Essays on the economics of television /
These essays explore the economics of network broadcast television. The first essay examines program placement strategy, the second essay explores minority programming, and the third essay analyzes new network entry strategy. The first essay sets up a model where two networks expend effort to creat...
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| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
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[Place of publication not identified] :
[publisher not identified] ;
2000.
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| Online Access: | http://proxy.library.tamu.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=727830651&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=2945&RQT=309&VName=PQD |
| Summary: | These essays explore the economics of network broadcast television. The first essay examines program placement strategy, the second essay explores minority programming, and the third essay analyzes new network entry strategy. The first essay sets up a model where two networks expend effort to create expected program quality. Networks can choose whether to endow their program with a given characteristic. Viewers range from liking the characteristic to disliking the characteristic. The networks choose to differentiate their product, with one network having the characteristic and the other choosing not to endow their program with the characteristic. By differentiating, networks avoid competition in effort. Data on the 1995-96 network prime-time television season are consistent with the predictions of the model. The second essay examines the question of minority programming. Certain organizations, such as the NAACP, have protested the lack of minority programming in network prime-time television. Using data from the Spring 1996 Simmons database to explore the relationship between program revenues, viewer composition, and program content, we find that networks avoid minority programming because it attracts a lower percentage of upper income viewers. However, minorities have a very intense preference for minority programming, which is implied by the data. According to many models of advertiser-supported television, including Spence and Owens (1977) and Papandrea (1997), small groups of viewers with intense preferences do not receive the socially optimal level of programming. Therefore, the amount of minority programming on network television may be less than optimal. The third essay posits the premise that older networks have learning-by-doing advantages in developing programming. Therefore, in a model where networks expend effort to gain expected quality, the older networks have a lower unit cost of effort. Therefore, new entrants will program towards smaller groups of viewers with intense preferences. A model with two different groups of viewers of different sizes, with the smaller group having greater intensity of preference for their characteristic shows the niche strategy to be the dominant entry strategy for a range of parameter values. Data on the WB network and the UPN network, both new entrants during the 1995-96 television season, indicate that the two followed a niche entry strategy. Interestingly, the WB tended to steal viewers from other networks, while the UPN attracted new viewers to network television. |
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| Item Description: | Vita. "Major Subject: Economics". |
| Physical Description: | x, 117 leaves ; 28 cm. Issued also on microfiche from University Microfilm Inc. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-113). |