Page 225 - A Handbook Genre Studies in Mass Media

CHAPTER 8

Indeed, the cycle has accelerated so quickly that the TV sitcom, which
had been pronounced “dead” by critics in 2004, was already making a
comeback in 2005. Led by Everybody Hates Chris (UPN), My Name is
Earl (NBC), and How I Met Your Mother (CBS), sitcoms were making
a significant dent in the top ten lists for the fall season. Gail Pennington
observes, “Nobody is more surprised by this than the list-makers, pundits
who had previously declared the sitcom as cold as a corpse on ‘CSI.’”
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The abbreviation of the cycle places more of a burden on television ex-
ecutives to come up with fresh ideas and introduce new genres into the
programming cycle.

Revenue Streams

The media industry has discovered the following strategies to enhance
their profits.

Syndication

After the original screening of a production, media corporations sell
syndication rights to domestic and international markets. Consequently,
hits like Seinfeld generate more than $3 billion per year in syndication
sales for NBC and its parent company, General Electric. 36
As mentioned earlier, the most profitable genres for syndication are
scripted, while reality shows, with the outcome of the competitions al-
ready known, have attracted little interest. However, in 2005, two small
cable networks began showing reality show reruns: OLN presented seg-
ments of Survivor and GNS picked up The Amazing Race. The execu-
tives of these two small cable networks were counting on the fact that
reality show fans watched these programs for reasons other than plot.
Consequently, OLN repackaged Survivor around relationships, highlight-
ing romances, rivalries, and the “greatest villains.” The success of this
strategy is yet to be determined.

Sequels

The Hollywood film industry often relies on “bankable” sequels to
successful movies. The development of sequels to successful programs
can be a very lucrative strategy. Geoffrey Ammer, Columbia Picture’s
president of marketing, comments:

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