Through buying out an intermediary at an earlier or later stage in the same
channel. This is known as vertical integration because it involves ownership
up and down the channel. Again, a major UK theatre consortium provides
an example. At Christmas it effectively becomes a manufacturer as well as a
retailer by assembling its own pantomime production team with television
soap-star casts to create shows which play in its string of large-scale regional
venues. This allows it complete control over an annual production the
success of which is crucial to financial health throughout the rest of the
year