Newsdesk - Youtube partner sharing program

Youtube are putting a system in place that will allow its users (some, not all) to make money in a revenue sharing program. The program has been tested in the last year and is a partner system.

User’s can apply to be a youtube partner and if they qualify will be able to get a cut of the AdSense advertising revenue associated with the videos on the site. The criteria for membership are:

—You create original videos suitable for online streaming.
—You own the copyrights and distribution rights for all audio and video content that you upload — no exceptions.
—You regularly upload videos that are viewed by thousands of YouTube users.
—You live in the United States or Canada.

So far it hasn’t been revealed how much of a share you will receive if you do qualify as a partner. The list of current partners is quite diverse as well from universal music group to that annoying lonelygirl15 girl.

This is an interesting development in user generated content as far as revenue sharing programs for user generated content go I think youtube will be one of the most popular ones, as long as the users get a decent share from the revenue.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/12/10/youtube-shares-the-wealth-with-everyone-apply-now/

Week 3 Newsdesk

The digital age of technology, communication and of course media continues to develop in the weeks news.

Xbox are to launch a VoD service on Tuesday to allow gamers the chance to download films.

It is expected that within a year we will a broadband connection which will deliver up to 24mb connection speed however because of the fibre needed to connect to the internet it could take up to a decade for rural areas to catch up with city areas. Jupiter research analysts Ian Fogg says, "There is going to have to be an acceptance that broadband will be faster in the cities.”

American corporation and their government are looking to the internet in ways to communicate with a bigger audience, Rupert Murdoch has purchased Christian social site belief.net and will use this to target the audiene for adverts, marketing and sales of Fox groups products. Republicans have been using Youtube to communicate with American voters in a debate believing this to be a way of targeting the youth vote.

The BBC were unable to get the license fee they requested and some are paying the price including BBC Journalists set to lose their jobs, so Jonathan Ross’s claims of being “worth 1,000 BBC Journalist" have not gone down well with the National Union of Journalists (NUJ). The BBC are determined to maintain quality childrens programming even though the departments budget has been cut by 10%, they are also unable to launch a television broadband service and instead will invest more money in local text and radio broadband services.

It seems like this week is seeing how the BBC are going to deal with the license fee issue and the continuing innovation of digital media as a way of integrating media platforms together for example with Xbox’s new VoD service and also innovating in using the internet to tap into audiences not available through other media.

Week 2 Newsdesk: TV chiefs take joint stand on viewer trust

The heads of the four main public broadcasters have met earlier this week in a bid to regain the publics faith facing the viewer deception scandals. BBC director general Mark Thompson, ITV executive chairman Michael Grade, Channel 4 chief executive Andy Duncan and Five Chief Executive Jane Lighting met with Ofcom chief executive, Ed Richards in a seminar hosted by Ofcom chairman, David Currie, and BBC Trust chairman, Sir Michael Lyons. They are planning on creating a group that will uphold a cross-industry framework for best practice and ways to deal with issues raised with premium-rate services. They will work on developing industry wide training on ethical standards and best practice and have a common framework of principles to promote best practice. It will also clarify on contractual and compliance issues "to ensure that responsibilities are clearly expressed and audience interests are clearly protected". It’s good to see that they are addressing the issue in a practical way, by uniting and creating this group it seems they can ensure that the audiences are satisfied with programming which is important it’s no good to have an audience that doesn’t trust you.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/nov/29/tvfakery.television

Week 1 Newsdesk: New Reality Show On Islam

A new reality show on C4 sees a diverse group of people living as Muslims for three weeks. This could be seen as dumbing down the faith for the masses, however the producer Narinder Minhas has defended it as being a way for people who are alien to the religion to gain better insight instead of the hate mongering that is evident among some programming on Islam. An issue that has come up with this programme is that it has come out at a time where the public do not trust television broadcasters. He assures this has been taken into account and that what the viewer sees is as it happened rather than being edited to make it look like more was happening or to make the show appear more tense and exciting. “If an event didn’t happen in a chronological order then we couldn’t put it in as if it had.” I started reading this article thinking that the show sounded like the usual bad reality programming and would probably do more bad than good for Islam’s image however by the end of the article it sounded like it could be quite a credible show considering they’re making an effort to be more genuine with the way the show is presented.

