Page 222 - A Handbook Genre Studies in Mass Media
P. 222
INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE
Industry Abuses
Industry pressures can easily lead to abuses involving popular genres.
A famous example of industry corruption was the quiz show scandal
in the mid-1950s. In 1955, the hottest program on television was The
$64,000 Question. This high-stakes program, sponsored by Revlon, was
a phenomenon, spawning imitators such as The $64,000 Challenge. For
a while, these shows ran 1–2 in the ratings. One of the successful ele-
ments of these quiz shows was establishing “identifiable” contestants
for the audience. In 1957, Charles Van Doren, a professor of English at
Columbia University, won over $100,000 on the NBC game show Twenty
One. Handsome, charming, and erudite, Van Doren became a national
celebrity as he held forth as champion on the quiz show. Millions tuned
in to see him ward off the weekly challenges to his title.
However, in 1959, the House of Representatives appointed a special
oversight subcommittee to investigate the fixing of quiz shows. The sub-
committee found that several of the producers and sponsors of these pro-
grams had provided answers to contestants—including Van Doren—prior
to their appearances on The $64,000 Question, The $64,000 Challenge,
and Twenty One. Many quiz shows were cancelled. The networks insti-
tuted stricter policies and surveillance procedures over all quiz programs
and took program control away from advertisers such as Revlon.
In the 1950s, the House Oversight Subcommittee investigated the radio
industry and found widespread instances of payola, a practice in which
deejays accepted gifts from record companies in return for playing their
records on their shows. Twenty-five deejays and program directors of
top ten rock n’ roll shows were caught in the scandal.
Given the big stakes involved in giving artists exposure, it is not surprising
that payola has reemerged in the radio industry. In 2006, the Federal Com-
munications Commission conducted an investigation into accusations of pay-
for-play practices at four of the nation’s biggest radio station owners: Clear
Channel Communications, CBS Radio, Citadel Broadcasting, and Entercom
Communications. The FCC’s enforcement unit was looking into accusations
that broadcasters violated the law by accepting cash or other compensation
in exchange for airplay of specific songs without telling listeners.
Cyclical Nature of Genres
As with any product, once a genre attracts commercial interest, the
industry reacts quickly to reap maximum profits. This has resulted in a
207