Post #12- Applying David Hesmondhalgh's Theory (Maximize audiences with minimum price)

 David Hesmondalgh's theory states that producers should maximize audiences at a minimum price. They may do this by producing content that has insignificant risk rates. Specifically, in sports documentaries, this means that producers will explore content that is familiar to audiences whilst incorporating deeper themes to make the product more appealing. 

David Hesmondalgh's believed that familiarity is heavily relied on and sports documentaries use this strategy often. They use familiar plots such as those demonstrated by Todorov's theory. This structure follows equilibrium, disequilibrium, and new equilibrium. In sports documentaries this often follows an athlete doing great and performing to their fullest to then follow them through something tragic or a downfall and finally to watch them pick themselves back up and reach peak. By following this common plot structure production companies increase the appeal to target audience but limit creativity because of how common this technique is. producers use this ideology because they know that by reusing techniques from previous successes, future success is guaranteed. 

Hesmondhalgh also believed that production companies maximize audiences with minimum costs by forming conglomerates and utilizing horizontal and vertical integration. Horizontal integration is the process of a company buying another or merging with another in order to increase efficiency with minimal risk margins. Vertical integration is when the production company owns or controls all of the production process. This maximizes profit and minimizes cost by reducing the cost it takes to pay other people to do each stage. Production companies like Skydance Sports utilize horizontal integration by partnering with other production companies such as Meadowlark Media. By partnering with another well-known company, they minimize risks by ensuring secure distribution, reaching larger audiences, and providing reasonable costs. This follows Hesmondhalgh's theory because he believed that horizontal and vertical integration can lead to maximum audiences at the least expense. 

When creating my own sports documentary excerpt, I will own and control every step of my process or in other words, use vertical integration, to ensure that Pridgen Productions can maximize their audience at minimum costs like David Hesmondhalgh's theory states.