(from Media Gaurdian)

Script Editor

Script Editors provide a critical overview of the screenwriting process, and liaise between the Producer or Development Executive and the Screenwriter. Script Editors do not offer solutions, but instead use their analytical skills to help Screenwriters identify problems, explain the potential consequences of Screenwriters' choices, and thereby help to strengthen and develop screenplays. Script Editors are sometimes full-time employees of a Production company, but more often they are employed on a freelance basis, and their fees and levels of involvement are negotiable.

Responsibilities
Script Editors have a particular insight into the structure of screenplays, and the effect that different types of narrative have on audiences. Script Editors must not only be able to form a clear, objective opinion about the premise, synopsis, treatment or screenplay, but they must also be able to give detailed explanations of their reasoning. Their opinions must be valid within the context of the entire filmmaking process, and they should be able to assist Screenwriters and Producers to realise the potential of their screenplays. Script Editors must mediate between the Screenwriter's creative desires and impulses, and the commercial imperatives of the marketplace. Because of the varied nature of their work, Script Editors often have a keener insight into the structure of screenplays than Screenwriters, and should help them to explore the various possibilities open to them. Script Editors are also responsible for helping Screenwriters to develop a route map for their story, and for reminding them of this map when they write scenes that deviate from the narrative. To work effectively, Script Editors must agree a development schedule with Producers and Screenwriters. This schedule typically comprises a number of development meetings, one-to-one editorial meetings, and regular email feedback. Script Editors assess and support relationships between Screenwriters and Producers, and must be present at all script development meetings to ensure that all parties share the same vision for the project, and to record any decisions made. Script Editors should negotiate their contracts before they start work, setting out fees and delivery deadlines for each stage of the process. The nature and remit of the editorial role varies, depending on whether Script Editors are engaged on a freelance basis, or if they are working in-house for a production company.

Skills
Script Editors should have a keen insight into all aspects of screenplay tone, genre, style, structure, character, plot, action and dialogue. They must understand the various development stages, including: log lines, premises, synopses, beat outlines, step-outlines, treatments and rough drafts. They should also have a keen understanding of how to use the dramatist's tools, including comic irony, suspense, mystery and dramatic tension, and of the different ways that screen works affect audiences. The best Script Editors provide Screenwriters with a different perspective on their story, as well as reminding them of the production company's requirements, and the market for films. They need shrewd interpersonal and negotiation skills, and must be capable of liaising effectively between Screenwriters and Producers or Development Executives.

taken from http://www.skillset.org/film/jobs/script/article_4056_1.asp

Casualty Production Roles

This is an explanation of the production roles you can find on the television drama Casualty.

Executive Producer – This role is a grey area, the title can be given to the star of the show as a vanity credit, or to the person who originated the idea. It is most often given to people who can deal with business and legal issues. It can be given to financiers, writers or producers or to someone who has a big influence on the project. They rarely deal with the day to day running of a show.

Series Producer – The series producer is in charge of overall production and will ensure there is continuity within the series and a crew ready to work.

The Producer’s role is to control all aspects of a programme’s production, this role may not be as hands on as some, but it is his job to keep order and to organise a production.

Associate Producer – carries out tasks delegated to them by the Producer, they run day-to-day operations.

Script Editor provides critical analysis for scriptwriters and liases with scriptwriters, producers and executives. The job involves being able to help develop the script by providing criticism and advice.

The Director is responsible for camera placement, lighting, microphones and props, Similar to film directors they oversee the filming of scenes and decide which take of a scene is good enough for the final programme.

Assistant Director – Helps the Director with script and storyboarding, Oversees location booking, props and equipment. Deals with filming schedule.

2nd AD – Produces each days call sheet and distributes them to cast and crew, organises hotels and transport to the location, makes sure cast and crew are on set when needed and that the cast are in the correct make up and costumes at the right time.

3rd ADs provide support to the other ADs. They are in charge of dealing with the extras in scenes and direct them in their parts.

Script Supervisor is on the set to ensure that filming stays on script and that there is no problem with continuity as far as shooting is concerned.

Location Manager’s help the director to find and manage locations for shooting and to ensure all aspects of the location are satisfactory for example access, parking and safety.

Unit managers are to support the Location Manager and liase between the film crew and the location. The Unit manager must deal with any issues a local or landlord has with the filming. They are also responsible for the parties of the crew’s vehicles.

