Management in Contemporary Media
Musa Salah
United States International University
Introduction
The media is one of the essential industries in any country in the world today. The media have largely driven democracy, globalization, and the rights to freedom of expression and access to information. In today’s globalized world and particularly the continued development of the internet’s capacity, media has become even more important to a nation’s growth and values. However, the internet also brought about immense competition in the media sector, thus forcing media owners to change their approach to media management fundamentally. Unlike the early 20th century, when the main media was only print, the late 20th century brought us the television and the radio. The two technologies fundamentally changed the media landscape. However, what would really alter the nature of the media industry completely was the advent of the internet and its increasing and expanding capacity globally. As a result, contemporary media today faces a myriad of challenges and opportunities in the acquisition of market share, growth of cash flows, development of new products, expansion of business models, implementation of new technologies, and response to competition and external factors.
Management in the Context of the Media and Media Organizations
Management is a common term both in academia and in practice and refers to the administration of an organization through harnessing functions such as controlling, directing, planning, and staffing to achieve preset goals and objectives often encompassed in the vision of that particular organization(s). The success of any organization often comes down to how it is managed. Well managed organizations are more likely to outperform poorly managed ones on all fronts. Often, management is viewed by most as a simple and straightforward art. On the contrary, effective management is a very sophisticated art that involves a great deal of serious decision making to ensure that an organization achieves both its short term and its long term goals. Management is often and rightly so held responsible for the successes or failures of an organization. Managers must, therefore, be innovative in developing management skills and strategies that are not only relevant to their organizations but also society as a whole.
Media management has grown to become a very important component of media success and survival in today’s complex and highly competitive media industry. Today, most countries, even developing ones, have a highly competitive media environment that is undergoing fundamental changes resulting from both external and internal factors. The work of media managers has become even more essential in guiding how media houses can rise above the competition to acquire more market share, remain profitable while still practicing media’s core competencies of providing the public with objective and factual information in the shortest time possible. Media management encompasses the planning, directing, organizing, and staffing functions to achieve profitability and exceptionalism in today’s complex media environment. As a result of this complexity, strategic management has become more and more relevant in media management. Media managers are now required to develop strategies that take into consideration the internal and external environment, set objectives and goals, long term and short term survival, and analysis of the competitive environment to achieve the highest results in profitability and exceptionalism in the dissemination of factual and relevant information to the masses.
How has the Internet Changed the Media?
Media has existed for centuries now, and it continues to change in the face of new technologies and changes in social, economic, and demographic factors worldwide. With globalization, media is now no longer localized but globalized. Perhaps one of the technologies that have had an enormous effect on media and all other sectors of the global economy is the internet. Experts rightly conceptualized the internet as a disruptive technology that would certainly alter global and local economies. The media has not been exempted from the effects of the disruptive nature of the internet (Mierzejewska, 2011). Before the internet, the most common forms of media were television, radio, and print. While television was in itself a disruptive invention as it substantially affected the radio and print media, the internet is proving to be even more disruptive (Mierzejewska, 2011). Today, over four billion people are connected to the internet. That’s slightly over half of the world’s population. No other technology or invention has managed to somewhat connect with such a large number of people.
Today, billions of devices can access the internet from smartphones, personal computers, and smart devices such as smart TVs and smart cars. Now more than ever, the internet is accessible to more and more people worldwide, and its potential is virtually infinite.
As more and more people go online for their information and entertainment needs, corporations are also following suit to remain relevant to consumers, and media has been no exception. At the click of an application or a simple google search on a laptop or a smartphone, a person can access current news as they unfold and simultaneously discuss these happenings on social media with other members of the global community without being physically together. Now more than ever, most people are going online to read their favorite newspaper, check on news items worldwide on their favorite television networks, and voice their opinions on these news items with friends and the world through social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, all at the same time. Unlike before, when people would congregate where there is a television or a radio to follow up on news items of the day or catch a newspaper the next day, today, they can do so in real-time through the internet. The internet has also disrupted content creation in the media industry. Today, unlike before, consumers are no longer passive consumers of media content; they are also active content creators (Napoli, 2016). Blogging, social media, and content creation technologies such as YouTube allow consumers to not only consume media content but also to create content that aligns with specific segments of society (Napoli, 2016).
Media houses today cannot simply rely on traditional media such as television, print, or radio if they are to remain competitive. They must also maintain a substantial online presence where billions of people and potential consumers of their content are. Today, media organizations are forced to maintain both traditional and modern channels of dissemination of their content and to tailor-make this content to meet the desires of different segments of the society (Kung, 2011). For instance, young people and older people have differences in how they consume media content. While young people are more likely to consume media content online, older people are more likely to rely on more traditional ways to consume media content. Media organizations must, therefore, consider the interests of all and tailor-make their content to suit these different needs. To do so, media organizations are changing their approach to management and are becoming more and more flexible and responsive to changes in the external, internal, and competitive environments (Kung, 2011).
