Media, AI & The

Metaverse

'An adrenaline shot to human creativity' (prompt on Stable Diffusion)

Professor Alex Connock

Easter / 2024
Table of contents
Section A: Introduction to the module
Section B: Keeping in touch
Section C: Module delivery and structure
Section D: Module assessment
Section E: Learning resources
Section F: Accessibility, engagement, and wellbeing
Section A: Introduction to the module
Welcome to the new BA course in 'Media, AI and the Metaverse'

I'm your course leader, Professor Alex Connock and I will be guiding you
through the fascinating world of the media business, from games to TV,
film to streaming, podcasts, creator economy, music and ultimately towards
the Metaverse.

This is a subject I absolutely LOVE. I'm sure lots of you do too. My hope
is for us to share our passion for this fantastic subject and have a
wonderful learning experience. One of the wonderful things about media is
that everyone can relate to it - we all know Netflix, we all have
smartphones, most of us play video games, read books, and unfortunately,
all of us do social media.

I have worked in the media for a long time - in TV, advertising, magazines
and digital content - and also love teaching about the media business, both
here, at Oxford and at the National Film and Television School. You can
find my CV here. You can always connect on Linkedin

I have written a brand new textbook, published at the end of 2022 by

Routledge, which we will use on the course. It is available through the
library.
 I wrote the book because I couldn't quite find books which I felt holistically
covered the ground we are going to cover in the way I wanted to do it - and
which really described the media as it is now. But of course, there are
many hundreds of fantastic trade publications, academic journals, blogs,
books, news sites and commentators that contribute to this sector - which
is what makes it such a fascinating space. I will point you to some of that
in the reading list and also in class itself. You will probably know stuff I
don't too.

The principle dimension of the course is the lectures I will give each week.
I really encourage you to come, and to interact. I will be doing
everything I can to bring everyone in the lecture into the
conversation. This will definitely not be a case of me talking to a silent
room.

If we do any lectures or seminars on Zoom (we might do a couple) you

must have your cameras on and join in.

There are also seminars for you to do group work with my colleagues, both
in person and online.

Key points about the course

• This is a course in contemporary value generation models -

development, production, distribution and monetisation - within the
Media.
• The course considers how media sectors are being changed, by digital
transformation, by AI technologies and through to the potentially coming
Metaverse, which is predicted by Bloomberg (2022) at $800 billion
annual revenue by 2025.
 • The course is designed for the undergraduate, third year business or
arts student, and not necessarily media specialist. Learning will be
translatable across other sectors, since all companies today use media
tools for communication.
• The module methodically considers the creation, production, distribution
and monetisation of media in each of a range of media segments, from
podcasts to streamers, from games to esports, from social networks to
influencers, and from fiction production to factual. In each case it
considers how AI and other technologies are driving value creation.
• On completion of this module you will have an overview understanding
of media sector business models and the media value chain, as well as
some of the different operational business models within certain media
sectors.
• Media sectors covered will include many of broadcasting, streaming,
games, esports, factual/entertainment/scripted production,
creators/influencers, social networks, marketing content and music.
• You will be able to articulate some current strands of thought around the
so-called Metaverse, and its implications for business in general.

Learning objectives

Module Specific Knowledge:

1 Outline the basic business models of global screen and audio industries, and
particular fields such as games and esports.
2 Explain and interpret contemporary issues regarding social networks and creator
economy models.
3 Exemplify the impact that AI technologies are having on the media in development,
production, distribution and monetisation.
Personal and Key Transferable skills:
4 Structure and narrate a clear articulation of a specific media organisation.
5 Structure and narrate a clear articulation of a specific media project
(NOTE: ILO 1 is about describing industries (eg TV). ILO 4 narrows that down to
the organisational level (eg the BBC). ILO 5 narrows that down to the project level
(eg Peaky Blinders.)

Syllabus plan
 • The course considers the principles of the media value chain through
development, production, distribution, monetisation.
• It provides an introduction to the range, impact and opportunity of AI on
the media business.
• Platforms such as streaming & broadcasting, games and digital
publishing are considered, along with the determinants of success
within them.
• Producers are covered including such sectors as factual and scripted
TV, games studios and music production.
• Pioneers are examined in podcasting and esports.
• Summary findings that might apply beyond media - since most
companies now create and distribute content - are considered.

