ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines how knowledge of some key ideas and concepts from the subject of economics can assist our understanding of the media industries. It begins by providing some brief background on the subject of economics and the implicit value placed on competitive markets within mainstream economic theory. The second section of the chapter then details some of the most important underlying economic characteristics of media products (e.g. semi-public goods). This leads on to the final part of the chapter, which analyses how these economic characteristics shape both the behaviour of individual media organisations and the structure of the media industries as a whole, including concentration of ownership.
