The Biggest Conglomerates in the World and Corporate Culture

A conglomeration is most commonly defined as multiple corporations combined to engage in different businesses merging into a larger corporate structure. This merge will more usually consist of one parent company and many other subsidiaries. An example of this is the major multi-industry company Time Warner who have gained their success from owning businesses use their own subsidiaries into order to give publicity and develop merchandise which will keep their costs to a lower extent.

Integration of content production and distribution will allow a more efficient way to create compelling content that will have a ready pipeline for delivery. This will lower the risk of content production and increase investment. For the distributor, having an assured pipeline of content will lower the risk when increasing distribution availability. The shareholders win because investment in both content and distribution is at lower risk, thus allowing greater growth and higher profitability. Consumers should win because there should be a greater flow of content. 

This does not apply solely to Time Warner however, other conglomerates including Disney and News Corp are more reliant upon synergy between their subsidiaries to deliver the best outcome in terms of products. When looking at Batman, this character has been extremely beneficial for Time Warner. The Dark Knight Achieved a worldwide box office revenue of $1.1 Billion. This has strategically emulated onto the marketing for this franchise as there are now more products available to the audience such as toys and theme park attractions.

Time Warner is one of the biggest conglomerates in the world, this allows them to use synergy to distribute their content to the public. Mike Cecchini explores how synergy can allow franchises to spin off into separate franchises, for example in the D.C universe is expanding onto movies involving Batman's enemy ‘The Joker’. Cecchini states that Times warner are trying to expand the canon on D.C properties This process of synergy allows surrounding companies to play an essential part in production to boost productivity which brings the product out in quicker time which benefits the audience.

Overall, for Batman. Times Warner will use this franchise to support products for the consumer. Batman can be used to attract a larger audience using cross media promotion, for example, social media accounts can be created to advertise new merchandise on their websites dedicated to the franchise. A rise in social media users can attract a broader audience to visit the website, this also gives them the chance to use photos and videos from Batman films. This engages the audience further into the franchise meaning more revenue for the subsidiaries.

Media users are frequently known as participating audiences that can get involved within fanbases. Digital and online technology allow opportunities for audience participation, it also means that audiences can produce and distribute media content. Sometimes these productions can engage with established media. This term is described as participatory culture. Participatory culture can be exhibited in multiple ways, e.g: social media, crowdfunding, playtesting and modding Henry Jenkins explores what makes participatory culture about communities. 

When members feel some degree of social connection with one another. Not every member must contribute, but all must believe they are free to contribute when ready and that what they contribute will be appropriately valued. Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the most critically acclaimed video games of all time. Receiving numerous high ratings from reviewing sites like IGN and Metacritic. Because this game is part of a franchise, this can allow the audience to drift the storylines to their own personal endings. Fans often choose to read the series within alternative generic traditions. This is described as refocalisation, refocalisation is the shift in focus from the main protagonists to the supporting characters. 

This is when things like fan fiction can come into play, where fans of the video game will eroticise the characters. This was first seen in the Star Trek series with characters Spock and Captain Kirk. Fans of the two characters would be drawn out to be in a romantic relationship where the erotic aspects of their lives would be explored and developed. Fan fiction is sometimes frowned upon on some social medias, with articles being made frequently shunning them. What is scary about transformative fandom is that it's a place where young women love their media without reservation, and where they can make stories for themselves. 

Some fans use GIFS to express emotions to certain news or events that they have found. Jennifer Gillan describes it perfectly here referencing a GIF taken from show Twin Peaks After an introduction to GIFs and GIF creation, it contrasts the impression of the character and series conveyed by Audrey Horne GIFs and the actual dynamics in the “Audrey’s Dance” scene in Twin Peaks. This has seen larger companies such as sony post a feature onto one of their new playstation games God of War where you can recreate famous GIFs with characters from the series.

Because Red Dead Redemption 2 has such a large fanbase there are videos being posted onto video platform YouTube every few minutes. An example of this is a video from user o Knightz o where he points out the attention to detail in the game. Because this video was posted onto YouTube, it allows other media users to comment on the video with their opinions on the game and the video. It can also be shared onto other platforms like twitter. Overall, this leads to more worldwide attention to the game with people who may not be familiar with it beginning to view these videos and potentially purchasing the game as well.

Public service broadcasting is beneficial broadcasting for the public that does not concede to commercial interests. Originally put in place by communications regulator Ofcom, to allow less commercial content to be produced onto the BBC it has now branched out onto channels such as ITV and Channel 4 respectively. David Hendy explains this well when he states the point of PSB is to be fair minded, inclusive and a marker of genuine progress.

In the recent years, the BBC has showcased a wide range of different programmes, which aimed to highlight the particular values of public service broadcasting. An excellent example of such a programme can be Garden Rescue a highly sought-after gardening show that has received critical acclaim for attracting a very niche but loyal audience.