Really important note about lecture materials

• The lecture notes I upload on the course pages are only the bare
bones. They are no substitute for coming to the lecture, where I will
show lots more slides and illustrations, and invite discussion.
• In the lecture, you will find that there is a lot more material than there is
in the pre-loaded slides. Please focus on the lecture in the room !
• Don't think that just reading the lectures online is the same as going to
the lectures. It's not.

Section B: Keeping in touch

• The principle contact of the course is the lectures themselves.
• I cannot emphasise enough that you won't get much out of this course if
you don't come to the lectures. I will do everything I can to make them fun.
To complete that, I need you to engage, participate, talk, share. I don't care
how many people are in the room - I always want to hear from students, and
hear about your experiences with media.
• Broadly speaking, each lecture is about a different field of the media - TV one
week, games the next, music the next.
• Through colleagues I am also running seminars. These will usually take the
form of (a) a short quiz on the learnings of the week and (b) a group exercise
where you will either answer a question about the specific category of the
week, or actually develop an idea and pitch it. These exercises are not
marked but they are incredibly useful for your understanding, and should be
fun.
• If you really need to contact me you can email me on
[email protected]. I want to be clear that I don't have unlimited time
so I may not be able to get back to every query: in that case please don't think
I don't want to interact with students - it's just that there is only so much
available time. With colleagues we will aim to get back to everything
important of course.
 • My colleague on this course is Shuvashish Roy ([email protected]). He will
be running the seminars. You should contact him in the first instance about
the seminars.
• We may put in a module discussion forum, in which case we will mention that
in the first lecture, which again you MUST come to if you are taking this
module.

Section C: Module delivery and structure

EXETER BA MEDIA, AI & METAVERSE
PROVISIONAL COURSE PLAN
WEEK DATES LECTURE SEMINAR SEMINAR CONTENT 2: CHAPTER LECTURE
CONTENT CONTENT GROUP WORK AND IN COURSE
1: PRESENTATION TEXTBOOK
QUIZZES

1 Jan 15 LECTURE 1: Quiz Group exercise: 1,2,3 1

The Media chapters
Business Model 1-4 & 9 * Dissect and explain
Overview & business model of one
Case Study of company: Riot Games,
Digital Man Utd, Channel 4,
Publishing Hello Sunshine, Coldplay,
Amazon Prime Video,
Youtube
2 Jan 22 LECTURE 2: Group exercise: 4 2
Overview &
Opportunity of * If a brand new song in
AI the style of Harry Styles
is written and performed
by an AI system, who
owns it ? OR What is the
business model in the
creation of virtual humans
?
3 Jan 29 LECTURE 3: Quiz Group exercise, do one 7,8 3
Broadcasters & chapters 7 of:
Streamers &8
* Why are broadcast TV
channels starting, and
prioritising, AVOD
channels ? (Advertising
video on demand)

* Why are sports rights

important to broadcast TV
channels ? If you ran a
TV channel, what factors
would you consider in
valuing a given set of
sports rights

* For a major streamer,

what is the financial case
for and against
commissioning content
from external production
companies ?
4 Feb 5 LECTURE 4: Quiz Group exercise, do one 10,11,12 4
Factual, chapters of:
Entertainment & 10,11,12
Scripted TV & * Imagine you had
Film packaged a strong
proposal for a drama
series, and interest from
both a major streaming
platform and a major
cornerstone
broadcaster. How would
you approach each
negotiation ?

* Lenin was mentioned at

the start of this
chapter. His successor,
Stalin, learned that 90%
of the films made in the
previous year lost money,
but 10% were
hits. Stalin’s answer was
simple; next year only
make the 10%. Is there
any value to his strategy
?

* Why have streamers

been successful ?
5 Feb 12 SEMINARS: Group exercise: Creating
Creation and concepts in factual,
marketing of entertainment and drama
viable concepts and covering in
in TV & Film presentation: Format
(including points, Structure, Design,
exercise) Look/feel, Global
marketability as tape,
Global marketability as
format, Digital extensions,
Social media dimensions

6 Feb 19 READING
WEEK
7 Feb 26 LECTURE 5: Quiz Group exercise: 6 5
Social networks chapter 6
* How do social networks
generate shareholder
value ?

