Angelina's Blog

  Behind the Drama: The Hidden Business of Reality TV How Reality TV Turns Drama Into a Multi-Billion-Dollar Business Strategy  Whether you’re watching Love Island on Peacock, keeping up with The Bachelor on Monday nights, or scrolling TikTok edits of The Real Housewives’ latest fight, reality TV is everywhere. It’s become more than a guilty pleasure, it’s a cultural engine that creates influencers, fuels streaming wars, and shapes what we talk about online. The chaos on screen may feel spontaneous, but there’s someone behind the scenes creating a business model driving every argument, product placement, and dramatic twist. As someone who grew up watching reality tv in all different forms I have been exposed to the different ins and outs of reality tv, looking at the behind the scenes drama and twitter fight. Being a business student interested in marketing strategy and pop culture, I’ve realized that reality TV has actually been creating the groundwork for powerful brands. In...

I chose American Like Me: Reflections on Life Between Cultures because I was drawn to the idea of exploring diverse perspectives on identity and belonging. I am passionate about cultures and how understanding someone's culture can lead to a better understanding of that person as a whole. The concept of hearing from many voices about what it means to grow up in between cultures feels very relevant to me, especially as someone who is interested in understanding cultural exchange and identity. I was drawn to this book because I believe it will show me new ways to think about my own background and also allow me to appreciate the complexity of other people’s stories further. As I have begun reading the book, it has been very engaging. I found America Ferrera’s introduction important and impactful, as it sets the tone by explaining why she wanted to gather these essays and how growing up between cultures shaped her. While reading the first few essays, I could truly feel how heartfelt and...

Inside DIRECTV: My Experience as a Marketing Intern This summer, I worked as a Marketing intern at DIRECTV. In this role, I worked directly with the product management team. My primary role was to assist the team with market research, analyzing trends, and identifying content that captures viewers’ attention and draws them to DIRECTV. Most people don’t think about this part of television because they only see the shows or the sports on screen. Behind the scenes, though, there’s a whole team working to figure out what keeps you interested. And don’t confuse us with the people making the ads you see on YouTube. My main job wasn’t creating commercials. It was more focused on learning how data and strategy come together to make content stand out. In this memo, I’ll explain what the job was like, the projects I worked on, and what I learned from the experience. Exploring What Viewers Want A large part of my job was exploring. I spent time researching what viewers watch and how they react to...