DIGITAL (the circulation of meaning) has GLOBAL changed over - PDF document

30/0 /09/1 /13 � This week’s focus: CULTURE and the CULTURAL SYSTEM � KNES 287 Sport and American Society: Module 1 Topic D � � Culture ¡ “Society of the Sporting Spectacle” � � � Poli+cs ¡ � � Sport ¡ Economy ¡ � � Adam S. Beissel � Physical Cultural Studies Program � Department of Kinesiology � Technology ¡ What is the inter-relationship between sport and culture? Theme 1: � Culture: Two Related Meanings � � � 1. A Set of Practices � 2. A System of Meanings � The things we do within The values, idea, and Society of the Mediated our everyday lives. � beliefs (the ideologies) of Spectacle � society � � Through these interrelated cultural elements, we learn �� the rules and expectations of the society in which we live. � Culture (as a System of Meaning) and Technology � Contemporary Media Culture � VISUAL [and written] � The speed and reach of cultural communication DIGITAL � (the circulation of meaning) has GLOBAL � changed over � time within the INSTANTANEOUS � advent of new � “media VIRAL � communications” technologies… � 1 �

30/0 /09/1 /13 � Social Welfare Functions of � Neo-Liberal Functions of � Mass Communications Media � Mass Communications Media � Inform � Educate � Inform � Educate � Entertain � (capital accumulation/ Entertain � profit) � Within the LATE (CULTURAL) CAPITALIST � ECONOMY, the mass media is an important: � It could be argued that the MASS MEDIA is � CULTURAL 
 The COMMERCIAL � the primary ENERGY SOURCE/MOTOR of � MEDIATION of culture � the CONTEMPORARY ECONOMY. � PRODUCT � � As important as STEAM, COAL, and OIL, and � were to earlier stages of economic development, so the MASS MEDIA is within The manufacture of � CULTURAL � CULTURAL MEANINGS in � the LATE (CULTURAL) CAPITALIST marketing/branding � PROCESS � commodities and services � ECONOMY. � IN THE WORKING OF THE ECONOMY � (THE ACCUMULATION OF CAPITAL). � The Triumph of the Spectacle � “media spectacles are those phenomena of media culture that embody contemporary society’s basic values, serve to initiate individuals into its way of life, and dramatize its controversies and struggles, as well as its modes of conflict resolution” � (Kellner, 2003, p.2) � � French Situationist: Guy Debord � Source: Kellner, D. (2003). Media culture and the triumph of the spectacle Media Spectacle (pp. 1-33). London: Routledge. � 2 �

30/0 /09/1 /13 � Debord’s Society of the Spectacle � Monumental Spectacle � � � � (mass mediated happenings: � Monumental � � � � � � � mega-events) � Spectacle � (mass mediated � � happenings: � mega-events) � � Society of � the Spectacle � Individual � Commodity � Spectacle � Spectacle � (mass mediated � (mass mediated � personas: � commodities: celebrities) � brands) � � Individual Spectacle � Commodity Spectacle � � � � (mass mediated personas: � � � � (mass mediated commodities: � � � � � � � � celebrities) � � � � � � � � � brands) � � � Theme 2: � Monumental � Spectacle � (mass mediated � � happenings: � SPORT mega-events) � � The Economics of the Society of � the � Society of the Monumental Sporting � Spectacle � Commodity � Sporting Spectacle � Individual � Spectacle � Spectacle � (mass mediated � (mass mediated � � commodities: personas: � SPORT brands) � SPORT celebrities) � � �� � � 3 �

30/0 /09/1 /13 � Sport-Media CONVERGENCE � XFL (2001): The Pinnacle of Sportainment? � “mediasport” � the “media-sport complex” � the “sport-business-TV nexus” � “the high-flying entertainment-media- sports industry” � SPORT � ENTERTAINMENT � SPORTAINMENT � XFL Television Ratings 2001 � 10 10 Television Rating � � “I don’t care how [the fans] are 8 entertained. If they’re entertained by the quality of 6 football, great. If they’re 4 entertained from cheerleaders, terrific. If they’re entertained 2 from the reality show and get to see and hear coaches and what 0 they say at halftime where the NFL would never allow you to 1 1 3 3 1 1 3 3 5 5 7 7 9 9 go, great.” � 1 1 1 1 Week of Coverage � (Vince McMahon, � quoted in Morgan, 2001) � NBC NBC TNN TNN UP UPN Of course, the XFL failed, but why? � � The sportainment NORM has led to � televised sport coverage (especially � Perhaps because primetime NFL is already � that for primetime network television) better sportainment? � � augmenting the basic nature of the � Better SPORT? � sporting event in order to make it � more spectacular, and thereby more Better ENTERTAINMENT? � entertaining to a primetime audience. � In other words, it was already more XFL than the XFL? � � � 4 �

