Mobile Phones

Mobile phones were introduced in Japan in 1979 but became a mass media only in 1998 when the first downloadable ringing tones were introduced in Finland. Soon most forms of media content were introduced on mobile phones, tablets and other portable devices, and today the total value of media consumed on mobile vastly exceeds that of internet content, and was worth over 31 billion dollars in 2007 (source Informa). The mobile media content includes over 8 billion dollars worth of mobile music (ringing tones, ringback tones, truetones, MP3 files, karaoke, music videos, music streaming services etc.); over 5 billion dollars worth of mobile gaming; and various news, entertainment and advertising services. In Japan mobile phone books are so popular that five of the ten best-selling printed books were originally released as mobile phone books.

Similar to the internet, mobile is also an interactive media, but has far wider reach, with 3.3 billion mobile phone users at the end of 2007 to 1.3 billion internet users (source ITU). Like email on the internet, the top application on mobile is also a personal messaging service, but SMS text messaging is used by over 2.4 billion people. Practically all internet services and applications exist or have similar cousins on mobile, from search to multiplayer games to virtual worlds to blogs. Mobile has several unique benefits which many mobile media pundits claim make mobile a more powerful media than either TV or the internet, starting with mobile being permanently carried and always connected. Mobile has the best audience accuracy and is the only mass media with a built-in payment channel available to every user without any credit cards or PayPal accounts or even an age limit. Mobile is often called the 7th Mass Medium and either the fourth screen (if counting cinema, TV and PC screens) or the third screen (counting only TV and PC).

Mobile phones are a source of mass media for all companies and firms to advertise and sell their good s and services. In todays world mobile phones are owned by almost everyone and used more than regularly to get in touch, entertainment and also work. Most of todays generation uses smart phones like Iphones and Samsung Galaxy, this benefits companies and firms to advertise and sell goods and services and increase their sales. Many large companies advertise their products on phones via text messages, phone calls, alerts, emails (received on mobiles) and now days via applications. Some companies like Dominoes has its own mobile application through which you can make your own pizza with your own toppings and get it delivered to your house in less than an hour. Some car companies like Chevrolet has its own application in which it shows details of the owners car, mileage and when the cars next servicing is.

Differing from the internet, mobile as the 7th mass media channel is similar to the five legacy mass media, economically viable with a stable business model from day one. Yet, differing from the legacy mass media, all of which are witnessing a decline in their audiences and revenues, mobile like the internet, is an interactive media enabling it to fully capitalize on social networking and digital communities.
But more importantly from a media audience point-of-view, there already are over twice as many mobile phones worldwide as there are personal computers, nearly twice as many mobiles as TV sets. The only mass media that is carried upon the owner at all times, mobile is also the first mass media where near 100% accuracy is feasible on measuring the audience.
In todays world most of the companies use phones as a large medium of advertising because it has a large target audience and its connectivity is also good. Firms use this form of mass media as it is cheaper than billboards or advertising on the television, the reach of mobile phones is larger as the users are very high in numbers.

Transition In TV Shows

A television program (television programme in the United Kingdom), also called television show, is a segment of content intended for broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series.

A television series that is intended to comprise a limited number of episodes is usually called a miniseries or serial. Series without a fixed length are usually divided into seasons orseries, yearly or semiannual installments of new episodes. While there is no defined length, US industry practice tends to favor longer seasons than those of some other countries

The 2 TV shows that I am going to compare in this blog are "That 70's Show" and "The Big Bang Theory"

This show was a comedy show with a good story line and seasons which starred 6 different individuals who studied together, just like in the TV show "The big bang theory." These 2 shows have a similar story line but they are completely different in context with values, technology and culture. In the 70's show the shoots were mainly in the classroom where the focus was mostly related to work and how they studied and learnt, there was no corrupt talks, like drugs or alcohol. But coming to the later show, they would have more jokes in the dialogues and would also talk about work, relationships and also sex at times. This is only because of the audience that watches these shows and the transformation of these viewers over the years. The Indian from the older show would be conservative and clean, but Raj for Big Bang would be more modern and frank. The party culture is not shown in the olden show but in Big Bang there are episodes and scenes of parties.



