a “payment” for playing “free” video games?
  10. In terms of ethical behavior, what are three concerns we have for video game content?

Testable Terms: Video Games

  1. console
  2. casual gamers
  3. dynamic in-game advertising
  4. freemium
  5. Gamergate
  6. handheld game devices
  7. massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs)
  8. social games
  9. third-party publishers
  10. video game publishers

Media Economics

Review the lecture outline

  1. What are the four genres of media content, according to Turow?
  2. What are the four sub-genres of entertainment? What are the four sub-genres of news?
  3. What are the three metrics (“demographic indicators”) that are used to study audiences?
  4. What are the three aspects of an entertainment formula and what is called when they are mixed?
  5. What are the four characteristics that are specific to “hard news?”
  6. What distinguishes information from other media genres, such as education and news?
  7. What are three examples of direct revenues for financing media content after it has been produced?
  8. What are the two revenue sources that a broadcast TV station typically earns?
  9. What are three characteristics of objectivity in news?

Testable Terms: Media Economics

  1. advertising
  2. direct sales
  3. distribution
  4. education
  5. entertainment
  6. exhibition
  7. format
  8. hard-sell
  9. information
  10. informational advertisements
  11. investment banks
  12. license fees
  13. media production firm
  14. news
  15. production
  16. rentals
  17. retransmission fees
  18. schedule
  19. soft-sell
  20. stock offerings
  21. subscriptions
  22. usage fee
  23. venture capitals
  24. vertical integration

Media and the Persuasion Industries

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  1. What are the two primary differences between advertising and public relations?
  2. Who are the Big Four marketing agency holding companies that provide both advertising and public relations services?
  3. Explain the difference between business-to-business and consumer advertising agencies.
  4. Explain the difference between a general advertising agency and a specialty advertising agency.
  5. Explain the difference between a traditional advertising agency and a direct-marketing agency.
  6. What are the three roles carried out by advertising agencies?
  7. What are some media outlets that could be part of an advertising media plan?
  8. Explain the difference between internal and external public relations.
  9. What are the five prominment public relations activities discussed by Turow?
  10. What are three types of branded entertainment that might be part of a marketing communications campaign?

Testable Terms: Media and the Persuasion Industries

  1. advertising agency holding company
  2. branding
  3. cost-per-thousand (CPM)
  4. direct marketing
  5. first-person testimonial
  6. information subsidies
  7. location-based advertising
  8. marketing communications
  9. media relations
  10. native advertising
  11. publicity
  12. press release
  13. relationship marketing
  14. sales pitch

Media Policy and Regulation

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  1. What are the four areas that the government could restrict speech before (“prior restraint”) it is made?
  2. What is the difference between obscenity and indecency?
  3. Why does Fair Use allow for copyright infringement?
  4. What three conditions must be met for speech to be considered defamation?
  5. Why is libel against a private person different than libel against a public figure?
  6. What are the four areas where the media might invade someone’s privacy?
  7. What two executive branch agencies regulate the media, as discussed by Turow?
  8. What are the three main duties of the executive branch agencies that regulate the media?
  9. What organizations are responsible for assigning content ratings for movies, video games, and television programs?

Testable Terms: Media Policy and Regulation

  1. copyright
  2. fair use
  3. indecency
  4. libel
  5. monopoly
  6. obscenity
  7. oligopoly
  8. ombudsperson
  9. prior restraint
  10. professional code of ethics
  11. prurient interest
  12. self-regulation
  13. slander