Empires of Entertainment
Empires of Entertainment
Media Industries and the Politics of Deregulation, 1980-1996
Empires of Entertainment integrates legal, regulatory, industrial, and political histories to chronicle the dramatic transformation within the media between 1980 and 1996. As film, broadcast, and cable grew from fundamentally separate industries to interconnected, synergistic components of global media conglomerates, the concepts of vertical and horizontal integration were redesigned. The parameters and boundaries of market concentration, consolidation, and government scrutiny began to shift as America's politics changed under the Reagan administration. Through the use of case studies that highlight key moments in this transformation, Jennifer Holt explores the politics of deregulation, the reinterpretation of antitrust law, and lasting modifications in the media landscape.
Holt skillfully expands the conventional models and boundaries of media history. A fundamental part of her argument is that these media industries have been intertwined for decades and, as such, cannot be considered separately. Instead, film, cable and broadcast must be understood in relation to one another, as critical components of a common history. Empires of Entertainment is a unique account of deregulation and its impact on political economy, industrial strategies, and media culture at the end of the twentieth century.
Incisively argued and elegantly written, Empires of Entertainment shows the anti-democratic character of huge concentrations of media wealth and the manner in which an ideal of the public good has been sacrificed on behalf of unfettered corporate power.
Jennifer Holt has written a concise, captivating, and much-needed history of industry and regulatory developments in U.S. television since the eighties. It will be required reading for scholars of industry history and anyone interested in contemporary media policy.
Holt elegantly details the twists and turns of the political economics of U.S. film and TV industries at the end of the twentieth century. With a keen eye for the subtleties (and sometime ironies) of corporate thinking, she reveals a process that is both very political and very human. Empires of Entertainment sheds new light on how the media really works.
Incisively argued and elegantly written, Empires of Entertainment shows the anti-democratic character of huge concentrations of media wealth and the manner in which an ideal of the public good has been sacrificed on behalf of unfettered corporate power.
Jennifer Holt has written a concise, captivating, and much-needed history of industry and regulatory developments in U.S. television since the eighties. It will be required reading for scholars of industry history and anyone interested in contemporary media policy.
Holt elegantly details the twists and turns of the political economics of U.S. film and TV industries at the end of the twentieth century. With a keen eye for the subtleties (and sometime ironies) of corporate thinking, she reveals a process that is both very political and very human. Empires of Entertainment sheds new light on how the media really works.
Introduction: The Foundation of Empires
1. 1980-1983: Film versus Cable
2. 1983-1985: Broadcast and the Blueprints of Empires
3. 1984-1986: Outsiders Moving in--Murdoch and Turner
4. 1986-1988: Golden Era Redux
5. 1989-1992: Big Media without Frontiers
6. 1993-1995: The Last Mile
Conclusion: 1996 and Beyond--The Political Economy of Transformation
Notes
Bibliography
Index
