ABSTRACT
Most of the audience experiences sporting events via television. It is the mediated event that attracts tens of thousands, even millions of people, far more than could ever attend events in person. But for decades, only a relatively few sports events were available on television. Eastman and Meyer (1989) argued a decade ago that cable sports programming would drastically change both the amount of interest in sports and the ways in which audiences view sports, and, needless to say, their predictions came true. Although some scholars have explored the impact of sports as television programming (see Rader, 1990; Real, 1989; Wenner, 1989, 1998), few studies have examined the on-air and print promotion that attracts viewers to televised sports events. Yet, on-air and print promotion are broadcasters’ and cablecasters’ essential tools for drawing attention to upcoming programming. They use promotion to try to convince viewers of the value to them of watching, and they use promotion more directly to remind viewers of the day and time of a televised event.
