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34 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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Showrunner
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-auteur of a TV show.
-technically a producer but has the most creative involvement. - sets the tone and style of the show. -Usually credited as executive producers. Combines duties of producers, writers, and script editors. |
Ex. Shonda Rimes; Judd Apatow
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Below the line / Above the line
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“above the line” jobs are those credited and paid highest amounts, such as producers, casting directors (though not always! think the reality tv show casters), actors, big-named writers, etc. those below the line are usually unlisted or not given credit/money as much as their coworkers, like hairdressers and editors
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Least objectionable programming (LOP)
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assumes that viewers select whatever is least objectionable from whatever happens to be on TV, assumes that viewing patterns are the result of habit, convenience, and socialization.
- Effectively the opposite of narrowcasting - (also least offensive programming): ie. tv shows about regular families with generally at least one character that anyone in a household can relate to; “safe shows”; deliberate strategy to attract the most amount of people by shying away from anything offensive |
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Nielsen’s limitations
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Nielsen is limited by the fact that the data presented is skewed to the self interest of the clients, not the general public. It also lacks demographical reliability because it doesn’t always sample the black, or poor for instance
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Brand integration
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Promoting a specific brand or product in the show as a means of advertising. Can either be explicit or subtle
Subtle: Everyone drives a Chevy in Hawaii 5-0 Explicit: 1950s show - “Jimbob, make sure when you paint the fence, you use Henderson’s Lead-Based Shimmer Paint. It’s the only paint for us! (Winks at camera, breaking 4th wall).” |
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Deficit financing
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television deficit financing is the practice of a network or channel paying the studio that creates a show a license fee in exchange for the right to air the show. A major broadcast network will ask a program producer to share in the financial risk when considering adopting a new program to its schedule; at least for the first season of the series. Deficit financing is often the norm for scripted television, this comes during the post network era. does not cover the cost of the product, leads to a deficit for the studio.
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Branding by genre and demographic
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niche TV, rarefied toward certain audiences; complex stories, socially relevant topics, and potentially objectionable content; niche market must distinguish itself: branding means trying to create a brand familiarity, and a positive brand image in order to build brand equity.
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Page 120, 142 ATI
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Narrowcasting
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Creating a show specifically for a narrow audience. The show may have objectionable content (South Park) or focus on specific viewers (Dog Whisperer focuses on dog-owners). Effectively the opposite of LOP.
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Syndication
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Selling the licensing fees to different networks to run reruns. Does NOT require 100 episodes to go into syndication, no actual quota is needed to be met, however the 100th episode is celebrated as a landmark- another chance to advertise more than anything.
This is also where the show makes most of its money. ex: think of Modern Family and Friends playing on many channels other than ABC or NBC (Does anyone know who exactly sells the show into syndication i.e. the network who bought the license or the production company?) - in general shows don't become profitable until syndication |
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Synergy
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when films produce merchandise like toys, books, games, etc.; When a brand is made up of multiple parts that create a whole that’s better. i.e. a movie, a television show, a barbie doll, a concert tour all for Hannah Montana. Oftentimes used to refer to the widespread conglomeration of television companies.
