ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the Preachers of Oxygen through the lens of political economy with attention to changing media industry structures, the rise of social media and its impact on television genres, and the imperative of church marketing, particularly as it relates to the African American church. The Preachers of Oxygen combine the newer emotion-provoking religious subgenre with the long-successful exposition of celebrity lifestyles. Social media contributes to the reflection as the online platforms work synergistically with the reality TV genre, and through them provide a space wherein discussions about the self, spirituality, and faith occur. In the case of Preachers of LA, Twitter was widely used as space to both praise and disparage the show. Audiences are turned into marketing evangelists for the show, which is the ultimate goal of word-of-mouth marketing via social media.