ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the fundamental role of media in economies. Media play multiple roles, including the provision of information which is vital to the efficient functioning of markets and political systems. The chapter includes a literature review describing the existing state of the media economics literature. Topics covered include the fundamental economic role of media, two-sided markets, the production and consumption of media, disintermediation of media, regulation, and the law and economics of media. For each of these topics the chapter reviews the potential impact of the Internet on traditional results in the media economics literature. The chapter concludes with a summary of overall trends in media.
