The Family Racket: AOL Time Warner, HBO, The Sopranos, and the Construction of a Quality Brand:
TL;DR: This article examined the materialist foundations of The Sopranos' advertising strategy and found that the advertising strategy was motivated by the ratings gathering methodology of A.C. Nielsen and AOL Time Warner's tiering strategies.
Abstract: This paper examines HBO's The Sopranos in the context of several industrial factors. I begin with the series'generic inscription. As a gangster program, The Sopranos comes to us in the form of a pedigreed pre-sold product, a television text of esteemed cinematic lineage. This leads to the examination of branding. In order to corral The Sopranos into the slogan, “It's Not TV, It's HBO,” HBO seeks to differentiate its product from lowest common denominator, broadcast fare. The separation results in the construction of the “quality” brand, a problematic concept academics have linked to demographics. HBO's branding strategy has also intensified the claim of competition between pay cable and broadcast television in popular discourse. This claim is problematized by the ratings gathering methodology of A.C. Nielsen and by AOL Time Warner's tiering strategies. By examining the aforementioned strategies, I uncover the materialist— rather than auteurist—foundations of The Sopranos.
Citations
More filters
Book•
[...]
01 Jan 2003
TL;DR: Ortner as discussed by the authors describes and analyzes the life courses of her classmates from Weequahic High School in Newark, describing and analyzing the life of the class of '58.
Abstract: Sherry B. Ortner, New Jersey Dreaming: Capital, Culture, and the Class of '58. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2003.In New Jersey Dreaming Sherry Ortner describes and analyzes the life courses of her classmates from Weequahic High School in Newark. The story that is told is for the most part a common American tale of postwar upward mobility and success. With a few exceptions, the children of the mostly Jewish workers and small independent business people that comprised the class of '58 have fared very well. The majority of them are now part of the professional middle class and have moved far beyond their childhood neighbourhood in New Jersey. Raised in a culture that celebrated self-improvement and getting ahead, it appears most students internalized these values and have lived them out. There are a few rebels in the mix who have lived what Ortner refers to as "counterlives," dropping out of the competitive race to success, and not everyone discussed in the book has lived a charmed existence, but the overall picture is one of success.Ortner explains the upward mobility of her subjects in terms of the interplay of the internalization of relevant values by individuals and the broader social movements (feminism, civil rights) and structural changes in the economy (growth of the service sector, growth of the new middle class) that were part of the postwar American experience. She carefully tries to keep class-based cultural issues in focus without ignoring the ethnic, racial and gendered dimension of social experience. Indeed, she explicitly critiques the tendency to ignore class in favour of race, ethnicity and gender in much social science.As one of a relatively few efforts to "bring class back in" at a time when class has been abandoned as a useful analytical category by many, this book deserves the high praise which George Marcus bestows in a book jacket quote. But his claim that the book "makes one of the most important sociological arguments in recent years on the dynamics of class in postWorld War II American society" is arguable. Perhaps, it is more a statement about the impoverished state of such analysis in the U.S. While the book is certainly an enjoyable and interesting read, the argument itself is rather flat. True to her anthropological roots, Ortner prefers native class categories over those imposed by social scientists. In opting to employ the concepts of her research subjects, Ortner reflects the natives' point of view. This certainly has the advantage of helping us understand the world as they do. This approach, however, also leaves us stuck in middle-class common sense thinking and as such, limits a more critical understanding of American society. …
158 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine publicly available industry documents, trade press coverage, and executive interviews to understand the place of traditional television network branding in subscription video on-demand (SVOD) portals as represented by Amazon and Netflix.
Abstract: Branding has been described as the defining industrial practice of television’s recent past. This article examines publicly available industry documents, trade press coverage, and executive interviews to understand the place of traditional television network branding in subscription video on-demand (SVOD) portals as represented by Amazon and Netflix. Focusing on materials relating to licensed rather than original content and this content’s role within the US domestic SVOD market, two distinct approaches emerge. For Amazon, the brand identities of some television networks act as valuable lures drawing customers into its Prime membership program. For Netflix, linear television networks are competitors whose brand identities reduce Netflix’s own brand equity. Ultimately, Amazon’s efforts to build a streaming service alongside network brand identities and Netflix’s efforts to build its own brand at the expense of such identities demonstrate the need to think about contemporary television branding as an ongoin...
107 citations
Cites background from "The Family Racket: AOL Time Warner,..."
...In some instances, conglomerates create the appearance of competition between two channels with the hopes of generating new subscribers for both as Time Warner did with HBO and Cinemax in the mid-1990s (Jaramillo, 2002)....
[...]
01 Jan 2012
TL;DR: Ouellette et al. as discussed by the authors presented a communication studies at the University of Minnesota Ph.D. major: Communication Studies, and advisor: Dr. Laurie Ouellette.
Abstract: University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. August 2012. Major: Communication Studies. Advisor: Dr. Laurie Ouellette. 1 computer file (PDF); x, 348 pages.
47 citations
36 citations
References
More filters
Book•
01 Jan 1979
TL;DR: The 7th edition of the TV Critic Anthology as discussed by the authors, which is the gold standard of anthologies on television, is the most comprehensive and complete collection of television criticism, television history, media & society and broadcasting.