How is Media Acquiring and Improving Market Share?
One of the most widely used measures of an organization’s success is its market share. Market share refers to the portion of the market or industry controlled by an organization. The larger the market share of an organization, the more profitable it generally is. As a result of increased competition in all sectors of the economy, media included, it has become imperative that organizations develop strategies to capture larger portions of the market if they are to attain a competitive advantage and higher profitability levels. Organizations must endeavor to answer the question of what makes them different from their competitors and the strategies they can use to maintain their customers and acquire more to gain a larger market share. Media organizations are no exception. With the advent of the internet and the growth of cheaper media dissemination platforms such as social media and online platforms such as blogs, media organizations are facing unprecedented levels of competition.
Media organizations, to acquire and maintain market share, must provide outstanding news and entertainment content. All the programs aired on the different platforms of media organizations must reflect the needs and expectations of consumers. Calder and Malthouse explain this aspect by positing that media content should provide value to consumers and should provide experiences for viewers (2005). Furthermore, because consumers interact with advertisements while viewing or reading material, it is essential that the content therein meet the expectations of the consumer (Calder & Malthouse, 2005). In Kenya and globally, media organizations can increase market share by offering objective, reliable, nonpartisan, factual, and real-time news items, and information. The more credible a media organization is, the more likely it is to attract higher viewership.
Furthermore, media organizations can utilize smart recruitment techniques that involve the recruitment of talented newscasters and content creators and producers that are themselves a source of competitive advantage. The more talented an organization’s crew is, the more likely it is to generate high viewership, which translates in higher market share. This is known as the economics of superstars (Medina, Sánchez-Tabernero & Arrese, 2016). Due to the image nature of journalism, some journalists create a competitive advantage for their organizations (Medina, Sánchez-Tabernero & Arrese, 2016). In Kenya, for instance, journalists such as Jeff Koinange of Citizen Television have managed to create a brand (the Jeff Koinange Live Show) that resonates well with a majority of Kenyans. Also, for instance, Citizen Television has been hunting for experienced and established journalists to increase viewership since most consumers tend to develop loyalties towards specific journalists. These, among other reasons, explain Citizen Television’s large market share in the Kenyan media market.
In addition to offering objective and factual news items and smart recruitment strategies, media organizations must also endeavor to create appealing and relevant content that can attract viewers. For instance, media organizations in the United States, such as ABC, NBC, and Fox, have endeavored to create primetime shows that appeal to their audiences. The better a show is, the more the people it attracts, and thus the higher the viewership and in the long term, the higher the market share. In Kenya, media organizations such as Citizen Television, through content creation and outsourcing, have managed to run programs such as Telenovelas and locally produced content such as Papa Shirandula that have generated high viewership. The more superior a media organization’s content is, the more likely it is to command a higher market share (Medina, Sánchez-Tabernero & Arrese, 2016). Also, media organizations acquire market share through the use of cross-media platforms. Today, almost all large media organizations maintain a cross-media model in which they have a presence on social media and websites whose content is synched and has synergies (Faustino & Ribeiro, 2016). This ensures that these organizations reach a bigger audience as more and more people go online in search of information, news, and entertainment.
How is the Media Improving Cash Flows?
Media organizations, like other sectors of the economy, are interested in the generation of cash flows to cover production costs and profitability to pay dividends to shareholders and media owners. Therefore, these organizations must adopt strategies that generate the highest cash flows possible while ensuring core competencies, such as the dissemination of objective and factual information and news. Media organizations usually generate most of their income from paid advertisements that they air on behalf of public and private corporations (Faustino & Ribeiro, 2016). The higher the market share and public reach a media organization has, the more advertisers are willing to place their adverts with the organization, and the higher the rates charged. Therefore, in the realization of this, media organizations must ensure that they have the highest public reach possible and that their content appeals to the public as much as possible to generate higher viewership. Furthermore, media organizations are also turning to partnerships and alliances or conglomerations that enable them to broadcast content they would naturally be unable to produce. This is particularly true for local media organizations that are underfunded. These organizations cut deals with larger organizations for television and content rights and licenses that improve their cash flows. Print media is improving cash flows by joining the online space and offering low cost daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly subscriptions that generate extra revenue in addition to direct newspaper and magazine sales. An example is the New York Times and other organizations that require paid subscriptions for premium content (Napoli, 2016). Furthermore, media organizations such as NBC, ABC, and Fox are entering into deals worth millions of dollars with content providers such as Netflix to increase viewership for their content, and thus profitability is achieved.
