Media Management and Economics 2009 Abstracts
Media Management and Economics Division
Divestiture Restructuring in the Media Industries: A Financial Market Case Analysis • Alison Alexander, University of Georgia; James Owers, Georgia State University • Much attention has been paid to restructuring in the media industries. Most of this attention has been directed at mergers and acquisitions and the associated increase in industry concentration. What has been largely overlooked is the extent of restructuring that reduces the size of media firms – divestitures. This paper examines several cases of major media divestitures and calibrates the impact of these sell-off and spin-off restructuring events on the value of divesting firms.
Corporate Restructuring in the Media Industries: Mergers, Acquisitions and Divestitures • James Owers, Georgia State University; Alison Alexander, University of Georgia • There has been extensive restructuring in the media industries in recent times. Motivations for these restructurings vary. In some cases firms are seeking to become larger by acquisitions while other firms seek to reduce their size by divestitures. While there is discussion of the effects of restructuring on media concentration, one of the major goals of top management is to make publically traded firms worth as much as they can.
Dimensions of News Media Brand Personality • Tae Hyun Baek, University of Georgia; Jooyoung Kim, University of Georgia; Hugh J. Martin, University of Georgia • This study explores the structure of news media brand personality across multiple media outlets including television network news, newspapers, and news magazines. Through a series of rigorous exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis procedures with an initial set of 229 personality traits that were reduced to the final set of 48 items, we found five brand personality dimensions that can be applicable to news media: Trustworthiness, Dynamism, Sincerity, Sophistication, and Toughness.
TV Reporters Perceptions of Organizational Influences on News Content and Coverage Decisions • Rita Colistra, West Virginia University • This study examined reporter perceptions of organizational-level influence on news content based on an original data from a national Web-based survey of TV reporters. More specifically, this study asks how, how often, and under what conditions do organizational forces attempt to influence television media and their coverage, and to what effect are they successful at doing so? The project also attempts to develop the little-studied area of agenda cutting.
A Discriminant Analysis of High-Definition Television Owners and Non-owners • Michel Dupagne, University of Miami; Paul Driscoll, University of Miami • A national random telephone survey was conducted to profile high-definition television owners based on demographics, media use, interpersonal communication, social participation, cosmopoliteness, perceived innovation attributes of new communication technologies, and ownership of communication technologies. Three of the nine adoption hypotheses were supported. HDTV owners were found to be younger, perceive higher relative advantage, compatibility, observability, and resources of new communication technologies, perceive lower complexity of new communication technologies, and own more communication technologies than non-owners.
A Growth Sector in a Mature and Troubled Industry: U.S. Free Daily Newspapers and their Content • Peter Gade, University of Oklahoma; Christopher Krug, University of Oklahoma • This study describes the journalism content, design, advertising, in-paper marketing and interactive elements in 10 U.S. free daily newspapers. Results indicate the stories are short, with nearly as many briefs as stories. Sports, entertainment, culture and lifestyles get frequent coverage. Most content is national in scope and provided by wires. The advertising hole is surprisingly small, and advertisers are generally local enterprises.
Exploring the Influence of Strategic Entrepreneurship on Alliances in Web-based New Media Companies: A Case Analysis of Google and Yahoo • Fangfang Gao, University of Florida • This study conducted a case analysis of Google and Yahoo, the two prominent and representative Web-based new media companies that have expanded their business through series of alliances, exploring the influence of entrepreneurial mindset and strategic management of resources as the two important dimensions of strategic entrepreneurship (SE) on building alliances, gaining competitive advantages and achieving business success in new media companies. A new model of SE and alliance was proposed based on the findings.
The Determinants of Web Traffic in the Online News Industry: A Resource-based View • J. Sonia Huang, Department of Communication and Technology, National Chiao Tung University • The online news industry faces a fundamental challenge in whether it can produce enough quality content that generates revenue and profit at a level comparable to traditional media. This study operationally defines and tests the resource-based view of the firm in a national survey of the online news industry.
A Cross-Country Analysis of Fixed Broadband Deployment: Examination of Adoption Factors and Network Effect • Sangwon Lee, Jamestown College; Justin Brown, Winthrop University • Broadband infrastructure is a key component of the knowledge economy. Employing the largest secondary data set, this study examines adoption factors of fixed broadband. The result of nonlinear and linear regression analysis suggests local loop unbundling policy, platform completion between different broadband technologies and other diverse industry, ICT, and demographic factors influence fixed broadband diffusion. This empirical study also suggests that network effects and the effects of platform competition co-exist in many countries.
“Korean Wave”: the Structure and Issues of the Korean Online Game Industry •Eun-A Park, University of New Haven • Korean games are now under a new spotlight, expanding their markets from Asia to countries in Europe and the Americas and becoming a new engine for “Korean Wave” that refers to the influence of Korean cultural enterprises on foreign countries. South Korea has been a unique model in the world by achieving the rapid growth of broadband infrastructures and part of this success has been attributed to ever-flourishing demands for interactive entertainment network games.
Business, Managerial, and Market Challenges and their Effects on the Foundations of U.S. Broadcasting Policy • Robert Picard, Jonkoping International Business School • This paper argues that the origins of U.S. radio policy, and the reasons for the differences with European nations, were driven by general industrial development policies, by previous decisions involving communications industries, by national financial and economic conditions, and by business and geographic challenges. These factors combined to create a policy environment in which the interests of private enterprises became predominant in developing radio and radio policy.