Production Coordinators are mostly in a more clerical office based role, tasks include maintaining a purchase order log, producing new versions of a script as it changes, answering phones and dealing with all necessary paperwork.

The Runner is the general dogs body on the film set, it is a role that involves doing a wide variety of tasks such as delivering equipment, greeting guests, filing, distributing mail and delivering lunch and making tea.

Designer refers to set design, it is their job to read the script and then make decisions on what a set will look like and produce scale models and drawings. They need to carefully research into the locations and the models can give directors a chance to plan camera angles and where the crew equipment will be placed.

Art Director – must deal with maintaining a set as soon as the final schedule is produced, they oversee the preparations for the first sets and spend a lot of time monitoring the budget.

Properties Master accumulates the correct props, and ensures the cost is kept within the budget and available for filming.

Standby props are responsible for the use of all props during filming usually working in pairs, they provide the right props when needed, the senior standby prop is called a Chargehand.

Costume Designer research and design costumes and is in charge of the costume team, They have to manage the budget discuss ideas with production designers and the director, then provide sketches of the costumes and oversee their creation, buying or hiring.

Costume Assistant’s carry out research for the costume designer, take measurements and assist in making costumes.

Make-Up Designers must design a specific look for each character, it can cover hair as well as make up and the application of physical wounds using make up which is especially important in a show like Casualty.

Make up Assistants must set up and maintain the hair and make up workstations, purchasing supplies and generally helping the make up and hair artists.

Lighting Directors are in charge of deciding where and how to set up and operate lighting equipment and accessories and must plan in advance with the Director and Production Designer what lighting equipment must be used and any special requirements regarding lighting.

Gaffers have to produce a list of lighting equipment and contact lighting companies to get quotes on equipment needed. They then order the order the equipment and supervise the set up.

The Camera operator must set up and position the camera, rehearse shots and camera movement. They need to follow a camera script and take cues from the director.

A Camera Assistant judges and adjusts the camera focus on each site.

A Camera trainee is assistant to the camera crew, they have to handle lenses, fill camera reports and load and down-load film magazines.

A Grip is responsible for setting up all equipment used to support the camera for example tripods, dollies, tracks and cranes.

Sound Recordist’s must record sounds either on location or in a studio to find real sounds to use for filming.

Boom Operator assists the sound recordist by holding the boom arm which has a microphone at the end, keep it close to the actors without getting into the shot. They need good knowledge on camera lenses to know how to place the microphone properly.

A Sound Trainee help sound recordist and boom operator, they check stock for microphones and batteries. Ensuring the equipment is usable, they sometimes operate a second boom if required and their role is similar to that of a Runner.

VT Editor is responsible for editing the tape, although this usually refers specifically to tape that is inserted into a live or studio filmed show.

Casting is in charge of casting the actors and must suggest people for roles, conduct interviews and negotiate the actor’s fees.

Production Accountants are responsible for managing finances for a production. They need to have knowledge to deal with tax, calculating budget, costing and liasing with the financiers.

The Production Accountants Assistant are office based workers who deal with bookkeeping their role varies for different productions so they carry out tasks that are set for them by the Production Accountant.

Researchers generally spread the word about the show, research into any areas necessary, covering release forms and ensuring they get signed.


I found my information at the following sites, all have been really useful, I particularly liked start in tv as they provided a section for people in the media to give 'a day in the life' account of their jobs.

http://www.skillset.org/tv/jobs/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7052368.stm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_producer

http://www.startintv.com/resources/whichtvjobforme.php

http://www.learndirect-advice.co.uk/helpwithyourcareer/jobprofiles/category22/

Media Consumption

Friday 12^th October
Internet – 2hrs

Saturday 13^th October
Internet – 5hrs

Sunday 14^th October
Internet – 2hrs
TV - 5mins

Monday 15^th October
Internet – 7hrs

Tuesday 16^th October
Internet – 5hrs

Wednesday 17^th October
Internet - 5hrs

Thursday 18^th October
Internet – 4hrs

Friday 19^th October
Television – 20mins
iPod – 4hrs

Saturday 20^th October
Internet – 7hrs

IPod – 1hr

Sunday 21^st October
Internet – 2hrs

Monday 22^nd October
iPod – 2hrs

Tuesday 23^rd October
Internet – 1hr

Wednesday 24^th October

Internet – 4hrs

Thursday 24^th October

Internet – 30mins

I currently don’t have a TV so a lot of my media consumption has been using the internet where I use Windows Live Messenger, Hotmail, Facebook, Youtube, various websites and various streaming websites. I also have listened to my iPod for long periods of time while I’m travelling back home.

