Revisiting the creative/commercial clash: an analysis of decision-making during product development in the television industry
Abstract
Revisiting the creative/commercial clash: an analysis of decision-making during product development in the television industry SAGE Publications, Inc. 201010.1177/0163443710373952 © The Author(s) 2010, The Author(s) James PaulRoberts UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS, UK, j.p.roberts@lubs.leeds.ac.uk This article is based on the findings of primary research undertaken in 2007/8 into the activities of British television companies involved in programme selection and development. Specifically the research explored organization, process and decision-making in and around the selection of programme ideas and their passage through the various organizations involved in programme development up to and including final commissioning by the broadcaster. The output of the research does much to confirm the findings of previous cultural industries researchers in a variety of areas, but perhaps more significantly begins to question the enduring accuracy of a number of long-held assumptions about why organizations in cultural industries are organized and function as they do. This article will focus on one aspect of this: the perceived differences in agenda between commercial and creative constituencies in organizations within cultural industries (specifically mass media entertainment companies) and the degree to which this clash is one of the primary shaping forces of organization and behaviour in the sector. The article reviews a