R093 TA4: Distribution Platforms and Media

1 Give two advantages of distributing a media product online rather than in print. 2

One mark for each of the following, to a maximum of 2.

• One valid advantage
• A second, different valid advantage

Model answer. It reaches a global audience immediately rather than being limited by distribution, and it can be corrected or updated after publication.

2 Describe two differences between streaming and downloading a video. 4

One mark for each of the following, to a maximum of 4.

• Streaming begins playing before the whole file arrives
• Downloading requires the file to transfer first
• Streaming uses little storage and needs a continuous connection
• Downloading stores the file and allows offline use

Model answer. Streaming begins playing almost as soon as it starts arriving, because only a small buffer is needed before playback, whereas a download has to transfer completely before it can be watched. Streaming also uses almost no storage on the device but needs a continuous connection throughout, so it fails on a weak signal, while a download occupies the full file size on the device and can then be watched offline as many times as the user likes.

3 A theatre wants to promote a new production to local audiences, including people over 70 who are among its most frequent attenders. Justify the distribution platforms the theatre should use. 6

One mark for each of the following, to a maximum of 6.

• A platform suited to the older local audience is named
• Justified by where that audience actually is
• A second platform is named
• Justified for a different part of the audience or purpose
• The theatre's own website or booking route is addressed
• A drawback is acknowledged and managed

Model answer. The theatre should lead with print and local press, because its most frequent attenders are over 70 and that audience is reliably reached by a posted season brochure, a local newspaper listing and posters in the town, whereas a social media campaign would largely miss them. Print also carries an authority this audience responds to, and a brochure sits on a kitchen table for weeks, which a post does not. Alongside that it should run email to its existing mailing list, which is the cheapest route to people who have already bought tickets and the easiest to measure, and social media to reach a younger local audience it does not currently have, using short vertical video of rehearsals rather than a photograph of a poster. All of these should point to one place: the theatre's own website, where the booking happens, because every platform's job is to move someone to the box office rather than to be admired. The obvious drawback of the print led approach is cost and inflexibility, since a brochure cannot be changed once printed and a date change would make it wrong; the theatre should therefore keep performance dates on the website as the authoritative source and print only what is genuinely fixed.

4 A games studio is releasing a new title. It is considering distributing physically on disc as well as digitally through an online store. Discuss the advantages and drawbacks of each option and recommend an approach. 8

One mark for each of the following, to a maximum of 8.

• An advantage of digital distribution
• A drawback of digital distribution
• An advantage of physical distribution
• A drawback of physical distribution
• Updating or patching is addressed
• The audience or market is considered
• A clear recommendation is made
• The recommendation is justified against the drawbacks raised

Model answer. Digital distribution is the stronger default for a games studio. There is no manufacturing, no stock and no shipping, so the cost of reaching one more customer is effectively zero, the title is available globally the moment it launches, and the studio gets sales and play data it could never obtain from retail. Crucially, a digital title can be patched, which matters enormously for games because balance problems and bugs surface only when thousands of people play at once. The drawbacks are real: the store takes a substantial percentage of every sale, the game competes for visibility against thousands of others on the same storefront, a large download excludes players on slow or capped connections, and players own a licence rather than a copy they can lend or resell. Physical release answers some of those. A box on a shelf is itself advertising, it can be bought as a gift, which matters for a title aimed at younger players whose purchases are made by someone else, and it supports collector's editions that earn far more per unit than a digital copy. It also works for players with poor connections. Against that, discs cost money to press, distribute and warehouse, unsold stock is a loss, lead times mean the content is locked weeks before launch, and the disc almost always needs a day one patch anyway, which undercuts its main practical advantage. The recommendation is to launch digitally everywhere as the primary route, and to produce a limited physical edition aimed at collectors and the gift market rather than a mass retail print run. That keeps the economics and the patching flexibility of digital while capturing the shelf presence and the higher margin of physical, and it keeps the risk of unsold stock small, which is the drawback of physical distribution that would actually hurt a small studio.