Media Competition and Coexistence: The Theory of the Niche

This volume addresses competition and coexistence within and among media organizations and industries. The work is situated in the field of media economics and management and the central question underlying the theory and data presented is: how is it that media firms, as well as entire industries exist and persist over time despite what often seems to be intense competition for resources, such as audiences and advertisers? The question is answered using a bioecological theory - the theory of the niche - to explain competitive processes. Despite the focus on the niche theory, the book does not eschew traditional economics and each chapter incorporates relevant economic constructs into the analytic framework. This ranges from the use of the notion of economics of scale to explain selection and firm mortality in newspapers and movie theatres, to the use of concept as transaction costs to explicate the rise of advertising agencies, to employing the concept of strategic group in analyzing the niche breadth strategy, to the measurement of gratifications-utilities. This book offers insights for scholars and practitioners in media economics, management and business.