* Why is misinformation a
greater problem for social
platforms than for
conventional publishers ?
8 March LECTURE 6: Quiz Group exercise: 13,14 6
4 Creation of chapters
Social & 13-14 * What are the
Marketing opportunities to brands
Content from using influencers,
and what are the risks ?
9 March LECTURE 7: Quiz Group Exercise: 5,17 7
11 Games & chapters 5
esports & 17 * How important is having
internally-owned IP in the
development of a
successful video games
business ?

* What are the relative

merits of the different
distribution options for a
games studio ?

* Which participant in the

esports value chain is
most investable, and why
? (Options include
games, game developers,
leagues, games
publishers, players, live
events, venues,
accessories/hardware,
teams.)
 10 March LECTURE 8: Quiz Group exercise: 15,16 8
18 Music & chapters
Podcasting 15-16 * Is streaming good or
bad for creativity in the
music business ?

* Led Zeppelin are

prepared to reform and
play just one concert for
which they want complete
creative freedom and
maximum revenue.
Outline a detailed
business strategy to
present to the band about
how you will exploit this
concert in all revenue
streams.

* Kanye West has

decided he wants to do a
podcast. His aim is
maximum creative
freedom and revenue
maximisation. Outline a
detailed business
strategy to present to
Kanye about how you will
produce and exploit this
podcast in all channels
and revenue streams.
11 March LECTURE 9: Prepare for the final 18,19 9
25 Metaverse & assignment
Future of Media

Section D: Module assessment

Assessment information

Media, AI and the Metaverse

BEM 3070
Final Assessment
Due March 28 2024

3500 Words
The assessment required is for a structured essay, in defined sections,

You will describe and analyse the value creation process of a single media
company or project, and additionally analyse the degree to which it is being
changed by new technologies such as AI and the Metaverse. Here is the
detailed breakdown. You should assume that the words allocated by section
match to the percentage of marks allocated.

1) COMPANY: Define and briefly describe the specific media

company (or project) you are looking at and what activity it does.
This company must be non-UK, non-US, and sub $2 billion market
capitalisation. (200 words)

This can be any media company or specific media property (e.g. Squid Game)
globally but not UK or US owned or located. This is because we want to
make you research, think, and look at diverse source materials. We know
from experience that this will make you come up with a less obvious and well-
trodden example. We are very open to companies from any country other
than UK or US. The reason we want the company to be a smaller one is that
there will be less off-the-shelf analysis available of smaller companies - which
again helps you practice your skills.

2) CONTEXT: Describe and analyse the industry the media

company works in. Set the context in terms of industry size,
geographic scope, competition, customer base, dynamics for success
within the industry and any other useful dimensions. (700 words)

So for instance if you were writing about a professional football team in Saudi
Arabia, you could describe and analyse the league structure, the way teams
were financed, the way teams could monetise their activity through ticketing,
merchandising and the sale of media rights, and the overall financial size of both
the football league, and Saudi sports in general. Strive to give us analytical
insights into the drivers of success/profitability/value in that industry, rather
than simply describing it.

3) BUSINESS MODEL: Describe and illustrate in detail the value

creation process within your chosen company, using the four-stage
framework from the course textbook(s)*, in terms of
Development/Production/Distribution/Monetisation, and other
frameworks directly from the course. (1900 words)

At each stage, describe and analyse the key inputs or investments that the firm
needs to make, the key dynamics for success and the key deliverables that it
aims to achieve at the end of that stage of the value creation process. As part
of your exposition of the four stages of value creation, provide a detailed
analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the firm's content creation and
monetisation model. Make sure you directly reference course materials
throughout, so that we know that you attended the course and listended (b)
you didn't use a large language model to source the essay.

4) IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY: Evaluate and analyse the degree to

which the value creation process of your chosen business is being
impacted by new technologies, such as (but not limited to) Artificial
Intelligence or Metaverse technologies. (700 words)

Describe, analyse and illustrate that impact, and highlight in detail any particular
opportunities (e.g. cost savings) or risks (e.g. legal/copyright) that might arise as
well as mitigation strategies that could be put in place.

