Video Economics

Video Economics is a rigorous yet accessible analysis of the economics and business strategies of the television industry. Owen and Wildman identify the complex chain of program producers, distributors, and retailers whose objectives are to obtain viewers in order to sell them to advertisers, to charge them an admission fee, or both. Between the late 1970s and the early 1990s the U.S. television industry transformed from a heavily regulated business to a highly competitive one, with new networks, technologies, and markets. Video Economics addresses the major issues affecting competitive advantage in the industry, including sequential program release strategies known as windowing, competition among program producers, the economics of networking, cable television, scheduling strategies, and high definition television (HDTV). The authors present the economic tools required to analyze the industry as they take up each new topic. This book will be of particular interest to students of the mass media, communication policy officials, communication lawyers and consultants, and media and advertising executives.