“SWELCE” and “HEAT WENTZ”: The Politics, Para-sociality, and Pairing of Sports and Popular Music
Francesca Sobande / Cardiff University & Jenessa Williams / The University of Leeds
Francesca Sobande and Jenessa Williams explore the intersections of sports and popular music, highlighting the dynamics of celebrity culture, para-social relationships, and the impact of these pairings on cultural politics. Examples include the relationship between Taylor Swift and NFL player Travis Kelce and the presence of NBA player Jimmy Butler in a Fall Out Boy music video, illustrating how these cross-industry connections influence marketing, fan engagement, and cultural representation.
Read moreWhy Being A ‘Netflix Nation’ Matters – And To Whom
Georgia Aitaki / Karlstad University
Georgia Aitaki examines Netflix’s glocalization initiative and the company’s development of Greek original programming.
Read moreAre two heads better than one? Creative collaborations and job sharing in the media industries
Eva Novrup Redvall / University of Copenhagen
Eva Novrup Redvall considers how directors and other industry professionals collaborate through job sharing in the film and television industries.
Read moreHow to Measure Buzz? OTT Data Sets and Media Audiences in India
Ishita Tiwary / Concordia University
Ishita Tiwari examines how India’s leading media consulting firm, Ormax Media, measures the popularity of the country’s OTT platform content.
Read moreThere Is Something Wrong With Falling In Love: K-Pop Idols, Romance, And The Toxic K-Pop Industry
Jungmin Kwon / Portland State University
Jungmin Kwon looks at K-pop idols and the way that dating is seen as a sin that requires forgiveness. She argues that this stems from the K-pop industry’s toxic business model, and investigates the relationship between idols, fans, and the industry.
Read moreRyan Gosling Brings the Kenergy, Or Barbie’s Night Out at the Oscars
Courtney Brannon Donoghue / University of North Texas
Courtney Brannon Donoghue considers gender (and race) at the Oscars through the lens of Barbie’s Oscar “snubs.”
Read moreThe “Beautiful Weirdness” of NBA League Pass
Branden Buehler / Seton Hall University
Branden Buehler considers the kitsch and local specificity of NBA League Pass in-arena feeds.
Read moreApproaching Distribution Studies
Rahul Mukherjee / University of Pennsylvania
Rahul Mukherjee reviews some recent trends in media distribution studies.
Read moreTikTok Broadway: Towards a New (Digital) Canon of Musical Theatre
Trevor Boffone / University of Houston
Trevor Boffone examines the use of TikTok by musical theatre fans to illustrate the digital afterlives of popular Broadway shows.
Read moreOscars 2024: And the Award for Best Publicity Stunt Goes to…
Lauren Steimer / University of South Carolina
Dr. Lauren Steimer explores how the 2024 Oscars video tribute to stunt work functions primarily as a promotional segment.
Read moreStranded in Osaka: Storytelling through TikTok
Trevor Boffone / University of Houston
Trevor Boffone recounts a harrowing experience traveling back from Japan with a cohort of high school students. Dr. Boffone became a viral news story through the storytelling affordances of TikTok. He reflects upon these affordances, positioning the platform as a site of agency and self-determination.
Read moreExporting local nostalgia – Polish past for global audiences
Sylwia Szostak / SWPS University
Dr. Sylwia Szostak examines Netflix’s “nostalgia strategy” in a recent Polish film, Mr. Car and the Knights Templar, arguing that global distribution results in the delocalization of Netflix’s “local productions.”
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