In the last few years, the things that have changed the most are technology. The equipment is more professional for sound, video and also editing. The olden shows could be seen only on cable television with a decent resolution, but todays shows can be seen on your phone, iPad, internet and also your television in HD. In the previous shows there would be only 1 or 2 sets and backgrounds as it would be difficult to shoot in public areas and also expensive, but in the Big Bang there would be shots in various locations, even if not in reality they would use technology to actually create a real background. Technology plays an important role in movies and television shows for editing, advertisements and also shooting. With the modern technology we have in todays world, TV shows like Big Bang use it for animation, color effects and sometimes also the 3D effect. But with the older TV shows you wouldn't find these great effects and features. The older shows back in the 90's had about 3-4 seasons but the modern shows go up to 10-12 seasons with a great storyline and also a good cast. Todays shows have a better introduction and a catchy tune to go with it along with famous dialogues. There has been a change in the TV Shows in the sense of production, development and exhibition. The methods of promotions and the channels used to get the media to its audience.


The Big Bang Song

Avatar

Plot
Avatar is a 2009 American epic science fiction action film written and directed by James Cameron, and starring Sam Worthington,Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Joel David Moore, Giovanni Ribisi, and Sigourney Weaver. The film is set in the mid-22nd century, when humans are mining a precious mineral called unobtanium on Pandora, a lush habitable moon of a gas giant in theAlpha Centauri star system. The expansion of the mining colony threatens the continued existence of a local tribe of Na'vi – ahumanoid species indigenous to Pandora. The film's title refers to a genetically engineered Na'vi body with the mind of a remotely located human, and is used to interact with the natives of Pandora.



Cast
Sam Worthington
Stephen Lang
Sigourney Weaver
Michelle Rodriguez
Dileep Rao
Joel David Moore


Contribution To The Film Industry

Avatar was officially budgeted at $237 million. Other estimates put the cost between $280 million and $310 million for production and at $150 million for promotion.The film made extensive use of cutting edge motion capture filming techniques, and was released for traditional viewing, 3D viewing (using the RealD 3D, Dolby 3D, XpanD 3D, and IMAX 3D formats), and for "4D" experiences in select South Korean theaters. The stereoscopic filmmaking was touted as a breakthrough in cinematic technology. Avatar has contributed to the film industry in many ways from the production of the movie to how they marketed in and the income it generated. Avatar made great progress in the film industry in the field of visual effects, Innovations include a new system for lighting massive areas like Pandora's jungle, a motion-capture stage or "volume" six times larger than any previously used, and an improved method of capturing facial expressions, enabling full performance capture. To achieve the face capturing, actors wore individually made skull caps fitted with a tiny camera positioned in front of the actors' faces; the information collected about their facial expressions and eyes is then transmitted to computers.During filming, Cameron made use of his virtual camera system, a new way of directing motion-capture filmmaking. The system shows the actors' virtual counterparts in their digital
surroundings in real time, allowing the director to adjust and direct scenes just as if shooting live action. He also promoted the Avatar in as many ways as possible like collaborating with Coco Cola, the books, video games, action figures, postage stamps and also theme parks and attractions. It also set a record in many fields and used 4D in the best way possible. Avatar also broke one of hollywoods greatest movies record, The Titanic, by making more money in the box office. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 83% of 291 professional critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 7.4 out of 10. The site's consensus is that "It might be more impressive on a technical level than as a piece of storytelling, but Avatar reaffirms James Cameron's singular gift for imaginative, absorbing filmmaking. On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 reviews from film critics, the film has a "universal acclaim" rating score of 83 based on 35 reviews. CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend revealed the average grade cinemagoers gave Avatar was A on an A+ to F scale.

Avatar, the film will be considered one of the greatest movies after 15-20 years because of all the contributions and new methods it has brought to the film industry. This movie will be recieved and considered as one of those movies which has revolutionized animated movies and how they were made. It will be considered as a classic after 20 or more years. It will be the first kind of movie with such a theme and such a big movie budget. It will be very hard to beat the records set by this movie.

Billboards

A billboard (sometimes also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor structure (a billing board), typically found in high traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertisements to passing pedestrians and drivers. Typically showing large, ostensibly witty slogans, and distinctive visuals, billboards are highly visible in the top designated market areas. Bulletins are the largest standard-size billboards. Located primarily on major highways, expressways or principal arterials, they command high-density consumer exposure (mostly to vehicular traffic). Bulletins afford greatest visibility due not only to their size, but because they allow creative "customizing" through extensions and embellishments.

Billboard advertisements are designed to catch a person's attention and create a memorable impression very quickly, leaving the reader thinking about the advertisement after they have driven past it. They have to be readable in a very short time because they are usually read while being passed at high speeds. Thus there are usually only a few words, in large print, and a humorous or arresting image in brilliant color.

