Ultra-niche video content networks: modelling a proxy of networked power for independent corporate producers

According to media theorist Manuel Castells, the power to create for-profit media is usually in the hands of a small number of mass media conglomerates that are typically formed by constellations of multiple media properties operating in numerous ways and in multiple cultural and institutional environments brought together through their ability to decide the content and format of communication (Castells, 2011). However, the traditional articulation of this power has been radically altered in our current networked society (Castells, 2011). Castells (2011) observes that, in this shifting ground of power, there are new forms of domination and determination to be discovered (Castells, 2011).<br> <br>The core concern of this study is with how independent audio-visual producers working at the corporate/commercial segment of the industry respond to proliferating media platforms and fragmenting media markets. This study takes a producer/creative practitioner centred focus and is concerned with the viability of alternative strategies for marketing audio-visual content production services.<br>This research examines the democratisation of technologies of production, storage and distribution that have enabled organisations that sit between mass media conglomerates and consumers to create and broadcast their own niche video content for targeted audiences professionally and cost-effectively. This research is informed primarily through my own professional practice and the work of Saul Hansell, Chris Anderson, and Manuel Castells.<br> <br>This practice-led doctoral research uses an action research method that encompasses the creation of two minor projects and one core capstone project. The strategies of particular interest are described throughout the dissertation as slivercasting and ultra-niche networking, as well as long tail networking. The study brings together contemporary theories of ultra-niche broadcasting, conceptions of small-scale video production practices and content marketing, with a focus on ultra-niche branded video content for niche audiences as seen as proxy of networked power for independent corporate producers. The primary beneficiaries of this research are independent audio-visual producers.