Fiducia TogetherMedia industries
Who makes media products, who owns them, and how they make money.
Please note: This page explains a word or a process in education. It is general information about the system, the law and the guidance in England — not advice about your child, your school or your exam. If a decision is going against you, get advice from one of the free services we link to before you agree to anything or miss a deadline. If you are revising, check your own exam board's specification: boards word things differently and yours is the one that marks you.
What it is
The industry framework covers ownership, funding models, production, distribution, regulation and the effect of digital technology.
Where it applies
GCSE and A Level media studies.
How it works
Ownership shapes content: conglomerates, vertical and horizontal integration, and public service broadcasting operate under different pressures. Funding models — advertising, subscription, licence fee, sponsorship — pull content in different directions.
Regulation differs by medium and by country.
How to use it in your work
Connect industry to text. "Funded by advertising, so it needs a large audience, so the content avoids the divisive" is the kind of chain that scores.
Use your set products' actual ownership and funding, with names.
Where to get help
Your teacher and your board's assessment criteria — these subjects are marked against four or five stated objectives, and reading them is the single most useful hour you can spend.
Revise this with a song
These are ours. We write revision songs because a lot of people remember a tune when they cannot remember a page, and because revising out loud in the kitchen beats staring at a highlighter.
- The Media Studies Song The GCSE media studies topics, set to music.
Where to read more
Last reviewed 2026-08-28 by Fiducia Together · Next review due 2027-08-28
Please note: This page explains a word or a process in education. It is general information about the system, the law and the guidance in England — not advice about your child, your school or your exam. If a decision is going against you, get advice from one of the free services we link to before you agree to anything or miss a deadline. If you are revising, check your own exam board's specification: boards word things differently and yours is the one that marks you.