Tent-pole (entertainment)

In broadcast programming and motion pictures, a tent-pole or tentpole is a program or movie that supports the financial performance of a movie studio or television network. A tent-pole movie may be expected to support the sale of tie-in merchandise.

Types

In the movie business, tent-poles are sometimes widely released initial offerings in a string of releases and are expected by studios to turn a profit in a short period of time. Such programming is often accompanied by larger budgets and heavy promotion.[1] A tentpole movie, for example, is a film that is expected to support a wide range of ancillary tie-in products such as toys and games.[2]

An example of this strategy in television is to schedule a popular television program alongside new or unknown programming, in an attempt to keep audience viewers watching after the flagship program is over; a prominent example is the long-running Star Trek franchise.[3] A related concept is the hammock: in broadcast programming, if a network has two tent-pole series, it can boost the performance of a weak or emerging show by inserting it between the two tent-poles.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Rise of the Blockbuster". BBC News. 2001-11-16. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  2. ↑ Plastic Reality: Special Effects, Art and Technology in 1970s U.S. Filmmaking, Julie A. Turnock, ProQuest, 2008. P. 236
  3. ↑ Teitelbaum, Sheldon (1991-05-05). "How Gene Roddenberry and his Brain Trust Have Boldly Taken 'Star Trek' Where No TV Series Has Gone Before : Trekking to the Top". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. p. 16. Archived from the original on 2011-05-11. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  4. ↑ "Michael Dann, TV Programmer, Dies at 94; Scheduled Horowitz and Hillbillies". The New York Times. 31 May 2016.
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