Videoage International August-September 2021

16 Four Decades of Int’ l TV Biz August/Sept. 2021 V I D E O A G E (Continued from Page 14) Product placement appeared around these years in Hollywood, but it was done in a “discreet” way. Then something occurred: While U.S. TV ratings went down, ad revenues were up. 2005 was also the year that gay television themes achieved mass appeal. Product placement exploded into a $2.5 billion business. The year 2006 was also marked by the domination of talent agencies in the production business. Digital TV and Internet came to the fore in 2007 when the intertwined technology put the future of television in plain view. (That headline was also a play on words since the story was about a company based in Plainview, New York). That same year the U.S. studios had to deal with changes dictated by Wall Street’s speculators who were willing to sacrifice dividends for stock growth through drastic budget cuts. The following year, Hollywood assessed the damages caused by the four-month writers’ strike, while the content sales sector welcomed Africa among its emerging territories. 2005 2007 2006 2008