Operating Model

Key terms.

Integration - could be either Horizontal or Vertical.

Affiliates - Not owned in the same conglomerates but work together/along side each other. E.g. Dreamworks and 20th Century Fox or Warp Films and Film Four. A joint venture is 

This would be known as horizontal integration. This has synergy as they can promote their products  on multiple media and platforms.

Vertical integration would be a company that is able to produce, distribute and exchange its own products. This is because they own the subsidiaries that allow them to do that. 

This is type of integration is only for conglomerates as they own the subsidiaries that allow them to produce, distribute and exchange, while independent companies do not have the resources to do it.

20th Century Fox's subsidiaries that promote their products are:

Fox TV, Sky, Star (TV),Talk Radio (Radio), Fox Home Entertainment (The DVD/Bluray), The Sun (Newspapers).

This gives them the advantage compared to independent companies compared to Warp, as most indies can only produce.

The Film Production Cycle.

Vertical integration is better than horizontal because you have full control of the production, distribution and exchange of the product, it is also faster.
The operating model of 20th century fox is one where they create a product in house, mostly by themselves and use their marketing and distribution abilities that they have within their conglomerate, such as their subsidiaries advertising their products creating synergy. Now synergy, theres an important word right there, as synergy means the interaction or cooperation of two or more organisations, substances or other agents to a produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects. TL;DR two things working well together to create something they couldn't alone alone.

So because 20th Century has synergy as in important part of their operating model they have an enormous advantage when it comes to their competitors, as they can both create he product and decide how they would want to market and distribute it. Another advantage would be the ability to advertise their products through other media such as Newspapers, Radio, TV etc. This is called Vertical integration. Vertical integration means that they handle every stage of the creation process all by themselves. Production, Distribution and Exchange. The reason they are able to handle of the process as well is because of their SUBSIDIARIES. A subsidiary would be a company owned by another company. In 20th Century Fox's case they own:

Blue Sky Studios (Used its in house rendering software, they handled the animation and visual effects, but later devoted itself to solely creating animated films, is first being ice age.) Fox Star Studios ( Based in India) (They are the dedicated production and distribution arm of 20th Century Fox, and generally create Hindi and Regional films through co-production or just creating them in house.) 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment(The home video division of 20th Century, the handle the distribution of films in the form of DVDs to be viewed at home.) Fox Television Studios(This studio was designed to house the smaller production of movies and TV production.) 20th Television(Created to separate the production of TV products from the movie production, previously handled by 20th Century fox itself. This was created to increase the output of the respected products.) 20th Century Fox Television (the TV division of 20th Century fox) TSG Entertainment (A film financing company that mainly funds live action films. Created in 2012 to replace Dune Entertainment) Each subsidiary is used in place of an outside source in creating a product, this reduces the overall cost of creating the product, while also meaning that all the profits stay in house and outside companies will not have to be given a share.