University of East London, School of Arts & Digital Industries, Docklands Campus, University Way, London E16 2RD

CROSS-MEDIA PROMOTION IN UK MEDIAJonathan Hardy, Edward Yeadon

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:To asses on the prominence of cross media promotion in the UK media by looking at a range of media platforms from press, advertisement, television and on-line. The analysis of these platforms will generate original and much needed data for public policy and academic study.

INTRODUCTION:The way in which media companies cross-promote their other media interests has become a topical and important issue. This issue was only heightened further with the proposed full take-over of BSkyB by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, accelerating debate on whether the company would increase its market dominance. Academics, regulators and the general public have become increasingly concerned with the way corporate synergies use their media platforms as places for company self interest. There is a current lack of research into the practices of this corporate cross-promotion. In order to undertake this research my role was to use content analysis to find the data.

METHODOLOGY:The method of the project was to record the space devoted by corporations into self-promotion and cross-promotion. This involved the process of content analysis of various media output.. The use of content analysis enable us to identify how corporations cross and self promote allied media interests.

RESEARCH:

Editorial: Editorial involved the study of designated space inside the paper. Space that is used to promote company interests Two particular events that featured regularly in editorial content within News International papers during June, were the pay-per-view boxing match between Haye v Klitschko, broadcast live on Sky Box Office, and The Sun featured cast interviews on the X Men First Class film (20th Century Fox) .

Advertising:News International papers carried extensive advertising for Sky subscriptions and channels, with an average of 2 pages per issue in The Sun.

Newspapers carried advertisements for future issues, sister publications, online services and (for Times newspapers) subscriptions.

Television Listings:All of News International papers carried more Sky channels than their competitors. Also New International papers predominantly carried more satellite channels in their television listings, except for The Times which carried a total of 21 channels compared to 25 channels carried by The Telegraph.

Table showing coded data on advertisements on Sky 1 in June 2011

CONCLUSIONS & EXPERIENCEThis research project has been a highly valuable and important experience. The work we produced created some vital data to continue the debate and issues surrounding cross media promotion. Throughout this internship our goal was to gain enough information and evidence surrounding Rupert Murdoch and his UK media interest, for Jonathan Hardy’s chapter in the Routledge Companion to Advertising and Promotional Culture, edited by Matthew McAllister and Emily West. The research was to represent the way in which media cross-promotion is still a subject that needs further discussion between academics, regulators and the general public, as it is an issue that affects us all.

My overall experience of this project has been very positive. Working on a issue like cross-media promotion has shown me the importance of academic research. Being involved in this project has provided me with new skills and fresh knowledge into the practices of some of the UK’s biggest media companies. Finally I have taken great pleasure in working so closely with my supervisor, whose work throughout this project has been so important in raising the issue of cross-media promotion.

Free Press edition 183

PublicationNo. of channels carried

Times 21

Telegraph 25

Times (Saturday) 43

Telegraph (Saturday)

38

Sunday Times 41

Sunday Telegraph 21

The Sun 50

Daily Mirror 37

The Sun (TV Magazine)

70

Daily Mirror (The Look)

40

Table showing TV listings analysis in June 2011

Television Advertising Analysis:The main channels covered were Sky One, Sky News, Channel 5 and ITV 1. Analysing the adverts during and at the end of programmes at peak viewing time 18.00 to 21.05 . Sky One on average carried 319 seconds of self or cross-promoted adverts per hour. Sky news carried no self-promotions outside programming time, however did average 138 seconds of corporate cross-promotion. In contrast to Sky One, ITV 1 carried an average of 127 seconds per hour of self-promotion which included only 20 seconds of cross-promotion.

The research for this project was to develop a clearer picture into how companies promote their allied agreement interests