Media DLC

[Kristo]

Hi,

(i'll add a poll later)

This is a topic about everything i/we may want to be in a possible Media DLC, that will look to expand the media sector in-game. Please share your thoughts about it, your ideas too, previous topics on this issue if available.

Here's my ideas:

--- Adding "Magazine" as possible media firm, which will work as newspaper, only it can be distributed periodically (with the player selecting the period)

--- Dividing "Television" in 2 - Cable and Broadcast (we can call it here National or Local).
The cable one will be more expensive, but more likeble, as there'll be no advertising in it. The income model will be subscription. The upkeep will be higher, but so the profits.

Broadcast will be the same as now - people won't pay for it, instead advetisement will be its income model.
Possibility here is for "cable television" to offer not only it's own tv chanel, but a "bundle" of chanels of other tv stations. The player should make this bundle, first - by selecting its own networks, negotiating deals with not-owned network to "carry" their chanels in his bundle, and then - offering this product to possible clients. Basically - a subscription package with some networks in it. The deals to carry not-owned networks may be based on % of revenue or % of profit by subscribers.

Here's an example:
I play with "Kristo Media Group" in London. There are 10 tv networks - 5 cable, 5 broadcast. I make a new, 11th tv network "Kristo Cable Network" - KCN. Instead of investing in my own content, i make deals with 6 of the others, to carry their chanels as 6 chanels of my network, offering this to the clients. I offer each of the 6 networks a solid 5% of KCN revenue plus $1,000,000 signing bonus plus additional $100,000 for each rating-point of each network above 40.00 at the end of each year. Contracts are signed for 10 years. Now in my mind this is better option than to create and invest in my own content.
Of course - the "cable television" and "packages" may be put in the same firm - Cable Television, or in two - Cable Television and Subscription Network. It's up to you really.

--- Chanels:
each tv station, regardless if cable or not, will have a option to add up to 3 chanels in the tv station firm menu. Each chanel will have its own rating, upkeep and quality. You'll have the option to either make all tv station chanels independent of each other (meaning different focus, wider audience, advertisers using different chanels for different producs) or have one "main chanel" and 1 or 2 secondary ones (meaning more control in a single demographic, more focussed advertisers, etc). Subscription Networks, if not included in Cable TV, may have up to 10 chanels.

--- Focus:
each media firm will be free to choose a "focus" (with some limitations of course), and each "chanel" in Tv also can have its own focus. Depending of this, each media will attract different audience, thus - different advertisers. Focusses will be "News", "Scientific", "Lifestyle", "Films/Original content", "Sports", "Music", "Reality", "Special interests", "Economy/Finance", "Cooking", "Weather" and so on. Of course not every focus will be available for every type of media. Some medias may have a unique type of focus ("Video games" for magazines, "Tabloid" for magazines and newspapers etc). Also - not choosing a focus will make the firm "mixed focus" which will have its good and bad sides. Focus will be used in:

--- Content creation a.k.a Media R'n'D.
Basically - a new firm that will be part RnD, part factory - Production Firm. It will have 9 units as usual, but in there it will develop different entertainment content, which in turn can be sold (and used as input) in a media firm for its own focus. Let me explain:
I make a production firm. In unit 1 i put "Lifestyle content" and start developing it, until it reaches certain point. Let say its 100. When it is done, my "lifestyle content" will be the best-rated content in Lifestyle in the entire city. All media firms with focus "Lifestyle" will want to use it as their content (mostly because their own "lifestyle content" will be low-rated, if they don't use their own Production firms to supply to their own medias, while developing it to be better) - so they "buy" it in order to use it. I am receiving money as long as they're using it. If better-rated content appears - they'll switch (if they can afford it). Note: even without outside-the-network Production Firm, your medias will still be able to make their content, but with the downside that its development/upgrade will be slower and more expensive. All forms of "content" will be entertainment, only news-worthy content will be unavailable for Production Firms, instead it will be developed in the same style in a "News Agency". So:
Production Firm (for entertainment) will cover focuses--> Tv-films, Scientific, Lifestyle, Music, Reality, Cooking, etc
News Agency (for information) will cover focuses--> News, Weather, Finances, Sports, Politics, etc.
Both will work like R'n'd centers, developing content to a target rating, selling it, developing new one, or upgrading old units to higher target, and so on.

i've already wrote about News Agencies in here: http://www.capitalism2.com/forum/viewto ... 508#p30508

--- Talent System
Each media could get a manager, similar to the talent system in Digital Age, only this time, they'll have expertise in specific media focus, to help boost the ratings.

--- Advertising Firm
A new "media-like" firm, which will earn money by advertising, but will cover printed/painted ads like brochures, neon sights or billboards. This firm will charge clients for its services, while advertising their products on the streets (of course - no billboards have to be built, everything will be virtual). The rating of this "service" will be based on 2 things - training and investment in quality of it. The firm will be run as a media firm, with all the pros and cons, and should appear in adv. options when you create adv. unit in your firms.

--- Media Group bussiness
If you or other corporation control well-doing group of media firms in a given city, you may offer a deal that i call "Media Group advertising". This is basically a deal for the client to advertise (a very specific and expensive) product in ALL media firms controlled by a corporation in a given city. The clients will use that to advertise products like laptops or cars, not pork or eggs, or course. Here's an example:
I have a corporation called "Kristo Inc". I play in 10 cities. In Paris I have 7 media firms (3 newspapers, 1 magazine, 1 radio, 2 tv-stations), which are all doing pretty well. In my corporation menu somewhere, there'll be a button/s that says "Form a media group in city X", in this case "Form a media group in Paris". Once i hit it, all these 7 firms will be part of a subsidiary called "Kristo Inc Media Group Paris". There'll be a option to tick which says "All new local media to be added to the media group", which i'll tick to say "yes". This group will have its own stats, that'll show the groups "avarage rating", "combined rating", "audience" and so on, the stats from the firms included. There'll be a stat, that will show how much money someone will have to pay to advertise 1 product across all these media firms included in the group. And below that stat, there'll be a slider in %, that i can personally move (let's say i'll set it at 5%) for the advertising in the whole media group.
Now other corporations (and only them) can make me offers to advertise their (again, very important and expensive) products in the whole "Kristo Inc Media Group Paris", that will cover all 7 existing (and all future) media firms, that i own in Paris. Basically mass advertising in bunch of media firms at the same time, but at good cost for the media group.

--- Publishing Firm
Well this one is pretty straight-forward. You set up such firm, you can select which focuses/genres to exclude/include and you publish books. You should choose how to divide the profits with the writers (50/50 being the default rate). Again, training and investment in quality of the product. A writer could approach the firm, strike a deal and get his book published. Then you split the profits with him/her. You don't need to pick and choose each and every book and do this manually. The firm will automatically select only profitable books to publish, no need for micromanagament here. A good manager will increase the profits too.

--- Naming rights
I've already spoke about them in here: click

If something come up, i'll add it, work in progress...

[leveragedbuyout]

I'll add more stuff later here. Please add yours if you have any. Thanks.

Very interesting ideas! Can't wait to see what other ideas you may have for this DLC.

[Kristo]

I'll add more stuff later here. Please add yours if you have any. Thanks.

Very interesting ideas! Can't wait to see what other ideas you may have for this DLC.

Hi,

I've added more stuff and changed the first post. Please have a look.

Regards