Burnout in an Online World: Measuring the Effects of New Media Tasks on Journalists • Ramona Wheeler, Brigham Young University; Caroline Christiansen, Brigham Young University; Austin Cameron, Brigham Young University; Todd Hollingshead, Brigham Young University; Brad Rawlins, Brigham Young University • A national online survey was administered to a sample of journalists to learn more about how new media tasks are impacting their jobs and if they are contributing to workplace burnout. Findings indicate that journalists are suffering from moderate levels of exhaustion and cynicism while maintaining fairly high levels of professional efficacy. The perception of new media tasks adding to workload is a contributing factor to journalists’ burnout.
Kansas City Star newsroom layoff survivors aggressively cope with organizational change in an effort to maintain journalistic quality • Scott Reinardy, University of Kansas • In 15 months, the Kansas City Star newsroom has experienced five staff cuts that have reduced the newsroom from 290 to 149. Utilizing organizational development theory, this pilot study examined how Kansas City Star layoff survivors are coping with job security, organizational trust, organizational morale, job commitment and journalistic quality. Results indicate that the layoff survivors’ control coping strategies – a take charge, aggressive approach – is positively associated with organizational trust, morale and organizational commitment.
Examining the Effects of Board Structure of Media Companies on Their Performance: A Stakeholder Perspective • Guosong Shao, University of Alabama • In the stakeholder context, this paper examines the effects of board structure of media companies on their performance. Results show that both the level of board interlocks and the proportion of non-independent directors on the board are positively associated with the financial performance of media companies, as measured by return on assets and return on equities. Results also show that the adoption of staggered boards has a positive effect on return on assets in media companies.
Thinking about Stakeholders: Compensation Arrangements of Media Companies and Their Performance • Guosong Shao, University of Alabama • Nowadays media companies are closely tying executive and director compensation to firm performance. Through regression analyses of the relationship between compensation structure of media firms and their performance, however, this paper found that adopting fixed compensation for CEOs and directors led to better financial and organizational performance. This thus offers support for stakeholder theory which posits that the fixed compensation system, essentially stakeholder-oriented, can better enhance the value of the firm.
Not-For-Profit Journalism: Emerging Business Models • Dan Shaver, Jönköping International Business School/MMTC • The economic problems facing the newspaper industry have stimulated a great deal of interest and debate regarding whether not-for-profit news organizations can address the problem of shrinking local news coverage due to diminished newsroom resources in for-profit newsrooms. Based on an analysis of current non-profit news organizations, this study identifies three not-for-profit business models and evaluates their sustainability and suitability as sources of quality local news.
The demand dynamics of online video markets: Informational cascades in the viewership of online videos • Clarice Sim, Nanyang Technological University; Wayne Fu, Nanyang Technological University • Despite the popularity of online user-created videos on platforms like YouTube, little is known about the factors which influence users’ consumption decisions. The viewing of online videos is hypothesized to be influenced by word-of-mouth communication which triggers informational cascades. An empirical model is schemed and tested with data from the Internet Archive’s moving images section. Results confirm the presence of informational cascades and that its effect is a function of quality uncertainty associated with videos.
Converging Competitors?: Board Interlocks in the Changing Media Landscape • Charlene Simmons, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga • Today many media corporations are linked together through interlocking boards of directors. Are these interlocks legal, especially in an ever-converging media environment? This study of interlocks finds that over 40% of leading media corporations are interlocked with another leading media company. The majority of these interlocks are legal under current media conditions, but that may change as media formats converge. Additionally, the legality of two board interlocks is questioned and discussed.
Weaving a Web within the Web: Corporate Consolidation of the Web, 1999-2008 • Charlene Simmons, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga • This study examines Web site ownership trends over a period of ten years to determine what whether corporate consolidation has occurred among popular Web properties. The study finds that the number of companies controlling the Web has decreased, while the number of properties operated by these companies has increased. Additionally, traditional media corporations have consolidated their influence over the Web through the acquisition of a number of popular Web properties.
Aligning media organizations with environmental changes: The role of strategic action as a managerial competency in South Africa’s mainstream media newsrooms • Elanie Steyn, Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Oklahoma; Derik Steyn, School Business • This paper outlines dimensions of strategic action as a managerial competency in South Africa’s mainstream media. It highlights differences on the importance and implementation of this competency, given media management transformation in a post-apartheid society. Moderately and practically significant effect sizes were calculated between reporters’ and first-line managers’ experiences on all dimensions of this competency. Results emphasized the need to improve first-line news managers’ strategic action skills to better align media organizations with societal changes.
Has Media Convergence Impacted the Merger and Acquisition Activity of Large Media Companies? • Dan Sullivan, University of Minnesota; Yuening Jiang, University of Minnesota • This study develops an analytical framework which helps explain how media convergence can lead changes in ownership decisions. It then uses empirical studies to examine trends in the evolution of media ownership with regards to media convergence and what impact, if any, the Internet and media convergence have had on M&A activity. The study finds that how a firm conceptualizes the Internet relative to its existing business has a significant impact on M&A activity.
Who Competes with Online Newspapers? An Empirical Analysis of Intra- and Inter-media Competition in Local and Long-distance Markets • Mengchieh Jacie Yang, University of Texas at Austin; Iris Chyi, University of Texas at Austin • Applying a media economics framework and based on the dual-geographic market definition, this study employed empirical data collected from users of 28 U.S. newspaper sites to explore the competitive relationships between online newspapers and other offline/online news sources. The results show that in both local and long-distance markets, online newspapers compete with portal news sites and print newspapers.
Measuring attention on the web: a model of attention dimensions of news and information sites • Nan Zheng, University of Texas at Austin • This study proposes a model for measuring attention on the web on three dimensions: popularity (unique audience), frequency (sessions per person), and length (time spent per person). An empirical analysis of news and information Web site traffic reports examines specifically how different attention dimensions relate to one another and what distinct attention patterns characterize different types of websites.
Print friendly
