How do you deploy the media industries theories (Curran and Seaton, Hesmondhalgh, Livingstone and Lunt) in the Eduqas exams, and how do they connect to one another?
Media industries: applying the media industries theories. Choosing and applying Curran and Seaton, Hesmondhalgh and Livingstone and Lunt to the products you have studied, linking ownership, risk and regulation, and reaching the judgement the extended responses reward.
An Eduqas A-Level Media Studies guide to applying the media industries theories. Covers choosing and applying Curran and Seaton, Hesmondhalgh and Livingstone and Lunt to products, linking ownership, risk and regulation, and reaching the judgement, with the exam skills Components 1 and 2 reward.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
Have a quick question? Jump to the Q&A page
Jump to a section
What this dot point is asking
The Eduqas exams ask you to apply the media industries theories, often naming one. This is a skills dot point: how to choose among Curran and Seaton, Hesmondhalgh and Livingstone and Lunt, how they connect to one another, and how to reach the judgement that links ownership, risk and regulation. Industries is examined in Component 1 Section B and in depth across the forms in Component 2, so these skills are tested twice over.
The answer
Three theories, three questions
Mapping each theory to its question tells you instantly which to deploy in an answer.
Choosing the theory that fits
The first skill is selection:
- Ownership and variety point to Curran and Seaton.
- Risk and product strategy (franchises, stars, genres) point to Hesmondhalgh.
- Standards, control and freedom point to Livingstone and Lunt.
Applying to named industry detail
The second skill is application to named detail: the parent company, the funding model, the regulator, the specific distribution and circulation of the product. "This product's conglomerate owner uses synergy..." (Curran and Seaton); "its producers minimise risk through a franchise and a star..." (Hesmondhalgh); "Ofcom regulates it, balancing protection and freedom..." (Livingstone and Lunt). Generic statements about "the industry" score little. Confirm the current Eduqas set and in-depth products with your centre, since the prescribed lists are updated periodically.
The link and the judgement
The decisive skill is the link: the three theories connect.
- Ownership (Curran and Seaton) shapes the risk strategies a company can afford (Hesmondhalgh).
- Both operate inside a regulatory framework (Livingstone and Lunt).
- All three are reshaped by convergence and digital change and pushed back against by participation and public service.
A top answer connects all three and balances them against digital change, then judges.
Examples in context
A strong answer chooses the fitting theory, applies it to named industry detail, links ownership, risk and regulation, and judges against digital change.
Try this
Q1. Explain how Curran and Seaton's theory connects to Hesmondhalgh's. [5 marks]
- What the marker wants. Concentrated, profit-driven ownership (Curran and Seaton) shapes the risk-minimising strategies firms use (Hesmondhalgh), both narrowing variety (AO1 and AO2).
Q2. Apply Livingstone and Lunt's regulation theory to one product you have studied. [10 marks]
- Cue. Name the regulator, apply the protection-versus-freedom tension to the product, and note the difficulty of regulating it online and globally (AO2).
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of WJEC Eduqas exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Eduqas C1 202210 marksApply Hesmondhalgh's cultural industries theory to one of the media products you have studied. [10]Show worked answer →
A named-theory question (AO1 and AO2), marked by levels of response. The marker rewards accurate theory plus close application to the product's industry.
Method. State Hesmondhalgh (high-risk production, managed by integration, conglomeration and formatting, and by maximising audiences), then apply each strategy to the product's producers.
Develop. Name the specific strategies the product uses (franchise, star, genre, cross-platform release). The top band ties theory to named industry detail and notes the counter-pull of innovation.
Eduqas C2 202315 marksEvaluate the usefulness of theories of media industries in understanding the production and circulation of media. Refer to the in-depth products you have studied. [15]Show worked answer →
An extended response (AO1 and AO2), shown at 15 marks (Eduqas Component 2 questions range higher; this site caps practice items at 20), marked by levels of response.
For. Argue the three theories explain industry behaviour: Curran and Seaton on ownership and variety, Hesmondhalgh on risk, Livingstone and Lunt on regulation, applied to named products.
Against. Note their limits and tensions: digital participation, public service and independents complicate concentration; innovation complicates risk-minimisation; convergence complicates regulation. Judge by linking the three.
Related dot points
- Media industries: power and media industries (Curran and Seaton). The concentration of ownership in a few conglomerates, the pursuit of profit and power, the resulting narrowing of variety, and the case that diversity and alternative ownership widen creativity and democracy.
An Eduqas A-Level Media Studies guide to power and media industries (Curran and Seaton). Covers the concentration of ownership in a few conglomerates, the pursuit of profit and power, the narrowing of variety, and the case for diversity and alternative ownership, with the application skills the media industries questions reward.
- Media industries: cultural industries (David Hesmondhalgh). The high-risk, high-reward nature of cultural production, and the strategies firms use to minimise risk and maximise audiences: integration and conglomeration, formatting, stars, genres, franchises and the tension with creativity.
An Eduqas A-Level Media Studies guide to the cultural industries (David Hesmondhalgh). Covers the high-risk nature of cultural production, and how firms minimise risk and maximise audiences through integration, conglomeration and formatting with stars, genres and franchises, with the application skills the media industries questions reward.
- Media industries: regulation (Livingstone and Lunt). The role of regulators (Ofcom, IPSO, the BBFC, the ASA), the tension between protecting citizens and serving consumer choice and freedom of expression, and the difficulty of regulating globalised, converged media.
An Eduqas A-Level Media Studies guide to media regulation (Livingstone and Lunt). Covers the role of regulators (Ofcom, IPSO, the BBFC, the ASA), the tension between protecting citizens and serving consumer choice and freedom of expression, and the difficulty of regulating globalised, converged media, with the application skills the questions reward.
- Media industries: production, distribution and circulation. Vertical and horizontal integration, conglomerates and synergy, convergence and technological change, and the difference between commercial and public service funding models.
An Eduqas A-Level Media Studies guide to production, distribution and circulation. Covers vertical and horizontal integration, conglomerates and synergy, convergence and technological change, and commercial versus public service funding models, with the application skills the media industries questions reward across Components 1 and 2.
- Audiences: targeting, categorising and reaching audiences. Demographics and psychographics, mass and niche audiences, mode of address and positioning, and uses and gratifications (Blumler and Katz) as a model of the active audience.
An Eduqas A-Level Media Studies guide to targeting and categorising audiences. Covers demographics and psychographics, mass and niche audiences, mode of address and positioning, and Blumler and Katz's uses and gratifications, with the application skills the audiences questions reward.
Sources & how we know this
- Eduqas A Level Media Studies (A680QS) specification — Eduqas (WJEC) (2023)
- The Cultural Industries — David Hesmondhalgh (2018)