If I were in the control room with the crew in the scene from Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, I would have acted the same way as the director that did not want the feed to get cut. In this fictional behind-the-scenes situation, the controversy over the producer’s speech would bring a lot more eyes to the show, prompting media attention and earned impressions such as social media posts, blogs, or any other form of reaction on the internet. Although the producer’s interruption may receive negative earned impressions, they would still be regarded as contributions while measuring the impact of the media message and how widely it is spread.
Due to the controversial nature of the producer’s rant about the corporate entertainment industry, the show would bound to get a lot more audience members, site views, clicks, etc. Like the director says in the scene, they do not need to worry about anyone changing the channel. This occurrence would most likely get the show on the radars of those who did not know it existed, increasing their likelihood of checking it out. Like the textbook explains, media enterprises are in the audience construction industry. Audiences are manufactured by programming “bait” created to attract consumers. This fictional scenario is not planned, but the show’s network can use this live broadcast “incident” to bait new viewers.
While addressing controversy in the television industry, Orlik also writes, “Quantifying controversy is thus not just a matter of avoiding content that may offend, but of calculating when to embrace such content when it becomes temptingly profitable.” Something like this fictional scene airing on live television would get people talking. Like previously mentioned, the network could take advantage, resulting in a potentially profitable outcome. Additionally, the producer doesn’t say anything that will offend an average viewer because his target is the corporate entertainment industry. Most people would probably agree that there are worse things to happen on live television than a man ranting about his corporate superiors.