Outdoor media is a form of mass media which comprises billboards, signs, placards placed inside and outside of commercial buildings/objects like shops/buses, flying billboards (signs in tow of airplanes), blimps, and skywriting. Many commercial advertisers use this form of mass media when advertising in sports stadiums. Tobacco and alcohol manufacturers used billboards and other outdoor media extensively. However, in 1998, the Master Settlement Agreement between the US and the tobacco industries prohibited the billboard advertising of cigarettes. In a 1994 Chicago-based study, Diana Hackbarth and her colleagues revealed how tobacco- and alcohol-based billboards were concentrated in poor neighborhoods In other urban centers, alcohol and tobacco billboards were much more concentrated in African-American neighborhoods than in white neighborhoods.


A billboard is usually rented out a company for a month or two to advertise a particular good or service. It is also a form of mass media and mass communication as the product is advertised visually to a large heterogeneous audience who may or may-not have a feedback. Billboards have been used as a source of mass communication by many companies all over the world to increase their sales and target market and customers.


Developers have now introduced Digital Billboards.

The Radio

Radio is the wireless transmission of signals through free by electromagnetic radiation of a frequency significantly below that of visible light, in the radio frequency range, from about 30 kHz to 300 GHz. These waves are called radio waves. Electromagnetic radiation travels by the means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through air and vacuum of space.

The key developments during the 1920's that helped shape modern radio were the starting of the first radio, the station KDKA, which was signed on in 1920 and is still on air, making it the country's oldest radio station. Since the KDCA was a big success, AT&T, GE and also RCA along with other private organizations, started radio stations like a new business. During the 19th century, radio listening and tuning became a national craze. By this discovery, companies realized that audience for the radio existed, making it a foreseeable future. In the year 1926 set manufacturers improved their product and made new fashionable radios which was like a fashionable piece of furniture. Between 1925 and 1930, 17 million radio sets were sold, which made this a form of mass media and communication. During these years the radio commercialized so that the radio companies could make a larger profit through advertisements. In 1922 the Queensboro Realty Company paid 300$ for five radio talks that spoke and benefited the living of the country. During these years of the 1920's the radio had made a mark in the mass communication world. Advertisers were spending nearly 27 million dollars a year on network radio. During these years there was the birth of the commercial radio and better receivers were made for sound quality. The Radio Act of 1927 was set up by the FRC to clean up all the chaos and corruption by standardizing channels, abolished portable stations and moved to minimum interference. By the end of the 1920's the framework for modern radio was in place.

If the radio was developed during the depression years of the 1930's instead of the roaring twenties then we wouldn't have the various options of radio like the HD or the internet radio. During the digital age radio stations set up websites to stream the audio through the internet from the actual radio station, something like Pandora. There are thousands of internet radio stations for all genres from house to rock or even classic. The HD radio wasn't a hit as it simply just offers the same sound with better quality. One of the latest development was the mobile radio, just recently with the apple software update of IOs came the Itunes Radio for the Apple users only, providing them with a variety of great podcasts and radio stations. In todays world, radio stations are using social media like Facebook and Twitter to increase their audience and becoming more popular and successful. They have pages that people follow or hashtag's that people popularize, just to increase the publicity of their station. If the radio was developed during the depression years, we wouldn't have these various features or improvements, that we have in todays radio sets. In the roaring twenties we got the Ipod and Iphones which would let us listen to the radio through these devices. If the radio was developed during the depression years, we wouldn't have such great technological advancements, but the radio did well during the World War II and the number of dollars spent on advertisements doubled in 5 years. But with the emergence of the television, the fortunes of the radio was affected and it was apparent that the television would take over  the mass entertainment.

The Newspaper

A newspaper is a periodical publication containing news regarding current events, informative articles, diverse features, editorials and advertising. It is usually printed on relatively inexpensive low grade paper such as newsprint. A wide variety of material has been published in newspaper, including editorial opinions, criticism, entertainment features such as crossword and sudoku.

In ancient Rome, Acta Diurna, or government announcement bulletins, were produced. They were carved in metal or stone and posted in public places. One of the specific times from the history of the newspaper that intrigued me was during the industrial revolution. By the early 19th century, many cities in Europe as well as North and South America, published newspaper type publications though not all of them developed in the same way, content was vastly shaped by regional and cultural preferences.

Advances in printing technology related to the industrial revolution enabled newspapers to become an even more widely circulated means of communication. The Times London acquired printing presses capable of making 1100 impressions per minute. It was an important time in the history of the newspaper because during this time more the masses could access it and during this time period of the industrial revolution double sided printed started for news papers, because of this double sided printing more information could be released and also more advertisements could be shown to the general public. During the industrial revolution, the newspaper was an important invention as during this time, many countries economies boomed and the middle class started earning more and information had to be spread across various cities and towns to spread messages and to inform them about whats going on where. During the industrial revolution, many inventions were made, but the one that stood out and made a huge difference to the masses was the newspaper. During this time of the newspaper history they started publishing news papers on Saturday and Sunday. Because of this, the masses can now be alert and aware of all the news all around their area or world. 
                   