* Media Management and Artificial Intelligence, by Dr Alex Connock

Key points
• You need to deliver one 3500 word essay at the end of term, March 28
• Your answer will need to reflect actual course learnings from both the lecture
notes, the book, wider readings, your research, and the content of the lectures
and seminars.
 • When we are marking them, we will be able to tell if people are using the
materials from the course and lectures, and we will give better marks to
people who do.
• The best answers will be the ones that go far beyond the obvious
observations about the platforms and products that shape our everyday lives,
and get underneath the skin of their business models, technologies (often AI
driven) and ethical dilemmas.
Word count
• Submissions must not exceed the stated word count. Any additional text
beyond this limit will not be considered in the marking process, thereby
limiting your opportunity to score well on this module.
• If you choose to write less than the recommended word count, you may do so
but could be limiting your chances to score well on this submission.
• The header page, index, appendix and reference list are not be included in
the word count.
• In-text references and headings are included in the word count
Referencing
• Please use APA 7th Edition style referencing for your in-text citations and
reference list.
• A detailed A to Z guidance on referencing is available on ELE:
https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=6748&section=2
• In addition, you can use your University login to access Cite Them Right,
which contains a range of useful referencing information https://www-
citethemrightonline-com.uoelibrary.idm.oclc.org/Home
Style & Presentation
• Use a serif font (e.g., Times New Roman or Bell MT) or sans serif font (e.g.
Ariel) for the body and headings. Minimum 12 point font.
• You are encouraged to include relevant figures/tables/images in your essay,
referenced below the figure itself. Further details on referencing charts and
figures can be found in the Business School guidance (link above)
How to submit your work
• Please submit your work as a PDF. All submissions must be readable files.
Written text, unless this is within a chart or graphic, should NOT be pasted as
an image file.
• The submission link will be emailed to you in advance.
• Failure to submit on time may incur a penalty and could be capped at the
pass mark. Please see Business School Guidance on late submissions for
further information.
Academic Integrity
Plagiarism and collusion are serious offences and will not be tolerated. Your work
must be your own and correctly referenced using the Business School standard APA
format. For further support please visit the Referencing pages of the Academic
Development Resources.
Don't look online for stock answers to the question set because it will be a unique
question that has not been set before.
Don't use an AI tool or chatbot to write the answers, because we now have software
specifically able to recognise synthetic/AI-written content. Remember that this is the
exact specialist subject of this course so we are alive to it !
Any answer that doesn't obviously use both materials actually taught in class, and
original thought/research will not achieve high marks. I want to see evidence of
attendance, not just someone who has read the notes online.

Section E: Learning resources

The core text of the course is this book, mentioned above
Media Management and Artificial Intelligence: Understanding Media
Business Models in the Digital Age
Hardback ISBN 9781032100951
Paperback ISBN 9781032100944
Master eBook ISBN 9781003213611

https://encore.exeter.ac.uk/iii/encore/record/C__Rb4889925
Here are some other readings for you to look at now.

Vinet, M. (2020). ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY: The Business of Music, Books,

Movies, TV, Radio, Internet, Video Games, Theater, Fashion, Sports, Art,
Merchandising, Copyright, Trademarks & Contracts - NEW Revised Edition.
Independently published.
Schreier, J. (2017). Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories
Behind How Video Games Are Made (1st ed.). Harper Paperbacks.
Galloway, S. (2018). The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook,
and Google (Reprint ed.). Portfolio.
Noam, E. M. (2019). Media and Digital Management (Foundations) (1st ed. 2018
ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.
Other sources: podcasts & publications
• In this field you can extract a huge amount of value from newspapers and
podcasts. Podcasts I recommend are....
Land of the Giants
The Media Show
Pivot
Sway
The Town
The Powers that Be
The Vergecast
Variety Strictly Business
• Publications I recommend are....
Variety
Broadcast
Hollywood Reporter
New York Times media section
Wall Street Journal media section
Financial Times
Campaign magazine
Ad Age magazine

Section F: Accessibility, engagement, and wellbeing

• I want to make sure of course that this course is equally accessible to
everyone. If you find that there is something that is not accessible to you,
please come back to me or the school's team, and we will make sure we put
that right.
• I know university can be stressful. Your wellbeing is vital and Exeter is
committed to supporting students through their studies. Do look at the
mitigation policy and get in touch with your personal tutor, hub staff, or
Wellbeing (as appropriate) if you have questions or need support.
Section G: Feedback
• I'm always delighted to get your participation in class - in fact I strive for it.
• For other feedback, you will know that your academic representatives are
available: Exeter campuses, Cornwall campuses