Pete Johnson
itstv.bsky.social
Pete Johnson
@itstv.bsky.social
Studying media industries, finance, US TV history.
Incoming VAP @ UMiami
PhD @ UT-Austin

Self-hating Yankees fan
Sleepy Hollow, NY: Andrew Carnegie’s grave sits directly across from Samuel Gompers’ (American Federation of Labor founder) in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

Both relatively modest compared to Rockefeller’s mausoleum at the top of the hill!
September 27, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Reposted by Pete Johnson
In a new essay, @aca-laurel.bsky.social examines the role of the fanboy auteur in HBO's backstage comedy "The Franchise," which satirizes Hollywood's superhero industrial complex. Read: www.flowjournal.org/2025/07/fanb...
July 30, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Reposted by Pete Johnson
On local television, public broadcasting, and responses to Mexican immigration: @rodolfofernandez.bsky.social and I wrote about how locally produced documentaries tackled their communities' anxieties about the "sudden" appearance of Mexicans in their towns. pub.dartmouth.edu/journal-of-e...
Journal of e-Media Studies, Volume 7 Issue 2: Accessible Civil Rights Heritage: Mexicans in Your Town: Histories of Mexican Migration to the United States in Local Television Documentaries
by Rodolfo Fernández and Deborah L. JaramilloUniversity of Connecticut (Fernández) / Boston University (Jaramillo)AbstractMigrants and LocalsA Brief Overview of Mexican Migration to the United States&...
pub.dartmouth.edu
July 12, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Reposted by Pete Johnson
Congrats to DR. Pete Johnson (@itstv.bsky.social) on successfully defending his terrific dissertation, "The Risk Myth: Reassessing the Financial Cultures, Practices, and Structures of U.S. Television, 1945–2013."

Next stop: Visiting Assistant Professor in Communication at the University of Miami!
July 1, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Reposted by Pete Johnson
Want to learn about how Texas media industry professionals are active in a range of distribution and exhibition activities across film, television, streaming, and podcasting?

Check out the latest installment in our podcast series! cc @utexasrtf.bsky.social @texasmoody.bsky.social
Today, we're publishing the third episode of our special series on the Texas media industries! This week, we're focusing on Distribution and Exhibition with special guests AJ Feliciano, Holly Herrick, Francis Román, and Adam Zehner, moderated by Dr. Caroline Frick.

soundcloud.com/rtfmic/texas...
June 25, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Reposted by Pete Johnson
Podcast link: soundcloud.com/rtfmic/texas...

Stay tuned for a forthcoming white paper authored by several of us at UT-Austin on the state of the Texas media industry ecosystem.
Texas Entertainment and Media Industries Symposium: Production
Today, we’re bringing you the second episode in our special series about the Texas media industries. This podcast was recorded at the Texas Entertainment and Media Industries Symposium, which took pla
soundcloud.com
June 23, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Reposted by Pete Johnson
With everyone reflecting on the 50th anniversary of “Jaws,” it’s the perfect time to revisit this fascinating TVTV clip of Steven Spielberg reacting to the Oscar recognition his blockbuster got — and didn’t get — when nominations came out (via the Media Burn Archive).
Steven Spielberg watches Oscar nominations in 1976
YouTube video by Media Burn Archive
youtu.be
June 20, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Reposted by Pete Johnson
Flow is experiencing some unexpected back end issues which have resulted in the site currently being down. We are doing our best to get this resolved as quickly as possible. Thanks to those who have already reached out!!
May 27, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Reposted by Pete Johnson
How is global TV production shaped by private equity?
Peter Arne Johnson follows the financial threads behind #PaganPeak to unpack the paradoxes of capital investment. #OnlineFirst journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
The financial ecologies of transnational television production: “Following the money” from private equity to Sky Germany’s Pagan Peak - Peter Arne Johnson, 2025
Private equity firms and institutional stakeholders increased their investments in television production amid the streaming boom of the late 2010s and early 202...
journals.sagepub.com
May 22, 2025 at 10:59 AM
The only section of my dissertation I am willing to share publicly:

#Dunkin
May 20, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Reposted by Pete Johnson
say it again:

4 million people work in higher ed, the largest employer in 10 states, second largest employer in 10 more, and in 60 of the 100 biggest cities

ROI for NIH and NSF for local economies is conservatively 4x, often close to 10x

demolishing higher education is economic sabotage
There is a false dichotomy drawn between "the ivory tower" and "the real world," and I'm here to report that in a post-industrial society, your real-world economy absolutely hinges on the university.

