Media industries set products: applying the industries framework to the Component 1 Section B forms (newspapers, radio, video games and the film industry), understanding their ownership, funding, production, distribution and regulation, and building an industry fact file on each set product.

What this dot point is asking

Component 1 Section B applies the media industries framework to a set of forms and products: newspapers, radio, video games and the film industry. This dot point covers how each of these industries works, in terms of ownership, funding, production, distribution and regulation, and how to build an industry fact file on each set product so you can answer questions on it. The set products change by series, so the skill is to apply the framework to whichever products Eduqas sets, confirmed by your centre.

The four Section B industries

Each industry has its own characteristics, and you should be able to apply the framework to all four:

• Newspapers. Often owned by large groups, funded by sales, advertising and increasingly online subscription and digital advertising, distributed in print and online, and regulated through the press complaints system. The set product is a specific newspaper studied across print and digital.
• Radio. Includes public service radio (the BBC, funded by the licence fee, with a remit) and commercial radio (funded by advertising), distributed over the air and online, and regulated by Ofcom. The set product is a specific radio programme.
• Video games. A large global industry, often funded by sales, in-game purchases and subscription, distributed through consoles, app stores and digital platforms, and rated by PEGI. The set product is a specific game.
• Film industry. Spans large studios and conglomerates, funded by box office, streaming and home release, distributed through cinema and streaming with heavy marketing, and classified by the BBFC. The set product is a specific film studied for industry and audience.

Building an industry fact file

For each set product, build a fact file that lets you answer any industry question.

• Ownership. Who owns and controls it (public service or commercial, independent or conglomerate).
• Funding. How it is funded (sales, advertising, subscription, the licence fee, public funding) and how this shapes it.
• Production and distribution. How it is made and how it reaches its audience across platforms.
• Regulation. Which regulator or system applies and how it shapes the product.
• Audience. Who it targets and how it reaches and addresses them.

The fact file is your insurance: whatever the question asks, you have the industry knowledge ready to apply.

Confirming the set products

Because the products change, the framework is what stays constant. Knowing how to read an industry, rather than memorising one product, is what protects you when the set list updates.

Worked example

How this is examined

These industries are examined in Component 1 Section B, with questions on ownership, funding, distribution, regulation and audiences, applied to the set products. The reliable approach is to build an industry fact file on each current set product and apply the framework precisely to whatever the question asks. Always confirm the current set products with your centre, because the list is updated by bulletin.

Try this

Q1. Explain how a set newspaper product funds itself and reaches its audience. [6 marks]

• What the marker wants. Funding (sales, advertising, online subscription and digital advertising) and distribution (print and online) linked to the named set product and its audience (AO2).

Q2. Explain which regulator applies to one of the industries you have studied and how it shapes the product. [5 marks]

• Cue. Name the correct regulator (Ofcom, PEGI, BBFC, the press complaints system) and explain its effect on the set product's content and access (AO2).