한,일 양국의 사회정보화 현황과 과제 ; 거래비용의 측면에서 본 텔레비전 프로그램의 제작 시스템

Abstract

In the television indusuy, regardless of the type of signal distribution technology, a main product transacted among the market participants (such as program suppliers, distributors, and audience/consumers), is the program. Consumers buy television service not because of the delivery mechanism, whether it be an over-the-air television, cable television, or a Direct Broadcast Satellite, but because of the programs. Producers make actual programs, and programming networks or syndicators buy and distribute them. As buyers and sellers of the programs, both parties interact with each other to get the most out of the transaction and during the process they influence what lund of programs are produced and under what arrangements they are produced. The range and nature of the programs that are available to the audience are affected by such transaction arrangements. Owen, Beebe, and Manning (1974) mentioned that "it is quixotic to hope to improve the performance of this or any other industry without first understanding the economic motivations of the people who participate in it" (p.3) Understanding the actual production process is essential in order for policy makers to devise plans to strengthen the program production sector of the television industry. Scholars have paid comparatively little attention to the actual production process, the way in which the message is created, and its organization. Researchers of media economics have a tendency to overlook the software-side that makes up the mass media. How the transactions between producers and distributors are organized, under what kind of arrangements, is the subject this paper addresses. Considering that the transaction arrangement affects the creative environment from which programs of certain kinds tend to emerge, the subject is important in understanding the economics of television programs.