ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the organizational structure and explores the functions of those industries, which will help readers to understand the individual technologies. It is a common practice for some companies to be involved in both production and distribution, a large number of companies choose to focus on one or the other. The emergence of digital broadcasting provides excellent illustrations of the complexity of the organizational structure of media industries. It is easier for a technology to "take off" and begin diffusing if a single company provides a number of different functions, perhaps combining production and distribution, or providing both national and local distribution. Most companies that would like to grow are more interested in applying their core competencies by buying up competitors and commanding a greater market share, a process known as “horizontal integration.”