ASA

Taste and Decency

Around 20% of complaints the ASA receive are about advertisements that have caused offence. It is their job to ensure that adverts do not cause offence to the public and should be sensitive to topics like race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or disability. The ASA often conducts research to get the publics opinions on issues to do with advertising. Recent adverts under adjudication have been Spearmint Rhino’s poster featuring a woman dressed only in underwear. The complainants found it unsuitable for the poster to be displayed outside a mosque. It was subsequently taken down as the company wished to be socially responsible.

Social Responsibility

The ASA asks for advertiser’s to be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and society, examples of how an advertiser could be socially irresponsible are:

•The use of shocking images that could cause undue fear and distress
•The depiction of scenes that could encourage people to behave in an irresponsible
or unsafe way
•The advertising of products, or their consumption, in ways that can be harmful to
health
•Advertising to children that could make them feel inferior, encourage them to pester
their parents, or result in their physical, mental or moral harm. (See the section on
Children and Advertising).

The advertising codes rules are as follows:

•Ads should not cause serious or widespread offence.
•Ads should not cause undue harm or distress
•Ads should contain nothing that might provoke anti-social or violent
behaviour
•Ads should contain nothing that is likely to result in the physical, mental or
moral harm of children.

The ASA are concerned with such dilemma’s as copycat kids syndrome which is where children copy potentially dangerous behavior without considering the consequences.

In the past the ASA has been concerned with the Reebok advert featuring hip hop star 50 cent. The advert contained dark mis-en scene and was about how the rapper had been shot nine times yet survived, The ASA received 57 complaints about the advertisement and it was withdrawn because it was seen to have glorified gun crime to young people, the advert was interpreted to mean that violence and crime are acceptable since even though he was shot nine times he survived it.

Shock tactics can be quite common in advertising as well, it can sometimes use shocking images or scenes which could put across important messages or potentially cause fear and distress. The ASA accepts using shock tactics where it is necessary for example the NSPCC adverts which are about child abuse are very effective.

Children and Advertising

Adveristing concerning or involving children is a sensitive issue, the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) are in charge of the advertising codes to do with children and lay down strict rules on this.

Common issues surrounding children and advertising are:

•Making children desire things they cannot afford or would not be able to use
•Pester power: encouraging children to pester their parents for advertised products or services.
•Showing children in unsafe or dangerous situations that other kids might emulate.
•Making children feel inferior, especially if they don’t buy the products or services shown in the ads.
•Showing children in a sexual way. I.e. wearing make-up and glamorous clothes
•Advertising soft drinks & high fat / sugar foods to children

It is important to protect children from seeing unsuitable adverts, this is why there is a 9pm watershed for adverts, as young children won’t be watching TV at this time so any adverts of a more adult nature are shown at this time. The BBFC are also used to regulate the public screening of films and rate a film on which age group it is suitable for in order to protect children from seeing adult film’s that may contain bad language, sexual images or violence.

For more info visit their site:
http://www.asa.org.uk/

RADIO TREATMENT

PREMISE

This Friday evening show has two comedian’s live on-air to round up the weekend aimed at the 18-30 year old demographic for when they are going home from work and getting ready to go out. The two regular hosts will have half an hour to discuss any funny stories, controversial news stories and the latest celebrity gossip of the following week while making jokes about it. The comedy show will offer listeners a witty, satirical spin on the latest news, and will include thing’s like exclusive interviews and even mock interviews where one of the comedians will impersonate a person involved in a news story and answer the other comedians questions to comic effect.

CHARACTERS

David Mitchell and Robert Webb as themselves will present the show and make up it’s entire cast including any interviewee’s who may have agreed to speak on the show.

The show will also have one-off programmes that use other comic duos instead of Mitchell and Webb.

SETTING

Live studio recorded show at Capital FM.

MOOD
A spoken words show with an emphasis on comedy and satire of current events. The tone will be very relaxed and based on the discussion between the two presenters and will create a funny light hearted mood although dealing with important topics.