30/0 /09/1 /13 � Why the proliferation of sportainment? � The Mass Media’s Interest in Sport � � � � It is hugely: � “The media have no inherent interest in sport. It is merely a means for profit making. For POPULAR � newspapers and magazines, sport sells the publications. For TV and radio, sport gets consumers in front of their sets to hear and see commercials; in effect, TV and radio broadcasts (and thereby commercially � rent their viewers and listeners attention” � � attractive) � Sage, G. H. (1990). Power and ideology in American sport: A critical perspective (p.123) . Champaign: Human Kinetics. � WHY SPORT/SPORTAINMENT? � A Promotional Conduit � Reason #1. Its explicit and telegenic physicality (conjoined as it is with an implicit hetero/homoeroticism). � � “In corporate/Americanized sport, the game Reason #2. Its innate competitive structure (which encourages has become somewhat less important than empathy inducing personal narratives). � � its capacity to be a vehicle presenting Reason #3. Its potential for generating visceral excitement (created by particular [commercial] messages to a the uncertainty, real or imagined, surrounding the outcomes of live sporting contests) � particular select and often massive � audience.” � Reason #4. Its nurturing of deep-rooted individual identifications and loyalties (about which corporate brand managers must surely � fantasize). � � � Reason #5. Its relatively straight forward and inexpensive production demands (especially compared with equivalent programming lasting Source: . Donnelly, “The Local and the Global: Globalization in the more than two hours). � Sociology of Sport,” Journal of Sport and Social Issues 20:3 � (1996): 246. � � � � 1. High-Level (Monumental) Sportainment � The Profit Engine: Advertising Revenue � Exclusive rights to high profile events (for high audience ratings) have resulted in an ability to charge exorbitant costs to advertisers and sponsors: � • $725,000 for a 30 second spot during NBC’s primetime London 2012 Olympic Games coverage � • $3.80 million for a 30 second spot during the 2013 Super Bowl � 5 �

30/0 /09/1 /13 � Television’s “Most Watched” � Top Rated U.S. Television Shows of All-Time � Average audience of 111.3 million viewers “said to be the most-watched television program of all time”. � � Viewed in 53.3 million households. � � U.S. household rating of 47.8 (meaning 47.8% of households were tuned in). � Source: Ogg, J.C. (2013, Feburary 2). Super Bowl XLVII by the numbers. 11 out of 20 sport related. � USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/02/01/ Source: Nielsen Ratings � super-bowl-factoids-24-7/1880601/ � 8 out of 14 football related. � Source: Sports Media Watch � Source: Sports Media Watch � 2. Medium-Level (Everyday) Sportainment � 6 out of 10 football related. � Source: Nielsen Ratings � 6 �

30/0 /09/1 /13 � 3. Low-Level (Manufactured) Sportainment � The Ultimate Low-Level (Manufactured) Sportainment? � Survivor � XFL � Project Runway? � The Amazing Race � See Video Clip 1 Dancing with the Stars � Theme 3: � � � � THE MONUMENTAL SPORT � � � SPECTACLE � The Olympic Sport � � � Spectacle as Sportainment � (a high profile, mass interest, commercially � oriented sporting event) � � �� The NBC-Olympic Convergence � Olympic TV Rights for US National Broadcasters � Year Location Network Hours Rights Fees 1960 Rome CBS 20 $394,000 1964 Tokyo NBC 14 $1.5 million 1968 Mexico City ABC 43.75 $4.5 million 1972 Munich ABC 62.75 $7.5 million 1976 Montreal ABC 76.5 $25 million 1980 Moscow NBC 150 (planned) $87 million 1984 Los Angeles ABC 180 $225 million 1988 Seoul NBC 179.5 $300 million 1992 Barcelona NBC 161 $401 million 1996 Atlanta NBC 171 $456 million 2000 Sydney NBC 441.5 $705 million 2004 Athens NBC 806.5 $793 million 2006 Torino NBC Universal 416 $613 million 2008 Beijing NBC Universal 3,600 $894 million 2012 London NBC 5,535 $1.18 billion Universal 2016 Rio De Janeiro NBC Universal - $1.226 billio 2020 ? NBC Universal $1.418 billion See Video Clip 2 7 