Commodity Audience, Commodity Everything: Interrogating T-Commerce in the United States Cable Industry

Western University Scholarship@Western Digitized Theses Digitized Special Collections 2011 COMMODITY AUDIENCE, COMMODITY EVERYTHING: INTERROGATING T-COMMERCE IN THE UNITED STATES CABLE INDUSTRY Lee McGuigan Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses Recommended Citation McGuigan, Lee, "COMMODITY AUDIENCE, COMMODITY EVERYTHING: INTERROGATING T-COMMERCE IN THE UNITED STATES CABLE INDUSTRY" (2011). Digitized Theses. 3284. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses/3284 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Digitized Special Collections at Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Digitized Theses by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. COMMODITY AUDIENCE, COMMODITY EVERYTHING: INTERROGATING T-COMMERCE IN THE UNITED STATES CABLE INDUSTRY (Spine title: Commodity Audience, Commodity Everything) (Thesis format: Monograph) by Lee McGuigan Graduate Program in Media Studies A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada © Lee McGuigan 2011 THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO SCHOOL OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES CERTIFICATE OF EXAMINATION Supervisor Examiners Dr. Edward Comor Dr. Graham Broad Supervisory Committee Dr. James Compton Dr. Daniel Robinson Dr. Daniel Robinson The thesis by Lee McGuigan entitled: Commodity Audience, Commodity Everything: Interrogating T-Commerce in the United States Cable Industry is accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Date Chair of the Thesis Examination Board Abstract and Keywords This thesis is a theoretical and historical investigation of interactive television commerce (t-commerce). T-commerce lets viewers buy the commodities appearing in advertisements and program content. Additionally, t-commerce utilizes advanced advertising formats that target consumers precisely with customized advertisements. This thesis is grounded in theories of the audience commodity. It is argued that t-commerce is consistent with the historical trajectory of advertiser-supported television in which profits are generated by producing audiences of consumers. The business of commercial television has always been structured to produce consumers as economic and social products. The linchpin of their value as commodities is their capacity to consume. T- commerce increases the value of audiences of consumers by situating viewers in a marketplace that exhorts impulse buying and monitors consumption-related behaviour. Keywords: audience commodity; t-commerce; advertising; commercial television; interactive television; consumption; political economy of technology; Dallas Smythe m Acknowledgements I would like to recognize those people who contributed meaningfully to this project and to my academic “career.” Thanks to Edward Comor for showing me what it means to be a social scientist. Throughout our struggles, it has always been clear that you are tough on me because you care. Your dedication will continue to inspire me. Thanks to Daniel Robinson for thoughtful instruction in matters both academic and administrative. Thanks, also, for trusting me as an employee and allowing me opportunities to develop as an educator. Thanks to Keir Keightley for providing a counterweight of encouragement during difficult times. And, finally, many thanks to Robert Babe for teaching me so much which I still do not fully understand. It is no stretch to say that I would not be where I am without Professor Babe’s guidance. I can scarcely begin to express my gratitude for the mentorship and charity shown by all of these professors. I would like to thank Vince Manzerolle and Atle Mikkola Kjosen for their tutelage and for their patience in enduring my preliminary explanations of the concepts explored herein. It would have been easy to dismiss my quackery instead of responding with such measured and insightful feedback. Thanks, also, to the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada for their generous funding. Most importantly, I thank my family, to whom I owe everything. Special thanks go to my mother and father for their unwavering support, for always putting me and my brother first, and for tolerating my impertinence during those years when I knew everything. A psalm twice the length of this thesis could not praise you adequately. You are the world to me. Thanks, in sum, to the many family, friends and colleagues who have touched my life. You are all responsible for this thesis—especially the errors and omissions! The following is dedicated to my aunt, Maureen Lee—librarian, thinker, radical. IV T able o f C ontents THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO.................................................................. ii CERTIFICATE OF EXAMINATION....................................................................................ii Abstract and Keywords............................................................................................................ iii Acknowledgements...................................................................................................................iv Table of Contents....................................................................................................................... v List of Abbreviations.............................................................................................................. vii List of Appendices..................................................................................................................viii List of Tables.......................................................................................................................... viii Chapter One: Introducing T-Commerce........................................... 1 Theoretical Framework......................................................................................................... 5 Primary Arguments................................................................................................................8 Research Methods and Approach.......................................................................................12 Chapter Layout..................................................................................................................... 14 Chapter Two: The Audience Commodity and the Work of Producing It............................15 Foundational Theory............................................................................................................16 The Work of Watching and Its Value................................................................................20 The Commodity “Audience” vs. the Actual Audience.................................................... 26 Debating in the Blindspots: Illuminating or Casting Shadows?......................................27 The Audience Commodity in a Digital E ra...................................................................... 31 Conclusion............................................................................................................................34 Chapter Three -Technology and Commercial Form: Audience Economics, Advertising and Television’s Direct Marketing Turn................................................................................ 35 Commercial TV as Rationalized Creative Industry..........................................................38 The Audience Product......................................................................................................... 41 The Audience Marketplace.................................................................................................43 Audience Valuation............................................................................................................ 45 Single-Source D ata............................................................................................................. 46 DVR and the Value Proposition of Ad-Supported Television.........................................49 Mitigating Avoidance of Advertisements: Blurring Art and Commerce........................52 The Direct Marketing Turn.......................................................... 54 Changing Currencies: From Exposure to Performance................................................... 55 Art, Science, Magic and Power.......................................................................................... 57 Conclusion............................................................................................................................60 Chapter Four—An Impulse to Exploit: The Rise of the Interactive Television Storefront62 Early Impediments to ITV and T-Commerce................................................................... 64 The Appeal of T-Commerce and Advanced Advertising................................................ 68 Building a Business: Developments Toward an ITV Market..........................................71 “Turning TV Sets into Cash Registers” .............................................................................73 Consumer Research and T-Commerce..............................................................................75 v The T-Commerce Value Chain.......................................................................................... 78 The Problem of Scale.........................................................................................................

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