Entertainment Communication
Lecture 1 - The Entertainment Industry
Entertainment is entertaining
• Past motive: amusement or joy
• Nowadays = boredom, if bored we look for entertainment
• Keeps you among people - Inter (among), Tenere (keep)
• Fine line between what is entertaining and what is not? When does it become
immoral ? When do we cross the line ? What makes it entertainment ?
What is entertainment ?
• Entertainment understood as response to a product
• Anyone can say its entertainment, as long as group says it, it can become popular
entertainment
• Entertainment is a complex, dynamic and multi-faceted experience
Popular Entertainment defines our culture
• Pop culture is generally recognised as a constantly evolving set of practices, beliefs
and values that are dominant or ubiquitous in a society at a given point in time
• Can challenge traditional values and norms, in (non-) stereotypical portrayal of a
character who either represents dominant culture or non dominant
• Who chooses what popular culture is ? Entertainment industry
The Entertainment Industry
- Describes the mass media companies that control the distribution and manufacture of
mass media entertainment with the intention of selling or otherwise profiting from
creative works or services
- Different groups (film, game. music)
1
,How do we examine this entertainment industry?
• Who is saying what? To whom with what effect?
• Lasswell’s linear model of communication
• How question - is not given? How does it
change the message etc. So mid-optimal
Differential Susceptibility to media effects model (Valkenburg & Peter 2013)
- Factors predict Childs media use disposition,
developmental level and social environment.
Three factors can also influence the effect
that media may have on beliefs, behaviour.
- Effects of media use can also influence
media use
- If you have very aggressive boy, and he plays aggressive video games, he will get
even more aggressive —> His disposition is aggressiveness and it will influence his
media use, choice and effects
His model including the Entertainment Industry
- Product being marketed to people, these people have an experience through the
design
- Design then leads to certain response —>
Leads to continuation of non of the product
- Users are at the heart of the cycle
- Red parts are about users
- Blue about entertainment industry
- Video game with certain design, e.g. try to
make u laugh. So your response may be
laughter, this then leads to continuation of
the product
2
,1. Product
• Medium
- Entertainment Technology: Where u watch
on, changes your experience e.g. Black white
television, Phone, Cinema, TV, 3DTV
- Entertainment Interactivity: Lean back
(passive) and lean forward (active)
entertainment
Interactivity holds implications for quality of entertainment
- Entertainment Connectivity: Social connections through mediated comm.systems
(COD, Fortnight plays in teams, Watching movie in cinema with a social group)
• Concept: Title, Type, Genre, Subject, Theme
2. Relationship: Product to Users : Marketing
- Marketing starts before product is finished sometimes - Targets specific groups
(as seen by game of thrones; winter is coming)
- Localisation: translating a (entertainment)
product into different languages e.g. products
switch per market e.g. cut our scenes,
different brands or ads fitting to region/market
e.g. The Voice per Country
- Globalisation of entertainment: Movies which
are successful are mostly action movies,
things which work on a global scale without
different clashing cultural values
Blockbuster strategy:
- Producers make huge investments to market a small number of products with
strong hit potential , and then use that revenue gained to make middling
performance content
- e.g. Disney makes 20 movies, invests mainly in 3
- Blockbusters are expensive to produce, cheap to reproduce
3
, Long Tail Strategy
- Seeing lower values of many-hard-to-find items instead of only selling large
volumes of popular items
- You will be drawn less to hit products, when you have more possibilities and
indefinite storages. People will choose niches, rather than popular appeal.
- Tail will get longer bc more and more products are produces
BLOCKBUSTER VS LONG-TAIL
• Anderson (2006) argues that the tail will get longer (indefinite storage space) and
fatter (consumers will search and choose their individual preferences – through
recommendation systems), whereas the head (products aimed at mass appeal) will
shrink.
• Elberse (2013) argues that many of the products in the tail are former top-products
(blockbusters).
• McPhee (1963) large share of the audience for popular products consist of light
users, whereas a large share of the audience for niche products consists of heavy
users. Thus, hit products monopolise light users (natural monopoly). Furthermore,
niche products are known by people who are also familiar with the top products
(which they often prefer). However the tail-products are needed to keep variety-
seeking heavy users interested.