                                                                                                                          

The next big thing in the newspaper industry is getting the newspaper and news directly to your phone or tablet, watching live news or hearing the news on your phone instead of sitting in front of the television. News can be reached to the general public through social media like Facebook and Twitter, On Facebook, newspapers and news channels have pages through which they broadcast their live news and breaking news, this can be reached to all those users on Facebook, therefore increasing their users. In todays generation people use Twitter as a source of news, through the trending hashtags, news can be known to the general public, for example if you type #syria on twitter, all news related to Syria will come up and all the news and related websites will show up, giving the user more options and websites. Because of all the technological advancements in the newspaper field, the general public can get to know about the latest breaking news in seconds using various sources like the internet, Iphone applications, virtual newspapers and live television on your laptop or Ipad. This is very beneficial for the general public as they can watch live news and find out about the latest things happening in any corner of the world while sitting in their car or office. With the younger generation moving from paper and pencil to tablets and laptops it would also encourage them to know about the live news. This change revolutionizes the whole meaning of newspaper and how it is reached to us with the latest news all around the world.

History Of Newspaper

Mass Media

Social Media

Each and every day globalization becomes ever more prominent, the role of media and advertising also increases. Important for the large multinational companies that can take best advantage of globalization include the even larger "market" to which they sell their products and services. Ideally then, attitudes and consumption habits need to be similar for best effect. As a result many media companies promote and project a more aligned culture that will cross these boundaries but also allow easier consumption of their products, this can be done by using the new and improved techniques of mass media.

New media and communication technologies enable advertisers to reach select group of consumers with selective media. Marketers now search for and implement media and marketing plans aimed at special selective market. One of the current trends in mass media is the social media. Social media refers to the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, and exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks^.  Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content." Furthermore, social media depends on mobile and web-based technologies to create highly interactive platforms through which individuals and communities share, co-create, discuss, and modify user-generated content. It introduces substantial and pervasive changes to communication between organizations, communities, and individuals. - Wikipedia.

In today’s world, social media is something that everyone around the planet has access to and uses it on a daily basis. Social change also hastened the transition. Consumers become accustomed to receiving their entertainment for free. Transition from passive media exposure was replaced by active participation into new social media.  Some of the famous social media are Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The areas of mass communication, social media, has touched are advertising and public relationship. Advertising has been affected, as now multinational companies can advertise their products to their target audience at a cheaper price, but the audience will be bigger. Social media fosters relationships and collaborations. Social media is a boon for professionals willing to connect with others from the same industry or the similar interests. Through social media businesses and individuals can build their network of friends and contacts. Their sales and profits will increase and also they can improve their brand name and brand image. Through social media, advertising has improved for companies, even smaller start ups that can advertise their products at a cheaper price, but can be seen by all people. Public Relations are when the business organization has a two-way communication with its target market, which through social media becomes easier. Public relationships with its customers improve as they can send out questionnaires and improve on those places where they are weak. Now multinational companies use the internet as a source of feedback and also use a panel of consumers to generate their data. Social media helps participate, converse, share, collaborate and link up.

The areas of mass communications that has not been affected with these current trends of social media are broadcasting. Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio or visual mass communications medium, but usually one using electromagnetic radiation (radio waves). The receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset thereof. Broadcasting has been used for purposes of private recreation, non-commercial exchange of messages and emergency communication such as radio and amateur television (ATV) in addition to commercial purposes like popular radio or TV stations with advertisements. Social media cannot help in broadcasting. News channels and televisions are some of the sources of media that fit to broadcast, as to broadcast some media you need audio and video playing at the same time and therefore television is most suitable for broadcasting and not social media. As they reach and cater a large audience as television sets are in every home and are easily accessible. Businesses are turing to social media to market their products and increase their sales These trends are positive as they cater to a large audience and fulfill the needs of communication and media and transferring messages to the target audience. It is positive and beneficial for companies as it is a cheap source of media, with a large audience. But with these positive aspects come a few negative ones too like cyber bullying, no censorship, privacy concerns, information overload and also lack of gatekeepers, who decide what information can be seen by the public and what cant be seen. But on the large scale social media had more positive effects and features than negative features.

Youtube Video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC2zfQ9Rb1s