University towns are factory towns. Universities drive economic activity, not the other way around.
May 18, 2025 at 1:45 PM
🚨New (open access!) article in @mcsjournal.bsky.social on transnational media financing and private equity investment in TV production 💰📺
The financial ecologies of transnational television production: “Following the money” from private equity to Sky Germany’s Pagan Peak - Peter Arne Johnson, 2025
Private equity firms and institutional stakeholders increased their investments in television production amid the streaming boom of the late 2010s and early 202...
doi.org
May 13, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Reposted by Pete Johnson
Reminder: Friday, May 16, 2025 is the last day to volunteer for service. You can serve on an Award or Standing committee, or the 2026 Program committee. SCMS relies on its members to function at its best, so get involved!

www.cmstudies.org/page/Volunte...
May 9, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Reposted by Pete Johnson
Wrote a historical piece that defends funding for NPR and PBS. Whatever their problems, we cannot let Fox News become our default "public sphere." There needs to be alternatives, including imperfect yet aspirational ones.
Trump and many GOP lawmakers want to end all funding for NPR and PBS − unraveling a US public media system that took a century to build
The precursors of today’s public media programs consisted of professors giving lectures about history and finance.
theconversation.com
May 2, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Reposted by Pete Johnson
In "Welcome to Wrexham and Representations of Management in Football (Soccer) as a Product of the “Media Sports Cultural Complex”" Andrew Stubbs-Lacy explores representation & construction of management in football with a focus on Welcome to Wrexham. Read: tinyurl.com/4z7wkuk8
May 1, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Reposted by Pete Johnson
Instead of advertising’s integration of AI media technologies as driven by natural market tendencies, @matthewcrain.bsky.social argues its from systemic commodification & political-economic forces, as analyzed through the Political Economy of Media & Communications framework. tinyurl.com/3yajfcmb
April 28, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Reposted by Pete Johnson
My new column in @flowtv.bsky.social : "Silicon Valley's Human Shields."
Earlier drafts were more a love letter to Lina Khan, this is somewhat more serious?
www.flowjournal.org/2025/04/huma...
Silicon Valley’s Human Shields Gerald Sim / Florida Atlantic University – Flow
www.flowjournal.org
April 29, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Reposted by Pete Johnson
Next up: @geraldsim.bsky.social critiques Big Tech’s lobbying strategies against antitrust legislation, arguing that companies use technoliberal narratives, racialized imagery & nationalist rhetoric, such as the “China Argument,” to manipulate public opinion and more. tinyurl.com/ycka7652
April 29, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Reposted by Pete Johnson
I wanted to highlight tonight's newsletter. Because I think it's a really good example of what I do five days a week

open.substack.com/pub/toomucht...
Too Much TV: SXSW Loses Its Soul
Can the once-lively festival survive if it's just part of an entertainment industry sales flywheel?
open.substack.com
April 29, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Reposted by Pete Johnson
🥳New Flow?! With Michael Z. Newman, @geraldsim.bsky.social ,
@matthewcrain.bsky.social , Roderik Smits, & Andrew Stubbs-Lacy! Topics include: camera looks in sitcoms, advertising’s integration of AI, Big Tech’s lobbying efforts, "fair pay” in media industries, & Welcome to Wrexham! flowjournal.org
a group of minions wearing hard hats and goggles are standing together
ALT: a group of minions wearing hard hats and goggles are standing together
media.tenor.com
April 24, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Reposted by Pete Johnson
Dr. Newman explores the use of camera looks in sitcoms like Abbott Elementary as a comedic device. Establishing direct connection with the audience, blending traditions of comedic performance that invite viewer participation & emotional response. Read it here: tinyurl.com/4vp8uakv
April 25, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Reposted by Pete Johnson
For Flow, I wrote this essay about the camera looks in Abbott Elementary and other comedies, and camera looks more generally going back to film comedian comedies and musicals. I connect these looks to the sitcom laugh track. www.flowjournal.org/2025/04/came...
April 23, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Next season on #TheStudio
April 19, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Reposted by Pete Johnson
Old North Church in Boston last night on the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere's ride.
April 18, 2025 at 7:39 PM