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New research on entertainment from Harvard Business School faculty on issues including management of entertainment companies, talent management, and entertainment strategy.
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Consuming Contests: Outcome Uncertainty and Spectator Demand for Contest-based Entertainment

by Patrick J. Ferguson and Karim R. Lakhani

Analysis of Australian Football League data shows that the uncertainty of game outcomes has a large, positive causal effect on stadium attendance. These findings show how competitive balance is important for contest designers in general and sports leagues in particular.

The Twofold Effect of Customer Retention in Freemium Settings

by Eva Ascarza, Oded Netzer, and Julian Runge

Many digital products offer “freemiums”: that is, part of the product for free, often with advertising, and an enhanced customer experience for payment. This research, in a mobile game context, shows the importance of recognizing the short- and long-term effects on customer retention when managing the tradeoffs between free and paid aspects of freemium products.

Learning or Playing? The Effect of Gamified Training on Performance

by Ryan W. Buell, Wei Cai, and Tatiana Sandino

Games-based training is widely used to engage and motivate employees to learn, but research about its effectiveness has been scant. This study at a large professional services firm adopting a gamified training platform showed the training helps performance when employees are already highly engaged, and harms performance when they’re not.

Judgment Aggregation in Creative Production: Evidence from the Movie Industry

by Hong Luo, Jeffrey T. Macher, and Michael Wahlen

Selecting early-stage ideas in creative industries is challenging because consumer taste is hard to predict and the quantity to sift through is large. Using The Black List that ranks scripts annually based on nominations from film executives, this study shows that aggregating expert opinions helps reduce quality uncertainty and can influence high-budget production.

Think of it as Professors in Cars Having Coffee

by Sean Silverthorne

Has the art of civil debate returned? In the new Harvard Business School podcast series After Hours, professors Youngme Moon, Felix Oberholzer-Gee, and Mihir Desai discuss issues ranging from gun control to voice-activated digital assistants. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

The Airbnb Effect: Cheaper Rooms for Travelers, Less Revenue for Hotels

by Dina Gerdeman

Hotels enjoy their highest profits when rooms are most in demand, like during holidays and big events. Unfortunately for them, Airbnb is taking away some of that pricing power, according to new research by Chiara Farronato and Andrey Fradkin. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Telemundo: The Fastest Growing TV Network in the United States

Telemundo is the fastest-growing television network in the United States, but Chairman Cesar Conde must attract millennials to the fold. In this podcast, Henry McGee discusses Telemundo's David and Goliath rise. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Reversing the Losing Streak on Sesame Street

When CEO Jeffrey Dunn took over Sesame Street in 2014 with a new mission to “Make kids smarter, stronger, and kinder,” skepticism ran high as Big Bird's hair. In this podcast, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, who wrote the case with Ryan Raffaelli, talks about reversing a losing streak, answering foundational questions like, “Who are we if we make this deal?” Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Can Wynton Marsalis and Lincoln Center Save Jazz Music?

With its listenership in steep decline, jazz legend Wynton Marsalis is looking to rebrand the genre and engineer its comeback. Rohit Deshpande discusses his recent case study on the effort. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

The Munich Oktoberfest: From Local Tradition to Global Capitalism

Professor Juan Alcacer discusses how the Oktoberfest brand has been transplanted around the globe, whether copycat festivals help or hurt its reputation, and to what extent its original hosts could or should be profit-motivated. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

How Netflix Built its House of Cards (and Changed TV Forever)

The TV drama "House of Cards" not only made Netflix a major entertainment player, but it changed the viewing habits of millions of watchers. In this Cold Call Podcast, Anita Elberse discusses her case study on the impact of this pioneering series and the small production company behind it. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Creating the Perfect Super Bowl Ad

by Kim Girard

Professor Thales S. Teixeira says TV viewers lose purchasing interest when ads get too caught up in entertainment. His advice for the perfect pitch: tie together a good story and a compelling brand. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Better by the Bundle?

by Dina Gerdeman

Video game companies do it, fast-food restaurants, too. Why don't more companies bundle products and services together in one package at a bargain price? Research by Assistant Professor Vineet Kumar. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.