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EX: Corporate Synergy In 1996, Disney reconnected with ABC as its new corporate owner. Riding high on a string of box-office hits that included The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King, Disney was renowned for systematic exploitation of its movies through ticket sales, video rental, television syndication, theme parks and merchandising. o The company was considered the leading practitioner of corporate synergy, using each film as core content that was then leveraged across media platforms to exact maximum profit. For Disney, the purchase of ABC seemed to make sense since it included a television network, a chain of TV stations and a cable MSO.o ABC would provide important new delivery platforms for the studio’s products, promising to make Disney an expansive media creator, distributor, exhibitor and merchandiser. However, eventually Disney’s Internet portal failed to take off; its baseball team faltered; and its animation unit suffered a number of mishaps at the theater box office. As for ABC, Disney worked hard to integrate the TV operations under its corporate umbrella, but critics said that Disney CEO Michael Eisner micro-managed the new assets and tried to harness the network too closely to the studio. Instead of production executives touting new programs around to all the networks, they tried to envision shows that could be kept under the Disney tent. And instead of the network acquiring shows from a host of outside suppliers, it focused most of its attention on projects from its own studio.o In the end, Disney-ABC faltered because the principles of corporate synergy limited the flow of creative ideas. |
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Commodity Fetishism
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- A cultural theory developed by Marx which is exhibited in today’s neoliberal economy as, well, as America’s Next Top Model. Model’s in the reality show are regarded only as much as their ability to exhibit professional model like behavior. Since these contestants are only worth as much as their ability to look pretty, speak to the camera, and be adaptive to any clients’ requests. it takes a very enterprising and motivated individual to succeed in ANTM and the modern day workplace. These women are just commodities at the end of the day and must realize this… Reality TV is the perfect platform to witness such cold, but realistic competitive dynamics at work.
- The erasure of labor and signs of production behind a product - the idea that in a capitalist society, we are trained to think of goods as having value in and of itself, but it is the product of thousands of below the line workers who create these things (process of turning goods from its production into a commodity completely independent of its production) - Shows erase all of the behind the scenes work that goes into making the show what it is and only advertises the finished product - unreal exposes commodity fetishism Also in terms of aesthetic labor, that the individual itself is a sellable brand and must essentially prove themselves worthy of commodity status and not easily replaceable. This is relayed in a competition setting where the girls are competing and eliminated due to failure to represent themselves as a valuable product. |
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Conglomerate
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a company that owns large numbers of companies in various mass media such as TV, radio, publishing, movies, and the internet.
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Examples on pg 32 of ATI:
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Series
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often sitcoms or police procedurals
can be enjoyed in any order storylines do not carry over - casual viewing |
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Pilot episode
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a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network
Very important |
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Product Placement
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any form of audiovisual commercial communication consisting of the inclusion of a reference to a product or a service of the trademark, so that it is featured during programming
- ^^ what’s the difference between this and brand integration? - brand integration is more talking about the product rather than just placing the product in the episode -also product placement gives less control to the brand, usually brand integration is written into the script and there is a paid agreement, where that doesn’t necessarily happen with product placement Product placement is advertisement, which could be in the show, and. or through commercial, where as brand integration is when the product is now apart of the show (Barneys and Bergdorf in Gossip Girl) (Windows phones in Scandal) (Camaro in Fast and Furious). Product placement uses the item as a prop, whereas brand integration usually includes some visual and verbal mention of the product |
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MSOs
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Multiple System Operator (cable provider); an operator of multiple cable or direct broadcast satellite television systems.
Examples include, comcast and cox |
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“make good”
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making up for failed product promotion by placing a product in another program that reaches the same desired demographic. maintains a good relationship between network and advertising
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Lead out / hot switch / cold roll
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When the ending of a TV show leads directly into the start of the show in the next time slot without a commercial break to keep viewers from changing channels
Lead out: a show scheduled to follow another show, lead out programs from the super bowl attract a lot of viewers Hot switch: moving from one show to another directly after each other, often by shortening the credits and skipping a commercial break Cold roll: jump directly into the story at the beginning of a show AKA “cold opening” |
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Vertical Integration
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when television broadcasters and production companies that produce for their networks and also the services that distribute their content to viewers are all owned by media conglomerates
- Networks went from National distribution (networking) to vertical integration - investment in program production and local exhibition (station ownership) |
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Ratings vs. Share
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Ratings:
- # of people watching the show over how many people have a TV in their house, whether the TV is on or not - 7 rating, means that 7 people out 10 people who have TVs are/were watching Share: - percentage of households watching your show out of people watching TV at that time a 1.7 rating but a 20% share at 2am = that rating at primetime is miserable, but a 20% share is huge, because that means that 1/5 people are watching your program. Of course, you have to account for the time (2am, so nothing else to watch). - 6.7 // 27 Share - 27% of people watching television were watching Empire |
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Broadcast networks
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An organization that provides live or recorded content such as movies, newscast, and sports
Collection of TV stations that air programming from the same source -Local stations sign agreements to become affiliates of the network (ex: local news stations join networks like NBC, ABC, Fox, and CBS) |
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Ted Turner
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Creator of CNN. Also bought over Time Warner and Cartoon Network. Forward-thinking and adaptive media mogul (predicted the demise of printed news). Excelled in developing a collection of niche cable networks, while expanding his empire with shrewd and efficient production/business practices. He also succeeded in acquiring a vast selection of MGM films for content in his TNT, by using the MGM vault he added capitalized on a niche market for old movies and concurrently raised the value of old-movie vaults as TNT experiences further success. Founded CNN after acquiring a failing local network in Atlanta, or somewhere in the South.
