Mini Assignment 3

Understanding the media industries - structure and ownership of a media company

Task 1 – Researching the media company
Virgin media
How did the company get started?
Virgin first started in 1969 as a mail-order business, and shortly after this the first Virgin record store opened in 1971. The company then developed very quickly, which then started to diversify from retailing records to travel, soft drinks, Internet and financial services, mobile phones, television, bridal wear, clothing, and cosmetics. This is mostly what it is still like today except nowadays it seems to focus a lot more on the internet, mobile phones and television which is why that in 2006 the name changed from virgin to virgin media.
What media industries is the company involved in?
The media industries that virgin media focus the most on today are television, mobile phones and broadband for each of theses different areas they have three different names which are virgin broadband, virgin TV and virgin mobile this mostly just makes things a lot easier with the public.
Is the company involved in just media industries or other business too?
Virgin media is only involved in media industries hence the name “virgin media”. All though it is only involved in media, it still has loads to offer an example of this would be with the virgin TV, virgin TV has over 160 channels to view which is loads. The good thing about virgin media is that you don’t have to have all of these channels you can choose out of either 65, 100 or 160 channels which are available in three different groups which are the M+ package, the L package or the XL package. Another successful thing which virgin TV has to offer is that it has an on demand section which is a lot like the bbc iplayer. This is the same with the virgin mobile and virgin broadband; there are endless amounts of different packages that can suite everybody.
Who owns or heads up the company?
The major shareholder of virgin media is Richard Branson he is the one who started the whole thing off with the mail order business back when it was just called virgin. He owns an island known as “Necker Island” and also owns land on the Caribbean Islands of Antigua and Barbuda. He has a wife named Joan and two children Holly Branson born 1981 and Sam Branson born 1984.
What companies does he own?
The main companies that Richards Branson owns are virgin Broadband, virgin TV and virgin mobile. At the age 16, Richard had his first successful business venture, which was publishing a magazine called Student. In 1969, he set up an audio record mail-order business. Then In 1972, he opened a chain of record stores, Virgin Records, later known as virgin megastores from here he began to create other virgin products like for example virgin mobile which back then was just known as virgin phone, this is one of the areas of virgin which made him very rich because in July 2006 he sold his Virgin Mobile company to UK cable TV, broadband, and telephone company NTL/NTL:Telewest for almost £1 billion. He is still very successful these days as he is still continuously creating products for virgin etc.
What media products do they create?
The main media products that virgin media create come from two main areas of virgin which are virgin TV and virgin mobile. The main products that come from virgin TV are the cable boxes these are available in a lot of different designs two examples of these would be the basic box and the newer virgin+ box which only came out this year to compete with sky+. The main products that come from virgin mobile are obviously the mobiles, virgin mobile have a wide range of different styles of mobile phones for sale which can suite all needs.
How does the company make their money?
Virgin media make most of their money from advertising the reason for this is because they advertise in loads of places such as on bill boards on their website and on television. Most of the time they tend to advertise through adverts on the television because this is what people spend most of their time doing so millions of people per day see their adverts on television. The other way that they make their money is obviously by selling their products such as mobiles and there television packages.
Is the company horizontally or vertically integrated?
Virgin media is a horizontally integrated company the reason for this is because virgin media is merged with another firm which is in the same industry and in the same stage of production as the main firm, the reason being is because virgin media is split into different areas and they all work together sort of. Money from virgin mobile, virgin TV and virgin broadband all come together into virgin media this makes it a horizontally integrated company.
What is the size of the company?
The size of virgin media is a Major company the reason for this is because it is Multinational and that it has billions of customers worldwide and it is one of the biggest selling companies in the world. This is what makes it a Major company.
Is it a local, National or Global Company?
Virgin media is a Global company the reason for this is because global means the whole of the Globe and this is correct because virgin media has firms everywhere around the world and sell billions of products every single day.
Is the company publicly or privately owned?
Virgin media is privately owned by Richard Branson because he was the one who created virgin in the first place so he gets a lot of the credit for each thing that happens in virgin media because it is part of his company. This makes it a privately owned company.