The Digital Glocalization of Entertainment

In this volume, Paolo Sigismondi explores the dynamics of global media and entertainment, specifically analyzing the implications of the global rise of non-scripted entertainment (as reality TV programs) and the impact and consequences of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) revolution on the content, delivery platforms, and overall business models of the media and entertainment landscape. This work aims at bridging the gap between media theories and industry practices in a rapidly evolving global mediascape, building on scholarship in the field and enriched by case studies and insights from business practice.

This work demonstrates that the paradigms of the landscape are shifting, introducing the digital 'glocalization' of entertainment, through which successful media crossing national and cultural borders incorporate both global and local features.

Key questions raised include:

• Is the ICT revolution an example of disruptive technology for the global media and entertainment industry?
• Is the existing status quo challenged, and in, particular Hollywood's global leadership?
• What are the global entities emerging as Hollywood's main competitors in this technologically evolving landscape?

Sigismondi argues that as new players are entering the field, new threats to Hollywood's dominance are emerging. The global leaders in non-scripted entertainment, for example, are European-based global entities operating outside the Hollywood system. Meanwhile, the ICT revolution is modifying the contours and boundaries of the global mediascape. Sigismondi's approach provides unique insight into how the forces of technology and globalization are transforming television, cinema, and online entertainment.

Paolo Sigismondi is a Lecturer at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California, where he specializes in media, communication, and entertainment. His research and teaching interests focus on the phenomena of globalization forged by new technologies and economic forces such as multinational corporations, especially media, advertising and entertainment conglomerates and their impact on society. He graduated summa cum laude in Economics from LUISS University in Rome, Italy. At the University of Southern California he earned an MBA from the Marshall School of Business, a graduate certificate in Business of Entertainment from the School of Cinematic Arts, and an MA and a PhD from the Annenberg School of Communication. He has more than a decade of work experience in the global media and entertainment industry. He held executive positions in two of Europe's largest media holding companies, Mediaset and Telemontecarlo networks, and in the United States he worked at the world headquarters of Warner Bros. Entertainment, in its International Television Distribution division.