Break Down of the Three-Party Market

The Three-Party Market serves as the foundation for a vast majority of all of the media that individuals consume on a daily basis.  Within this market system, a third party pays to play in a market that was created around the idea of free exchange between two other parties. 

This triangle love affair revolves around the producer/media, the advertiser, and the consumer.  Together, these three entities make up an intertwined system that relies on each other to keep the system going.  Advertisers put their ad’s and money into the system, the producer cranks out “free” content  for the consumers, and the consumers watch the media and in turn support the advertisers by purchasing their products or services. 

The consumers are led to believe that they are receiving “free” media.  But is it really free?  The answer is undoubtedly, no.  Every entity that is involved in the Three-Party Market System ends up paying, either directly or indirectly.  The advertisers must pay the producers for air time of their ads.  The producers must pay to create the content and programs.  The consumer’s consume what they believe is “free” content when in actuality they are constantly being infiltrated with advertisements and product placement.  The advertisers are hoping that the consumers’ exposure to their ads will draw them towards purchasing their products. 

This cycle of advertisers paying producers, producers providing “free” content to consumers and then consumers purchasing the advertiser’s goods or services is what keeps this system going.  With this said, the idea of “free” content is very deceiving and it is very rare that a consumer will ever truly be given something entirely free of any charge.