ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION This book is an effort to understand how the media industries interact and interplay with one another and how they in uence economic activity at different levels of society. In this sense, you may be wondering about the title of this book, and why it isn’t called “media economics” or some variation of that name. The reason is the media economy is a much broader and more complicated topic. The title The Media Economy re ects the importance of the media as part of the economics of a nation, and the globe. The study of the media economy needs to be approached from a holistic view. Historically, media economics has been examined using singular viewpoints-such as focusing on a particular media industry, or speci c practices like nancing, or a particular country, like the United States or the United Kingdom. Yet, because of globalization, regulatory reform, social changes, and technology, the study of media economics demands a wider viewpoint. Media economics must be examined across a broader spectrum of inquiry, as it cuts across numerous areas and levels of activity-hence the idea of a media economy.
