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- Contemporary Media Review Questions
Review the lecture outline
- What are the major elements of communication process? (Hint: “sender” and “receiver” are two.)
- What are the differences between interpersonal and group communication? What is different about mass communication?
- Describe the differences between analog and digital.
- What is convergence and what are the three Cs of convergence, according to Turow?
- What are four primary strategies of media use, according to Turow?
- What are five tools that can equip us for media literacy, according to Turow?
- How does digitalization enable these new forms of media use: interactivity media, social media, asynchronous consumption, audience fragmentation?
Testable Terms: Contemporary Media Today
- medium vs. media
- mass communication
- convergence
- digitalization
- interactive media
- social media
- asynchronous vs. synchronous media
- audience fragmentation
- media literacy
Internet
Review the lecture outline
- 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.
- Why was ARPANET designed as a decentralized, distributed network?
- What were some factors for the explosion of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s?
- What is the difference between what is called web 1.0 and web 2.0?
- What are the three types of Internet service providers?
- Contrast the two different kinds of dedicated high-speed data transmission: wired/Ethernet and wireless/WiFi.
- According to Turow, what are the three kinds of Internet businesses?
- Contrast the two major kinds of born-digital Internet businesses: search engines and social media sites.
- Contrast the three different kinds of Internet advertising.
- How do advertisers track your activities on the Internet? How does this help them better serve ads?
- What is a “second-screen” activity?
- What are the two opposing sides of the net neutrality debate?
Testable Terms: Internet
- advertising exchange
- advertising network
- applications
- ARPANET
- behavioral targeting
- cookie
- data mining
- digital divide
- Ethernet
- HTML
- interoperability
- Net Neutrality
- search engines
- smartphone
- social media sites
- user-generated content
- Wi-Fi
- world wide web
Books
Review the lecture outline
- In terms of sales, what is considered a successful book? What is a bestseller? And what is a blockbuster?
- What are the different adoption processes for textbooks for the K–12 market and those for the higher-education market?
- How does a book author get paid?
- 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?
- How do the categories of consumer books refer to the places books are distributed?
- 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?
- 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?
- Contrast the roles of the three kinds of editors employed at a typical book publisher.
- What are the two most popular forms of non-print books in the digital age?
- Contrast between the four types of booksellers: nationwide bookstore chains, university bookstores, independent bookstores, online bookstores.
Testable Terms: Books
- acquisitions editor
- audiobooks
- Big Five Publishers
- Big Three Wholesalers
- brick-and-mortar bookstore
- development editor
- ebooks
- imprint
- literary agent
- mail-order books
- mass market paperbacks
- presold title
- production editor
- professional books
- religious books
- scholarly books
- subscription reference books
- synergy
- textbooks
- trade books
Newspapers and Magazines
Review the lecture outline
- Describe the differences between the different types of daily and weekly newspapers?
- What are the five kinds of magazines?
- What are the four types of advertising that newspapers sell?
- How did daily newspaper chains historically leverage their power to achieve total market coverage into higher advertising revenues? Do they still have this power?
- What are the sources of newspaper content?
- What are the four factors newspaper consider when distributing the finished issue to the point of exhibition (point of sale)?
- What are the five recent innovations and features that newspapers have developed for building a digital audience?
- What are the eight ways that magazines can extend their brand beyond the mass-circulated print magazine?
Testable Terms: Newspapers and Magazines
- academic journals
- adversarial press
- advertising-editorial ratio
- alternative weekly
- business-to-business (b-to-b) magazine or trade magazine
- circulation
- classified ad
- consumer magazines
- controlled-circulation magazine
- cost-per-thousand (CPM)
- daily newspapers
- freelancers
- freestanding inserts
- graphic novel
- literary reviews
- magazine publisher
- media kits
- native advertising
- news hole
- newsletter
- newspaper publisher
- pass-along rate
- paywall
- single-copy sales
- syndicates
- slotting fees
- subscription
- total market coverage
- weekly newspapers
- weekly shoppers
Recorded Music
Review the lecture outline
- What products constituted the music industry before the popularization of sound recording at the turn of the 20th century?
