Publications

10 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Cable TV: From Community Antennas to Wired Cities

cable franchises, media company managers could leverage their knowledge of local communities and their political processes. However, some companies avoided franchising: their executives worried that the need to influence city officials... View Details

Keywords: by Thomas R. Eisenmann; Media & Broadcasting; Media & Broadcasting; Media & Broadcasting

September 2014 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston)

By: Thales Teixeira and V. Kasturi Rangan

WHDH's Channel 7 News rose to the #1 position in Boston-area news broadcasting through its embrace of an innovative format and for affiliating with NBC. Since the early 2000s, however, other news programs had copied their format, and young audiences had begun to use... View Details

Keywords: Online News; Television Advertising; Attention Economics; Cross-media Efforts; Competition; Internet and the Web; Consumer Behavior; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Marketing Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Digital Marketing; Television Entertainment; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Boston

17 Feb 2003
Research & Ideas

Building Communities as Well as Companies

different story when it came to describing the personal goals and challenges that drive their individual enterprises. The marketplace today has recognized that without brown people you can't win.—Keith Clinkscales, Vanguarde Media After... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

21 Jan 2020
Research & Ideas

Lessons for Retailers from the Rebirth of Indie Bookstores

bookstore owners are increasingly seeing their competition not as Barnes & Noble, but as Netflix and other entertainment apps that tie people to their couches. “Retailers who succeed are able to create a unique experience that... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Entertainment & Recreation

March 2020
Case

Aereo

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Jacey Taft

Aereo aimed to disrupt television program distribution by providing consumers access to local broadcast TV programming using offsite antennas, cloud-based DVRs, and an Internet connection. With Aereo, consumers could “cut the cord” and avoid the high cost of a cable TV... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Failure; Lawsuits and Litigation; Internet and the Web; Media; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

06 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

Winners and Losers at the Olympics

finally, there are more sources of information and entertainment than ever before. For millions of younger people, the Web is much more appealing than television. It's important to remember, however, that we can't judge NBC solely on the... View Details

Keywords: Re: Stephen A. Greyser; Entertainment & Recreation; Entertainment & Recreation; Entertainment & Recreation

October 1990 (Revised March 1993)
Background Note

Note on Cable Television Regulation

By: Willis M. Emmons III

Examines the evolution of the U.S. cable television industry since its inception in the early 1950s. Particular emphasis is given to the roles played by technology, consumer demand, and regulation at both the local and federal level. Designed to facilitate a conceptual... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Demand and Consumers; Government Legislation; Business Growth and Maturation; Monopoly; Television Entertainment; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

Find at Harvard

02 Sep 2016
Op-Ed

The Twitter Election

7,772, and he widens his lead on retweets. Trump has been tweeting more energetically, but Clinton is way more efficient in number of tweeters per tweet.As she did in 2008, Clinton is relying more heavily on traditional media with over... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch and Thales Teixeira

September 2019 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Bill Connors and The Farm, a Comcast NBCUniversal Innovation Hub (Powered by Boomtown)

By: Linda A. Hill and Eric Mankin

In 2017, Bill Connors, the President of Comcast’s Central Division, launched a startup accelerator in Comcast’s new Atlanta Regional headquarters. Comcast was America's largest cable and internet service provider, having built a profitable business bundling television... View Details

September 2019 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Burunda Prince at The Farm, a Comcast NBCUniversal Innovation Hub (Powered by Boomtown)

By: Linda A. Hill, Eric Mankin and Emily Tedards

After a successful inaugural year, Burunda Prince, the Managing Director of Comcast’s startup business accelerator The Farm, was getting ready for an eventful 2019. Comcast was America's largest cable and internet service provider, having built a profitable business... View Details

03 Aug 2016
Research & Ideas

Ominous Background Music Is Bad for Sharks

“While it may be tempting to include ominous soundtracks for entertainment value for instance, our research shows there is a potential cost to doing so.” And while this study focuses on sharks, the findings provide a general lesson about... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Media & Broadcasting

04 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Predictions, Prophets, and Restarting Your Business

Bezos was still working on Wall Street. After decades of tax-free sales, ecommerce was just 11.4 percent of US retail sales in 2019, according to the Department of Commerce. Meanwhile, social media usage on the major platforms had been... View Details

Keywords: by Frank V. Cespedes

14 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 14

Publications 2006 Henry Holt (Macmillan) Blockbusters: Hit-making, Risk-taking, and the Big Business of Entertainment By: Elberse, Anita Abstract—What's behind the phenomenal success of entertainment... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2017
Teaching Note

Reinventing Best Buy

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Teaching Note for HBS No. 716-455. On March 1, 2017, Best Buy Company, Inc., North America’s largest retailer of consumer electronics and appliances, announced a third year of comparable-store sales increases and a 20.8% increase in domestic comparable online sales.... View Details

29 Apr 2008
First Look

First Look: April 29, 2008

and even remade as movies have come to dominate mainstream media content. At media giant Sony, Ken Munekata, CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), and Atsushi Fukuda,... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 2017
Teaching Note

The Tate's Digital Transformation

By: Jill Avery

John Stack was the visionary Head of Digital Transformation at the Tate, a collection of four major art galleries in the UK, including Tate Modern, the most visited gallery devoted to modern and contemporary art in the world. Stack was the architect of the Tate’s... View Details

January 2022 (Revised February 2022)
Teaching Note

Universal During COVID: The Future of Theatrical Windows

By: Hong Luo, Henry McGee and Carol Lin

The COVID-19 pandemic brought enormous disruption to the movie industry, closing theaters indefinitely by mid-March 2020, halting television and film production, and throwing theatrical release schedules into disarray. Shell had assumed the CEO position at NBC... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Leadership; Decisions; Strategy; Negotiation; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

March 2005
Teaching Note

Must Zee TV (TN)

By: Bharat N. Anand

Teaching Note to (9-700-122). View Details

Keywords: Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

June 2000 (Revised February 2003)
Case

Must Zee TV

By: Bharat N. Anand and Tarun Khanna

Explores issues related to (1) the vertical boundaries of the firm in an emerging-economy context, especially the effects of lack of intellectual property rights and lack of contract enforcement on both industry structure and boundaries of the firm; and (2) the extent... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Developing Countries and Economies; Copyright; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry