Acording to nbc.com and warnerbros.com, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is owned and distributed by NBC which is mostly owned by General Electric Co. NBC is associated with The Stuffed Dog Company and Quincy Jones Productions which helped produce Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. And then syndication rights went to Warner Brother Studios who air the re-runs on channels like Nickelodeon and are now producing DVDs of the show for home entertainment. Re-runs of the show are also being aired around the world. Fresh Prince was successful because it was vertically integrated, and because of Will Smith and how he mirrored the Culture of the American Youth in the early 90’s. Because of Will Smiths popularity I think the show was able to increase profit because young people could relate, it was the much needed diversity on the television that consumers were waiting for, and advertisers loved his popularity with their prime target markets. Even after syndication, since Fresh Prince was a comedy, it was able to become popular around the world as well. I think the only horizontal integration that could be argued for this show is that Will Smith added the opening theme song into his album when the show was still airing.
Cody Nunn
October 14, 2007 at 11:26 pm
In response to Cody Nunn’s weblog post….I have to agree with the fact that most of the show’s success has a lot to do with its structural trends in the media industry. Vertical integrated companies are united through a higher system of ranking while sharing a common owner. This allows for more products to be produced (ie. releasing of DVD’s) while making sure the consumers needs are met. When a company owns all of the steps in producing a show, then there will be more of a chance for that show to become even more successful and maintain its popularity.