The Sponsor: Notes on Modern Potentates

By Erik Barnouw

Book Overview

The television sponsor has become semi-mythical. He is remote and unseen, but omnipresent. Dramas, football games, and press conferences pause for a "word" from him. He "makes possible" concerts and public affairs broadcasts. His "underwriting grants" brings the viewer music festivals and classic films. Interviews with visiting statesmen are interrupted for him, to continue "in a moment."

Sponsorship is basic to American television. Even noncommercial television looks to it for survival. A vast industry has grown up around the needs and wishes of sponsors. Television's program formulas, business practices, and ratings have all evolved in ways to satisfy sponsor requirements. Indeed, he has become a potentate of our time.

The Sponsor is divided into three parts. In "Rise," Barnouw sketches the rise of the sponsor, in both radio and television, to his present state of eminence. In "Domain," the sponsor's pervasive impact on television programming is examined, with an emphasis on network television, the primary arena of the industry. And in "Prospect," Barnouw assesses what such dominance has meant for American society, mores, and institutions--and what it may mean for our future. This is a gripping volume about power, how it not only influences programming itself, but how it defines for the average person what is good, great, and desirable.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0765805472
• ISBN13: 9780765805478
• Release Date: November 2003
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 220 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.6" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Historic Contribution to Media History

Chronologically the beginning is a good place to start and Barnouw starts with KDKA, Pittsburgh, the nation's first radio station. From this point the entire telecommunications system branched out, grew, made moderations and exploded into the information age. Tidbits on what were important issues of the time are humorous in retrospect. For example, at WEAF in New York there was discussion on whether something so personal as toothpaste should be advertised over the public airwaves. Critics such as Edgar Felix argued that "direct advertis(ing)" itself was resented by the public. As commercialization increased, the behind-the-scenes decision makers gained more control over the system. "Many programs were advertising agency creations, designed to fulfill specific sponsor objectives," Barnouw tells us. PSAs (Public Service Announcements) followed campaigns designed to support the military in World War II. As the decades rolled on and power was concentrated in the networks, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust suit against the ABC, CBS, and NBC which charged them with monopolizing prime time entertainment. Television news began as 15 minute segments and was expanded to 30 minutes in 1963. This book is informative and well-written. It explains how the foundations of the modern information society came about.

The History of Sponsorship in America!

Really an excellent book. Traces the history of electronic communication (radio & TV)and with it the development of "This show is brought to you by.........."