Monday, January 30, 2012

Lotz, "The Promotional Role of the Network Upfront Presentations in the Production of Culture"

First of all, the main difference in the process of creating broadcast programming between non-commercial and commercial mandate is one is profit driven and another is not. Since the commercially mendated programs need to make profits by gaining advertisers support, their focus becomes seeking for what advertisers want their audiences to be: consumers of the products.  This primal difference makes the difference in the production of cultures between non-commercial and commercial programs. Lotz argues that the upfront presentations are the significant sites to see the process commercially mendated programs produce US culture based on what majority of audiences are attracted.
According to Lotz, "The Upfront presentations are rich sites for illustating what networks believe advertisers desire of the audiences of the shows in which they purchas programming, and they indicate networks' efforts to set the emphasizing what they seek for advertisers to pripritize" (p. 18). Lotz argues that the function or success of the Upfront presentation is getting attention from advertisers so that network will be talked about among advertisers and then the network will be supported.  Because of this  purpose, the programs will target the audiences based on advertisers' desire and it becomes necessity of sucess for the Upfront presentation to define their audiences. Advertisers would support the network which they can make more profits through getting majority of customers' attention so that they can make more profit.

Lotz's argument was interesting to me because I had never paid attention to what happens at the upfront presentation. However it makes sense that commercialy mendated programs seek for what advertisers want rather than what all citizens want. Under this system, the audiences are constantly seen as consumers and the network needs to keep asking that who is willing to pay more money for culture or value  the program reflects, and public interest as citizens become less important. As a result, only one certain of group (maojrity group) become more important as the targeted audience than other group. This is why we need both non-commercial and commercial programs because having only one side can never cover every citizen's interest.

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