The future of EMAP

The future of EMAP looks uncertain since the departure of chief executive Tom Moloney in May earlier this year. The company immediately began to get offers to be taken over by other companies and is now up for sale most probably as separate divisions rather than being sold as a whole company. The company is valued at between 1.2 to 1.3 billion pounds.

The company is currently in a second stage of bidding, the companies who have made it to this stage Include Apax and Guardian Media group who are teaming up to bid on the business to business division. For the consumer magazines the companies bidding are Hearst, Providence, Cinven, Quadrangle and Exponent. The companies GCap, Global Radio, Vitruvian Partners, Veronis Suhler Stevenson, and UTV are in the running for the Radio Division however sources indicate that Emap may break this division up for sale. Furthermore Channel 4 are interested in buying the television division as they already have 50% of the stake they only need to purchase the other half for complete control, so far neither Channel 4 nor Emap have commented about this.

This activity has only happened within the last month, with the news of Channel 4’s interest in Emap only surfacing in the last few days, This could potentially spell the end of EMAP as one whole functioning company, it’s not certain whether once the divisions are sold the company will retain it’s identity as EMAP or be fully integrated into the winning companies roster.

Here are the links for where I found my information

http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/?p=2384

http://business.scotsman.com/ViewArticle.aspx?articleid=3470718

http://www.hemscott.com/news/comment-archive/item.do?id=31948

Effects of EMAP Audience

EMAP’s relationship with it’s customer’s remain simple as far as the radio, television and magazine are concerned. Their lifestyle brands are EMAP’s key strength and they are striving to deliver to consumers now through the use of new media allowing EMAP to integrate their services into consumers lives even further. This statement from the EMAP website sums it up nicely:

“For Emap, the challenge is to give consumers what they want, how and when they want it.”
A good example of this is having the FHM Mobile service and the faceless radio diaries on KISS 100 that went to number one of the US podcast charts.

(http://www.emap.com/Site-search-item.asp?ContentId=2747)

Company Profile: EMAP

EMAP is a British Media company that specialises in magazines, tv and radio stations as well as being an organiser of business events and conferences. It began as a local newspaper company in 1947. "EMAP" is an abbreviation of East Midland Allied Press. Earlier this year Chief Executive Tom Moloney resigned from the company leaving Alun Cathcart in charge.

The group is structurally divided into main branches: EMAP Consumer Media, EMAP Communications, EMAP Radio and EMAP Advertising.
(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMAP)

“We have 50 lifestyle and specialist consumer magazines, 42 local and eight national commercial radio stations, seven digital TV channels and organise over 400 B2B events internationally.”
(http://www.emap.com/site-search-item.asp?ContentId=2320)

Funding

emap is funded by:

* A £250 million fixed income ten year sterling eurobond issued in April 2003. The coupon (interest rate) on the bond is 6.25% and it matures in December 2013
* A £500 million five year multi-currency revolving credit facility syndicated across eight lending banks which matures in 2011
(http://www.emap.com/Site-search-item.asp?ContentId=2355)

EMAP's magazines are run by two divisions: EMAP Consumer Media, which encompasses its consumer-oriented magazines, and EMAP Communications, which encompasses its business-to-business portfolio. It has over 150 magazines (or "brands" as they are called internally) in the UK and France, including FHM, Q magazine, and Top Santé.
Distribution:

As for distribution, EMAP is widely known as a publishing company and according to Wikipedia they use two distribution companies for it’s publications; Seymour and Frontline. The Frontline website has provided a useful chart that I’ve included below about the distribution supply chain as I was unaware of what the distribution process included and thought it would be interesting to share with you all.

Formats and types of programmes

EMAP’s main formats are magazines, radio stations and television channels. Within these formats there are a wide variety of different brands. Their website considers the following to be their key brands.Audience

Of these brands there is a large variety of different audiences being catered for, the most obvious split is between the business and consumer oriented brands. Within the consumer brands many are music related but are also intertwined across the different media to create a lifestyle brand. For example FHM and Kerrang are both magazines as well at digital television channels. FHM is a men’s lifestyle magazine (or ‘lad’s mag’), Kerrang is a rock music brand, and Kiss is a dance music radio station so there is a wide variety of specific audiences being catered for by EMAP.