Film and Television: An Analytical History of Economic and Creative Integration
Dombkowski, Dennis Joseph
This item is only available for download by members of the University of Illinois community. Students, faculty, and staff at the U of I may log in with your NetID and password to view the item. If you are trying to access an Illinois-restricted dissertation or thesis, you can request a copy through your library's Inter-Library Loan office or purchase a copy directly from ProQuest.
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/77260
Description
Title
Film and Television: An Analytical History of Economic and Creative Integration
Author(s)
Dombkowski, Dennis Joseph
Issue Date
1982
Department of Study
Speech Communication
Discipline
Speech Communication
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Mass Communications
Language
eng
Abstract
An analytical history of film-television relationships indicates that major film producers and television have merged. Integration has occasioned mutual adaptations, and any competition remaining between the two media is mitigated by shared economic goals and philosophical assumptions interlocking them in capitalistic private enterprise.
Their initial interconnection in the 1920s stemmed from patent sharing. Hollywood became a radio center; Paramount owned various broadcasting interests. Companies and unions awaited television as a market for their product and skills.
During the 1950s the separation of theatre chains from producers allowed the latter to supply material to television as it grew and prices became attractive. After early efforts by independents the majors produced filmed series, released features to television and directed their product to emerging television systems abroad. American market dominance of global program sales peaked in the mid-1960s but residual imprints on foreign television remain.
Commercial television's appetite for features in the 1960s spawned made-for-television movies and, more recently, mini-series. These make up two-thirds of all network features and have appeared in theatres.
Hollywood producers are now exploiting media such as CATV, pay television and home video, creating a duplication of content among them. When all electronic markets are considered, it appears that the film companies now rely on such sources for nearly a third of their income, a share likely to grow with the new media.
This non-theatrical income nearly eliminates the risk of a feature's failure. No single medium's audience is large enough in the total market to determine the success or failure of material in that medium; the market power of audiences in each medium has thus been diminished.
The major firms in each medium have attempted to control those in the other, resulting in regulatory proceedings and antitrust litigation. Yet government actions preserve concentration and shift power merely from one oligopoly to another, maintaining the very features of the system that cause market dysfunction. Tendencies toward concentration in the film and television industries reflect deeper attributes of the economic system at large.
Use this login method if you
don't
have an
@illinois.edu
email address.
(Oops, I do have one)
IDEALS migrated to a new platform on June 23, 2022. If you created
your account prior to this date, you will have to reset your password
using the forgot-password link below.