Abstract: This anthology, first published in 1976, is used in courses on television criticism, television history, media & society, and broadcasting. The 7th edition, which is comprised of virtually all new selections, features a slightly revamped organization, adding sections on History and Reception. In addition, this revision expands its international focus, with pieces on the Chinese soap opera, Brazilian telenovelas, and the role of race in Puerto Rican television, among others. Finally, this book remains current in its treatment of technology, making it the gold standard of anthologies on television.
233 citations
Book•
15 Jun 1996
TL;DR: In this article, the author reverses the usual take on broadcasting and markets by showing that government regulation creates rather than intervenes in the market and argues that liberal marketplace principles - ideas of individuality, property, public interest and markets - have come into contradiction with themselves.
Abstract: In this study of the laws and policies associated with commercial radio and television, the author reverses the usual take on broadcasting and markets by showing that government regulation creates rather than intervenes in the market. Analyzing the processes by which commercial media are organized, Streeter asks how it is possible to take the practice of broadcasting - the reproduction of disembodied sounds and pictures for dissemination to vast unseen audiences - and constitute it as something that can be bought, owned and sold. With a command of broadcast history, as well as critical and cultural studies of the media, Streeter shows that liberal marketplace principles - ideas of individuality, property, public interest and markets - have come into contradiction with themselves. Commercial broadcasting is dependent on government privileges, and Streeter provides a critique of the political choices of corporate liberalism that shape the landscape of cultural property and electronic intangibles.
230 citations
"The Family Racket: AOL Time Warner,..." refers background in this paper
...Although the ratings are not a complete failure in terms of revealing general viewing patterns, their accuracy is highly questionable and industrially dangerous, especially since so much rides on what the numbers convey (Streeter 1996, 280)....
[...]
Book•
01 Jan 1990TL;DR: In this article, Boddy provides a wide-ranging and rigorous analysis of the fledgling American television industry during the period of its greatest economic growth, programming changes, and critical controversy, showing how the significant programming changes of the period cannot be attributed simply to shifting public tastes or the exhaustion of particular program genres, but underscore fundamental changes in the way prime-time entertainment programs were produced, sponsored, and scheduled.
Abstract: Just a few years in the mid-1950s separated the "golden age" of television's live anthology drama from Newton Minow's famous "vast wasteland" pronouncement. Fifties Television shows how the significant programming changes of the period cannot be attributed simply to shifting public tastes or the exhaustion of particular program genres, but underscore fundamental changes in the way prime-time entertainment programs were produced, sponsored, and scheduled. These changes helped shape television as we know it today. William Boddy provides a wide-ranging and rigorous analysis of the fledgling American television industry during the period of its greatest economic growth, programming changes, and critical controversy. He carefully traces the development of the medium from the experimental era of the 1920s and 1930s through the regulatory battles of the 1940s and the network programming wars of the 1950s.
160 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1987
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the legal side of Branding, the psychology of names, and the corporate identity as the Brand in a wide world of brands, and assess the value of brands.
Abstract: List of Plates Notes on the Contributors Preface What is Branding? J.M.Murphy History of Branding A.Room The Psychology of Names L.Collins The Legal Side of Branding C.Graham & M.Peroff Making Your Brands Work Harder L.Hefter Commercial Counterfeiting V.Carratu Developing New Brands T.Blackett & G.Denton Developing New Brand Names J.M.Murphy Creative Execution M.Kurlansky The Opportunity for World Brands S.Winram Branding: the Retailer's Viewpoint T.Leahy The Branding of Services R.Taylor Branding in the Pharmaceutical Industry B.Sudovar Branding at Austin Rover T.Nolan The Wide World of Branding T.Oliver The Corporate Identity as the Brand J.Diefenbach Organising for New Product Development R.Grayson The Future of Branding K.Morwind Assessing the Value of Brands J.Murphy Index
148 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1990
TL;DR: M Mellencamp as mentioned in this paper discusses the public relations crisis of US television in the late 1950s and discusses the role of women in the public relation crisis of television in this period.
Abstract: Acknowledgments Patricia Mellencamp Prologue Meaghan Morris Banality in Cultural Studies John Caughie Playing at Being American: Games and Tactics Charlotte Brunsdon Television: Aesthetics and Audiences Lynn Spigel Television in the Family Circle: The Popular Reception of a New Medium William Boddy The Seven Dwarfs and the Money Grubbers: The Public Relations Crisis of US Television in the Late 1950s Eileen R. Meehan Why We DonOt Count: The Commodity Audience Andrew Ross Techno-Ethics and Tele-Ethics: Three Lives in the Day of Max Headroom Lynne Joyrich Critical and Textual Hypermasculinity Jane Gaines Superman and the Protective Strength of the Trademark Margaret Morse An Ontology of Everyday Distraction: The Freeway, the Mall, and Television Mary Ann Doane Information, Crisis, Catastrophe Patricia Mellencamp TV Time and Catastrophe, or Beyond the Pleasure Principle of Television Stephen Heath Representing Television Contributors Name Index Subject Index
135 citations