Why is This Show so Dumb? Advertising Revenue and Program Content of Network Television

Keith S. Brown and Roberto J. Cavazos ()

Review of Industrial Organization, 2005, vol. 27, issue 1, pages 17-34

Abstract: Economists have long debated how advertising should be treated in a rational-choice framework. Using unique data from the broadcast networks’ 1995 Fall Network Season, we find that sitcoms attract premia from advertisers, while news and police programs get discounted. We interpret our findings according to two important theoretical treatments of advertising. Because the broadcast networks forgo advertising-unfriendly program content, the cable channel HBO responds with a deliberate counter-programming niche strategy, explicitly airing programming with “darker” and “more difficult” advertising-unfriendly content. Copyright Springer 2005

Keywords: Advertising; broadcasting; media; strategy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005
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