- Who are the Big Three of the recording industry oligopoly? Why are Independents able to play a significant role in the recording industry?
- How does the iTunes Music Store—and digital downloads in general—deprecate the packaging of songs into singles and albums?
- What are the four forms of physical media sold by the recording industry?
- 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?
- According to Turow, how are record labels in the recording industry akin to imprints in the book industry?
- Explain the difference between the two kinds of royalties paid to composers, publishers, and performers.
- 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
- album
- artist and repertoire
- Billboard Hot 100
- Big Three Recording Companies
- bootlegging
- cassette tape
- compact disk
- counterfeiting
- digital download
- illegal downloading
- independents
- Internet radio
- iTunes Music Store
- mechanical royalties
- MP3
- peer-to-peer sites
- performance royalties
- ringtone
- single
- streaming service
Radio
Review the lecture outline
- Contrast the two different terrestrial radio bands: amplitude modulation and frequency modulation.
- How do non-commercial radio stations earn revenue?
- How many radio stations can a single company own since the Telecommunications Act of 1996?
- What are the four elements of a radio station’s format, according to Turow?
- What is a daypart? What two dayparts have the highest number of listeners?
- 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?
- What are the three types of radio advertising?
- In addition to advertising, what two ways can a commercial radio station earn revenue?
- What are two new innovations that have emerged in the digital age that competes with terrestrial radio?
- Describe some advantages and disadvantages of HD radio as a means attract listeners that have migrated to the digital “radio” technologies.
Testable Terms: Radio
- amplitude/frequency modulation
- commercial stations
- digital advertising
- drive time
- format clock
- HD radio
- listener diary
- local advertising
- network advertising
- non-commercial stations
- off-air revenue
- online radio
- Portable People Meter
- radio format
- radio market
- radio network
- rating point
- satellite radio
- spot advertising
- syndicator
Film and Home Video
Review the lecture outline
- Who are the six majors today, according to the textbook, and which conglomerate owns them?
- What are the two names of movie theaters with more than one screen? What is the difference between the two?
- What are the four release patterns currently used by film distributors?
- What are the five MPAA film ratings and what does each mean?
- When a film company is vertically integrated what three aspects does it own?
- What are the six movie theater chains, as listed in the textbook?
- What are some of the post-theatrical windows for movie today?
- What terms do distributors and exhibitors negotiate for an exhibition license?
- 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
- back-end deal
- blockbusters
- box office receipts
- cultural colonialism
- data/digital locker
- day-and-date release
- digital cinema package
- distribution rights
- guilds
- negative cost
- on-spec
- pitch
- previewing
- publicity
- rental outlets
- rough cut
- star system
- sell-through outlets
- talent agents
- windows
Broadcast and Multichannel TV
Review the lecture outline
- What is the difference between off-network syndication and first-run syndication? Give an example of each.
- What are the six steps for the development of an entertainment television program.
- Explain the difference between a broadcast TV station and a broadcast TV network.
- What is the difference between an owned-and-operated station and a network affiliate?
- What are the Big Four broadcast television networks? What other networks exist in the United States?
- What are the five TV scheduling strategies detailed by Turow for maintainng audience flow?
- What are three day parts on a typical TV weekday schedule? Which of those is where the most expensive programs can be found?
- What are the two sources of revenue for commercial stations? What are the three sources of revenue for noncommercial stations?
- What are the three types of MVPDs?
- What are four factors, according to Turow, for the growth of online and mobile platforms for distributing TV programming?
- What is the C3 stanard and why is it used for reporting TV viewership?
