| This dissertation examines the shifting interpretation of anti-trust policies and regulation on the structure, conduct and performance of the motion picture, broadcast and cable industries during the 1980s. It is largely an industrial analysis that incorporates paradigmatic case studies with legal, political and regulatory history, arguing for the central role of policy and the regulatory process in shaping the intertwined political economies of film, broadcast and cable television during this decade. It also integrates the often-distinct histories of these three industries vis-a-vis regulation and policy to develop a snapshot of how the entire entertainment industry was affected by the shifting parameters of antitrust legislation and interpretation during the Reagan Era. As the first study to document and analyze the related legal, economic and political paths that led to this massive deregulation, it advances the discussion of the 1980s as one of the most significant in American film and television history in terms of economic growth, industrial realignment and a renewed spirit of cooperation both within the entertainment industry and between the power centers of Hollywood and Washington. Through detailed analyses of the most significant mergers, players and developments in cable (i.e. HBO, Premiere and Showtime), broadcast (i.e. Fox, the FCC and the Financial Interest and Syndication Rules) and the film industry (i.e. Tri-Star, abrogation of the Paramount Decrees), this study interrogates the manner in which our perceptual map of vertical integration has been forcibly changed, as well as the social and political contexts in which the concepts of monopoly and anti-trust have been variously interpreted. Ultimately, the result is an analysis of how those shifts and events have directly affected the corporate blueprints and entertainment products in the New Hollywood, linking structural economy, regulation, and policy to textual practice. |
