Managing Media Content: Business Strategies and Practices - An Application Study on Content and Scheduling Formation
be homogeneous. Clearly, as it is discussed further down in this thesis, as well as in the conclusions, the correlation between programming strategies and content diversity is a particularly useful tool, since the programmers and policy makers can better understand the way diversity degree is formed under the light of competitiveness strategies. The structural theory of television programming suggests that the programming strategy of each channel should aim at maximising audience size and, consequently, advertising profits (Eastman and Ferguson, 1992). According to this logic, television channels provide types of programmes that gain the highest possible television audience share figures, leading to a homogeneous result. In a relevant research study, Gal-Or and Dukes (2003) use a model to prove that media companies have no disincentive to reduce the homogeneity of their television programmes. Dukes and Gal-Or (2003) consider media firm decisions about the differentiation of programming content and the amount of advertising, respectively. According to the authors, when television stations differentiate products that they provide least of all, producers use less advertising for this product, resulting in less informed consumers and higher profit margins. In other words, when television channels launch homogeneous programmes, they do not advertise them in a way that turns viewers off. Thus, they increase the opportunities for high viewing figures and sell their advertising space more expensively, “muddying the waters” for the viewers and advertisers and, simultaneously, trying to find a way to keep up with the competitive environment of the media. The model of Gal-Or and Dukes is based on an empirical research study between two channels – called “stations” –, two
Research Institute of Applied Communication
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