Marketing winners: cumulative advantage process
• successful songs, films etc are not necessarily better, people simply go with popular
opinion
• Quality products will eventually flow to top, but success is manageable
• Winners and losers get free publicity
3. Users
4
Lecture 1 - The Entertainment Industry
Entertainment is entertaining
• Past motive: amusement or joy
• Nowadays = boredom, if bored we look for entertainment
• Keeps you among people - Inter (among), Tenere (keep)
• Fine line between what is entertaining and what is not? When does it become
immoral ? When do we cross the line ? What makes it entertainment ?
What is entertainment ?
• Entertainment understood as response to a product
• Anyone can say its entertainment, as long as group says it, it can become popular
entertainment
• Entertainment is a complex, dynamic and multi-faceted experience
Popular Entertainment defines our culture
• Pop culture is generally recognised as a constantly evolving set of practices, beliefs
and values that are dominant or ubiquitous in a society at a given point in time
• Can challenge traditional values and norms, in (non-) stereotypical portrayal of a
character who either represents dominant culture or non dominant
• Who chooses what popular culture is ? Entertainment industry
The Entertainment Industry
- Describes the mass media companies that control the distribution and manufacture of
mass media entertainment with the intention of selling or otherwise profiting from
creative works or services
- Different groups (film, game. music)
1
,How do we examine this entertainment industry?
• Who is saying what? To whom with what effect?
• Lasswell’s linear model of communication
• How question - is not given? How does it
change the message etc. So mid-optimal
Differential Susceptibility to media effects model (Valkenburg & Peter 2013)
- Factors predict Childs media use disposition,
developmental level and social environment.
Three factors can also influence the effect
that media may have on beliefs, behaviour.
- Effects of media use can also influence
media use
- If you have very aggressive boy, and he plays aggressive video games, he will get
even more aggressive —> His disposition is aggressiveness and it will influence his
media use, choice and effects
His model including the Entertainment Industry
- Product being marketed to people, these people have an experience through the
design
- Design then leads to certain response —>
Leads to continuation of non of the product
- Users are at the heart of the cycle
- Red parts are about users
- Blue about entertainment industry
- Video game with certain design, e.g. try to
make u laugh. So your response may be
laughter, this then leads to continuation of
the product
2
,1. Product
• Medium
- Entertainment Technology: Where u watch
on, changes your experience e.g. Black white
television, Phone, Cinema, TV, 3DTV
- Entertainment Interactivity: Lean back
(passive) and lean forward (active)
entertainment
Interactivity holds implications for quality of entertainment
- Entertainment Connectivity: Social connections through mediated comm.systems
(COD, Fortnight plays in teams, Watching movie in cinema with a social group)
• Concept: Title, Type, Genre, Subject, Theme
2. Relationship: Product to Users : Marketing
- Marketing starts before product is finished sometimes - Targets specific groups
(as seen by game of thrones; winter is coming)
- Localisation: translating a (entertainment)
product into different languages e.g. products
switch per market e.g. cut our scenes,
different brands or ads fitting to region/market
e.g. The Voice per Country
- Globalisation of entertainment: Movies which
are successful are mostly action movies,
things which work on a global scale without
different clashing cultural values
Blockbuster strategy:
- Producers make huge investments to market a small number of products with
strong hit potential , and then use that revenue gained to make middling
performance content
- e.g. Disney makes 20 movies, invests mainly in 3
- Blockbusters are expensive to produce, cheap to reproduce
3
, Long Tail Strategy
- Seeing lower values of many-hard-to-find items instead of only selling large
volumes of popular items
- You will be drawn less to hit products, when you have more possibilities and
indefinite storages. People will choose niches, rather than popular appeal.
- Tail will get longer bc more and more products are produces
BLOCKBUSTER VS LONG-TAIL
• Anderson (2006) argues that the tail will get longer (indefinite storage space) and
fatter (consumers will search and choose their individual preferences – through
recommendation systems), whereas the head (products aimed at mass appeal) will
shrink.
• Elberse (2013) argues that many of the products in the tail are former top-products
(blockbusters).
• McPhee (1963) large share of the audience for popular products consist of light
users, whereas a large share of the audience for niche products consists of heavy
users. Thus, hit products monopolise light users (natural monopoly). Furthermore,
niche products are known by people who are also familiar with the top products
(which they often prefer). However the tail-products are needed to keep variety-
seeking heavy users interested.
Marketing winners: cumulative advantage process
• successful songs, films etc are not necessarily better, people simply go with popular
opinion
• Quality products will eventually flow to top, but success is manageable
• Winners and losers get free publicity
3. Users
4
