Table of Contents

Contents Preface Introduction I. TV PROGRAMS AS CREATIVE GOODS 1. The Market for Broadcast Network Programming 2. Syndication 3. The Public Broadcasting System II. SWITCHING CHANNELS AND PROGRAM QUALITY 4. The Squeeze on Broadcasters' Rents 5. Cable Networks and Upgraded Cable Programming 6. Broadcast Networks, Stations, and Rents III. BARGAINING TABLES AND MEDIA CONGLOMERATES 7. Program Supply, Integration, and the Fin-Syn Rules 8. Broadcast Stations: Lengthening the Chains 9. Cable Networks and Cable Operators: Ownership Links and Carriage Decisions Epilogue Appendix A. Determinants of Affiliates' Compensation Appendix B. Gains for Chains in Radio Notes Selected References Index

Promotional Information

This book is a successful effort to subject to economic analysis an industry that has undergone substantial organizational changes within a short time and that is marked by quite peculiar structural properties and production practices. Caves ingeniously sorts out the industry's peculiarities and reads the economic meaning and implications of its "tribal customs." -- Dick Netzer, Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University In Switching Channels, Richard Caves has done a great job bringing together a vast amount of disparate information to provide a comprehensive framework for the study of television broadcasting. The book covers everything from syndication through the rise of cable networks. -- S. Mark Young, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California

About the Author

Richard E. Caves is Nathaniel Ropes Research Professor of Political Economy at Harvard University.

Reviews

This book is a successful effort to subject to economic analysis an industry that has undergone substantial organizational changes within a short time and that is marked by quite peculiar structural properties and production practices. Caves ingeniously sorts out the industry's peculiarities and reads the economic meaning and implications of its "tribal customs."
*Dick Netzer, Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University*

In Switching Channels, Richard Caves has done a great job bringing together a vast amount of disparate information to provide a comprehensive framework for the study of television broadcasting. The book covers everything from syndication through the rise of cable networks.
*S. Mark Young, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California*

Richard E. Caves [is] the don of entertainment economics.
*New York Times*