ABSTRACT
Media management stands apart as a distinct subfield of management for two primary reasons. The first is that, from an economic standpoint, the products produced by media firms are quite distinct from the products produced by firms in other industries. Media firms produce content for distribution to audiences and audiences for distribution to advertisers (Napoli, 2003a). Both of these products-content and audiences-have a number of distinctive economic characteristics that effectively differentiate the media industries fromother industries in theUnited States and global economies (seeHamilton, 2004; Owen & Wildman, 1992). Consequently, managers operating in the content and audience markets require specialized training and a specialized understanding of the unique dynamics of the marketplaces in which they are operating in order to make effective strategic and managerial decisions (Herrick, 2004; Napoli, 2003b).