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Infotainment
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media that combines information and entertainment;
ex: talk shows, shark week |
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Upfronts
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Group of gatherings hosted at the start of important advertising sales periods by TV network executives attended by press and major advertisers
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synchronous audience
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an audience watching a live (or normal program, I believe) event at the time it’s on air
- i.e. everyone watching this year’s Emmys on a television set, at the same time they were showing. Spreads across multiple platforms through the use of hashtags (ex: Pretty Little Liars) |
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time-shifted viewing
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viewing of a program at another time after its original air date, whether recorded or streamed from another device.
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Conglomeration
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2+ different companies under 1 parent (The Walt Disney Company -> Disney Channel, ABC Family, ESPN, A&E, etc.) |
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Sponsorship model
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Started in 1950s. TV show would have one sponsor that had creative control over the show. 1952, multi-sponsor started and commercial breaks began.
40s-50s, Sponsor would often be in the title (“Ford Television Playhouse”, brought to you by Ford). Sitcoms where throughout the show, the housewife would turn to the camera and start endorsing the kind of product they were using in the show (breaking the 4th wall). Who decides who sponsors? Networks approaching advertisers with statistics of their demographics. Advertisers buy based on that. Network can say no to an advertiser. Local affiliates also sell ads locally. More in-your-face than product placement. Vicki Mayer reading |
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Show Bible
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Reference document used for information on a series characters, settings, and other elements
- Important in selling reality show franchises to other countries - allows them to make changes more suitable for the audience in their home country but must maintain core aspects of original show. |
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neoliberalism
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- In the context of our class, neoliberalism refers to the workplace economy of conducting thyself as a commodity. The process of grooming, tailoring, and representing oneself as a product to be traded and sold is exhibited in the Tyra Banks “tirade” where she emphasizes that one of the contestants fails to realize her destiny. Reality TV captures what’s worst about modern day workplace practices, from the competitive and cultural aspects. It’s an economy where you are your own entrepreneur, not developing the future of your company, but of yourself in an ever expanding landscape of other who endeavor to do just the same.
Movements toward de-regulation and the pushing of free-market ideologies. In the workplace, fewer regulations and protections and workers. “The best employees will rise to the top”. Protections aren’t necessary for workers because if the employees aren’t doing well they can be replaced. love of gadgets and technology Ties to global economy: Companies moving their manufacturing to other companies, international banking that support first world powers, etc. |
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Melodrama
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-emphasis on emotional reactions, close-ups
characters withholding information triangular configurations of characters stark contrasts between good and evil villainess often drives the plot painful, difficult, heart wrenching moments |
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Teen Drama
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a drama series with a focus on teen characters and life events
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i.e. Gossip Girl
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Spy genre and Scandal
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-influenced by 007
-paranoid world view -national/global politics -overrun with powerful solutions-love of gadgets and technology (recorders, concealed cameras, weapons) -popular imagination about Cold War -applying reason to irrational events (with specially recurring double -cross/double agent complications. stakes much higher) -impossibility of romance & stability because of work |
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Judd Apatow
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Show runner for Freaks and Geeks. USC grad would go on to direct Knocked Up, Trainwreck
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