Testable Terms: Broadcast and Multichannel TV
- billboards
- cutting the cord
- cord shavers
- day parts
- high-definition television (HDTV)
- household rating
- household share
- independent broadcast station
- lead-in/lead-out
- multichannel subscription video programming distributors
- license fees
- lineup
- multiple system owner
- over-the-top
- People Meter
- pilot
- reach
- sampling
- sweeps
- syndication
Video Games
Review the lecture outline
- Who are the big three video console makers? What flagship console does each company manufacture?
- What are the ESRB six ratings and what does each one represent?
- What are the four broad self-regulatory principles that the Federal Trade Commission expects the web and mobile industries to follow?
- Other than playing video games, what functions do consoles offer that makes them convergence devices?
- In addition to consoles, what other two types of hardware play video games?
- Why do video game hardware makers publish titles that are exclusive to their consoles?
- What are the three different kinds of action video games described by Turow? Give an example of each.
- What are the three ways, described by Turow, that a company may advertise with a video game?
- How is personal data used as a “payment” for playing “free” video games?
- In terms of ethical behavior, what are three concerns we have for video game content?
Testable Terms: Video Games
- console
- casual gamers
- dynamic in-game advertising
- freemium
- Gamergate
- handheld game devices
- massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs)
- social games
- third-party publishers
- video game publishers
Media Economics
Review the lecture outline
- What are the four genres of media content, according to Turow?
- What are the four sub-genres of entertainment? What are the four sub-genres of news?
- What are the three metrics (“demographic indicators”) that are used to study audiences?
- What are the three aspects of an entertainment formula and what is called when they are mixed?
- What are the four characteristics that are specific to “hard news?”
- What distinguishes information from other media genres, such as education and news?
- What are three examples of direct revenues for financing media content after it has been produced?
- What are the two revenue sources that a broadcast TV station typically earns?
- What are three characteristics of objectivity in news?
Testable Terms: Media Economics
- advertising
- direct sales
- distribution
- education
- entertainment
- exhibition
- format
- hard-sell
- information
- informational advertisements
- investment banks
- license fees
- media production firm
- news
- production
- rentals
- retransmission fees
- schedule
- soft-sell
- stock offerings
- subscriptions
- usage fee
- venture capitals
- vertical integration
Media and the Persuasion Industries
Review the lecture outline
- What are the two primary differences between advertising and public relations?
- Who are the Big Four marketing agency holding companies that provide both advertising and public relations services?
- Explain the difference between business-to-business and consumer advertising agencies.
- Explain the difference between a general advertising agency and a specialty advertising agency.
- Explain the difference between a traditional advertising agency and a direct-marketing agency.
- What are the three roles carried out by advertising agencies?
- What are some media outlets that could be part of an advertising media plan?
- Explain the difference between internal and external public relations.
- What are the five prominment public relations activities discussed by Turow?
- What are three types of branded entertainment that might be part of a marketing communications campaign?
Testable Terms: Media and the Persuasion Industries
- advertising agency holding company
- branding
- cost-per-thousand (CPM)
- direct marketing
- first-person testimonial
- information subsidies
- location-based advertising
- marketing communications
- media relations
- native advertising
- publicity
- press release
- relationship marketing
- sales pitch
Media Policy and Regulation
Review the lecture outline
- What are the four areas that the government could restrict speech before (“prior restraint”) it is made?
- What is the difference between obscenity and indecency?
- Why does Fair Use allow for copyright infringement?
- What three conditions must be met for speech to be considered defamation?
- Why is libel against a private person different than libel against a public figure?
- What are the four areas where the media might invade someone’s privacy?
- What two executive branch agencies regulate the media, as discussed by Turow?
- What are the three main duties of the executive branch agencies that regulate the media?
- What organizations are responsible for assigning content ratings for movies, video games, and television programs?
Testable Terms: Media Policy and Regulation
- copyright
- fair use
- indecency
- libel
- monopoly
- obscenity
- oligopoly
- ombudsperson
- prior restraint
- professional code of ethics
- prurient interest
- self-regulation
- slander