Blackwell Reference Online

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As early as 1962, →  Elihu Katz and David Foulkes wondered why communication researchers had almost exclusively addressed mass media's persuasive capacities (→  Persuasion ) and almost completely neglected its role as an agent of entertainment. Their surprise was caused by the simple observation that the bulk of mass media consumption at that time served entertainment needs – an observation that is equally, if not even more, valid today (→  Exposure to Communication Content ). Cinema movies, television series, radio music, illustrated magazines, and video games (to name just a few examples) frequently attract mass audiences and serve as reliable “cash cows” of the media industries ( Wolf 1999 ). Interestingly, communication research has begun to reflect the remarkable importance of media entertainment very late in the day. Since then, significant theoretical progress has been made on the description and explanation of entertainment experiences ( Bryant & Vorderer 2006 ). Entertainment research is confronted with a huge number of different manifestations of its object. For instance, a broad range of television content is categorized as entertainment programming: crime drama, comedy and →  situation comedies , reality shows, live shows, call-in shows, melodrama, sports broadcasts, adventure movies, mystery shows, daytime talk shows, late night shows, and many more. Other media ... log in or subscribe to read full text