Page 228 - A Handbook Genre Studies in Mass Media

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

The same style of billing occurred in the early days of television—and
not just to entertainment programs. For instance, the NBC evening news
show, anchored by John Cameron Swayze, was titled the Camel News
Caravan.
Radio soap operas were actually owned and produced by a sponsor
and its advertising agency, who made arrangements with a radio network
to broadcast the program. In fact, two serials, As the World Turns and
Guiding Light, continue to be produced and distributed by Procter &
Gamble Productions.
The music video genre is actually a thinly disguised advertising
vehicle. The videos are promotional pieces produced by record compa-
nies and sent to music video channels in hopes that they will be played.
Similarly, in game shows like The Price is Right, the prizes have all been
donated to the program, in exchange for a commercial plug on the show.
Thus, in this celebration of consumer culture, not only is the program
sponsored, but the game itself is an advertisement.
The reality genre lends itself to the advertising practice of product
placement, in which companies pay a fee to have their products appear in
a program—as background or even as a part of the narrative. Because the
shows are rooted in “reality,” the participants are shown using products
during the course of the show—all of which involve a fee for this expo-
sure. In 2006, NBC’s reality boxing show The Contender led the field in
product placements, with 7,502 appearances or mentions of commercial
products—more than twice as many placements as the next most place-
ment-filled series, The Apprentice, also on NBC. Reporter Alex Midlin
explains, “Contestants on ‘The Contender’ drank Gatorade in every
episode, carted supplies around in a Toyota truck and ran through what
a host of the show described as a ‘Toyota traffic jam.’ Each appearance
of a product counts toward the total.” 40
Advertising can have an influence on the content of a genre. Produc-
ers are careful to present content that is unlikely to offend potential
customers. Further, advertisers prefer to buy commercial time in shows
that accentuate the positive, to help put viewers in an upbeat, consum-
ing mood.
In contrast, premium cable television channels are free of the industry
considerations that constrain broadcast networks. HBO and Showtime
have developed an alternative to advertising, requiring a monthly payment
by subscribers that absorbs costs normally assumed by advertisers. As

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