How Media Organizations Are Developing New Products
Media organizations, like other organizations, rely on the development of new products to remain competitive. However, new products in the media industry differ significantly from products in other industries because media organizations are more service inclined. However, media managers must be creative and innovative in developing new products, particularly in the digital arena. For instance, media organizations today are developing products in the form of subscriptions, mobile applications, and new content. Today, most media organizations have a mobile application via which consumers can access content and even make subscriptions at a fee. Also, the development of new content can be viewed as a product in the media context (Medina, Sánchez-Tabernero & Arrese, 2016). US papers, and others worldwide, now have online editions (Mierzejewska, 2011). In Kenya, for instance, Royal Media has developed a new product, Viusasa, that allows consumers to subscribe for premium content at a cheaper price. New products are sources of cash flows and a competitive advantage.
How Are Media Organizations Expanding Business Models?
Von Rimscha defines a business model as how an organization is set to sustain itself (2016). The model explains an organization’s value chain, strategies, and cash flow generation techniques (von Rimscha, 2016). For media organizations to survive in the highly competitive and volatile media environment, they must adopt business models that are both flexible and responsive to changes in technology and competition (Kung, 2011). Most business models are based on six factors that include marketing, distribution, production, capital, and service (von Rimscha, 2016). Media organizations take into consideration all of these factors in designing their business models. Questions regarding how an organization will develop, market, and distribute its products are critical and must be answered (Kung, 2011). The answers to these questions encompass an organization’s business model. Media organizations expand their business models to respond to changes in the internal environment. Issues of competition, technology, and regulation are some of the drivers of expanded business models in the media industry. For instance, media organizations need to expand their business models to reflect the needs of customers for information, both locally and globally. Today, even local media organizations are expanding their models to capture international newsworthy items and other information that may appeal to consumers. Locally, in Kenya, for instance, local media organizations such as Royal Media are expanding their business models to incorporate the tastes of local communities by producing content that is tailor-made for these communities, say in vernacular language. Also, on distribution, media organizations are expanding where they place their content to attract higher viewership. For instance, today, social media and websites are part of most media organization’s business models.
How Media Organizations Are Implementing New Technologies
The media industry is one of the industries that has and continues to be affected by new technologies. In the media context, technologies range from production equipment such as cameras, drones, printers, and video and audio editing machines to distribution technologies such as social media, websites, blogs, and mobile applications. Media organizations must be ready to take advantage of new technologies if they are to survive in a rapidly changing and digitalized world. Today, unlike before, media organizations rely on drones to shoot video from places that would otherwise be difficult to reach or that would require substantial human capital and, by so doing, reduce costs. Prior to drones, aerial shooting had to be done using helicopters that were expensive to use. Furthermore, today, newer technologies have created high-quality video and audio editing equipment that increase the ease of content production. For newspapers, cheaper and high-quality printers are accessible for mass printing, thus increasing efficiency. Also, social media, the internet, and wireless connectivity are making it possible for media organizations to rely on real-time information from any part of the world. Mobile applications and social media provide an opportunity for media organizations to receive feedback and send tailor-made content to their consumers (Kung, 2011). For television, the internet and wireless connectivity has made it possible to stream content online for consumers. While technology may be disruptive, it has proven to facilitate growth if properly utilized and implemented.
How Media Organizations Are Responding to Competition and External Forces
Competition in the media industry is at an unprecedented level owing largely to the entry of more media corporations, large and small, and the internet and social media that have become favorite sources of news and entertainment content. Therefore, media organizations are increasingly formulating strategies that can help them to beat the competition. One of the strategies that media organizations are employing is cross-media convergence in which they maintain a presence across different media platforms (Faustino & Ribeiro, 2016; Avilés & Carvajal, 2008). Also, media organizations are employing smart recruitment techniques that ensure that they recruit talented persons who can create enjoyable content and experiences for consumers. This involves the hiring of talented newscasters who can create a brand for themselves and tailor-made shows that appeal to different audiences. For example, political discussions and football discussions in most media organizations involve renowned pundits who consumers are more likely to be interested in their opinions on such matters.
Furthermore, for a competitive advantage, media organizations are outsourcing content that is both appealing and less costly to produce and distribute. Also, media organizations are utilizing new technologies such as social media to cement their presence and to beat the competition. In response to external forces such as regulations and infringement of media freedom and rights, media organizations are increasingly partnering to condemn authoritarianism and campaign for journalistic freedom. Also, corporate social responsibility programs are becoming more common among media organizations (Ingenhoff & Koelling, 2012). These programs are aimed at giving back to society and enable interactions between media organizations and their consumers. Today, media houses such as Citizen Television are increasingly sponsoring events that increase their public image and provide a competitive advantage.
Conclusion
Contemporary media faces a myriad of challenges and opportunities today. While the internet was expected to work to the detriment of most media organizations, a majority have managed to remain afloat and are performing even better due to the adoption of new technologies, development of new products, expansion of business models, response to competition, and the improvement of cash flows and market share. However, challenges due to increased competition and the volatility and unpredictability of media organizations still abound. However, media organizations can weather out these challenges by remaining vigilant and ready to take steps in response to these challenges.
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