Effects of commercialism and nationalism on enjoyment of an event telecast: Lessons from the Atlanta olympics

Abstract

Popular and scholarly writers have argued that nationalism and commercialism in event telecasts may have a negative effect on the enjoyment that audiences obtain. This argument has been most forcefully put in the case of the Olympic Games. The argument is tested in a study of 196 adult Americans who watched the 1996 Summer Olympic Games on television. Ratings were obtained for their interest in the event, their enjoyment of it, their perception that it was over‐commercialised, their perception that telecasts focused too much on American athletes, their religiosity, their patriotism, and the number of hours of Olympic telecast they watched. Audience perceptions that the event was over‐commercialised and that the telecasts focused too much on Americans each had a negative effect on enjoyment. Religiosity and patriotism had small positive effects on interest. Implications for telecasting events and for future research are discussed.