Again, this is not in dispute. I like to look at sexy women as much as the next old straight creepy cis guy, and I don’t need Ad Men to explain the appeal to me.
But sexualization of women athletes is not sex, rather it is the demeaning and trivializing of female athletes. If NBC and the IOC were pushing topless female Volleyball, or limiting gymnastics to Playboy Centerfolds (there’s a phrase that dates me) then we would be talking about whether sex is able to attract more viewers than athletics. But the kinds of uniforms and images we are talking about are extremely low level in terms of their prurient interest - you have to watch a hell of a lot of beach volleyball to see anything that really approaches the fantasy of hot babes jiggling in bikinis. Instead, what you see are skilled athletes being forced to operate in ridiculous costumes. People like animals too, but I doubt the ratings for Rugby 7s would be higher if the athletes wore puppy outfits. I am just not sure what percentage of the viewing audience falls in the intersecting sets of : A) People who want to see women running around in absurdly skimpy and mildly titillating outfits and B) People who dont know how to use the internet to find pictures or videos of women wearing very titillating outfits, or no outfits at all. On Tue, 27 Jul 2021 at 7:17 PM Steve Timko <[email protected]> wrote: > Sex works in advertising. Sex works in television. > > > https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/2649-sex-sells-more.html > > > > Why Sex Sells… More Than Ever > > Magazine ads featuring sex are on the rise, with the exception of two > not-too-sexy industries. > > - Advertisers use sexual imagery to attract sales of products as > diverse as perfume and cheeseburgers. > - While using sexy ads might seem like a risky choice, studies show > that it works. > - Sex sells because it immediately grabs attention. > - This article is for business owners and marketers considering > various approaches to advertising that might catch the attention of their > target audience. > > Sex still sells: A study from the University of Georgia (UGA) looked at > sexual ads that have appeared in magazines over the last 30 years and found > that the numbers are going up. > Why is sex important in sales? > > Sex attracts attention. Though it's often a taboo subject, companies that > use sex in their marketing often create effective and memorable campaigns. > > > > > On Tue, Jul 27, 2021, 7:11 PM PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > >> No, it is not that simple. Nobody doubted that ratings would be down this >> year, just that the reason would be related to less sexualization of women >> athletes. You still have not pro even a little bit if evidence to support >> that even a sliver of the decline is related to this. >> >> The news reports on ratings I have read cite the lack of a live audience, >> streaming, drop out if audience favorites in first week. I have not read >> anyone saying it up is due to lack of sexy spandex. >> >> Furthermore, the decline in Olympic ratings is in line with, and so far I >> think less than, the decline we have seen in ratings for award shows in the >> last year. So I would say the main takeaway here is simply that, whatever >> NBC may have hoped, the Olympics are not immune to the downward pressures >> on ratings experienced in the rest of television. >> >> >> >> >> On Tue, 27 Jul 2021 at 6:14 PM Steve Timko <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Sex sells. It's that simple. >>> NBC's Friday night ratings are down 36% from 2016. NBC is already >>> looking at make goods to advertisers because rating are so low. >>> Desexualizatioon is responsible for only a sliver of the decline, I am >>> guessing. >>> But it will take even a bigger chunk in 2024. And even more in 2028. >>> >>> >>> https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/nbcuniversal-tokyo-olympics-make-goods-advertising-1235028563/ >>> >>> On Tue, Jul 27, 2021, 8:21 AM PGage <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> I am very skeptical of the claim that less sexualizing of female >>>> athletes will reduce ratings. If guys want to see images of hot women in >>>> bikinis (or even out of bikinis) there are a lot better ways to do that >>>> than to suffer through hours of beach volleyball hoping to catch a >>>> particularly revealing shot. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On Tue, 27 Jul 2021 at 7:19 AM Tom Wolper <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>>> On Tue, Jul 27, 2021 at 6:55 AM Steve Timko <[email protected]> >>>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Each Olympics aims to set the highest level of television standards >>>>>> >>>>>> https://abcn.ws/2TAIUP3 >>>>>> >>>>>> Less sexualized images will mean lower ratings. How much lower, I >>>>>> don't know. >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Can you substantiate this? And even if it turns out that ratings are >>>>> lower, can you filter out other factors to show that this is the cause? >>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> The first unitard picture I saw was of the New Zealand gymnastics >>>>>> team. Before reading the headline to know what the story was about, I >>>>>> thought, "That is hot." >>>>>> Oops. >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Hot is subjective. I am sure that there are straight men who think >>>>> female weightlifters are hot. I wouldn't suggest uniform changes to >>>>> enhance >>>>> it or hide it, though. >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJE-FiFdbgUPZXUQmz2RVhYUwuB30c2S3PFwOXbfX1FZxjhS8w%40mail.gmail.com >>>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJE-FiFdbgUPZXUQmz2RVhYUwuB30c2S3PFwOXbfX1FZxjhS8w%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>>>> . >>>>> >>>> -- >>>> Sent from Gmail Mobile >>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>> >>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkY%2BDLQn4-CBDvvxBZvwSh51ykt%3D-dnFgC_-Pty84mDdkGQ%40mail.gmail.com >>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkY%2BDLQn4-CBDvvxBZvwSh51ykt%3D-dnFgC_-Pty84mDdkGQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>>> . >>>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to [email protected]. >>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAH5J8ywWb9tSOPjTkp4fG%2BqiWed5E10C_tmH%2BU8zZDAUZoi3_Q%40mail.gmail.com >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAH5J8ywWb9tSOPjTkp4fG%2BqiWed5E10C_tmH%2BU8zZDAUZoi3_Q%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> -- >> Sent from Gmail Mobile >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> > To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYLPsEabF9j1LH_fSPZcgLn8%3DPcCS2t6cosOdY2eCWgx0g%40mail.gmail.com >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYLPsEabF9j1LH_fSPZcgLn8%3DPcCS2t6cosOdY2eCWgx0g%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAH5J8ywc-VTjCFdb%2BEAZarmxOhqpCmKKhcRACEpmxsP9Jq-fWQ%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAH5J8ywc-VTjCFdb%2BEAZarmxOhqpCmKKhcRACEpmxsP9Jq-fWQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- Sent from Gmail Mobile -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. 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