"My research and teaching interests center on economics of the media, and more generally the economics of information. My recent research subjects include the economics and market structure of online video, multi-channel television, the production and distribution of movies, advertising, and the efficacy of electronic v. printed readings in college courses."

 

waterman@indiana.edu

Tel: 812-929-7500

Fax: 812-855-7955

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Curriculum Vitae 

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Bio

 

David Waterman is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Telecommunications, The Media School, at Indiana University, Bloomington.  His research interests center on media economics, and more generally on the economics of information.  He is author of Hollywood's Road to Riches (2005, Harvard University Press) and co-author of Vertical Integration in Cable Television (1997; MIT Press) with Andrew A. Weiss.  His articles on market structure and public policy toward online video and other media industries, the economics of motion picture production and distribution, and other topics have appeared in a wide range of economic and communications journals as well as edited books.

 

Professor Waterman served as Chief Economist of the Federal Communications Commission in Washington, D.C. in 2015 (January-December).  He has presented his research in testimony before the U.S. Congress, and has served as a consultant to the FCC, the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, the General Accounting Office of the United States, and the Competition Bureau, Industry Canada. He served as a Principal Editor of Information Economics and Policy from 2005-10, and was Coordinating Editor from 2008-10.  He is a past Organizing Committee Chair and member of the Board of Directors of TPRC.

 

David Waterman received a B.A. in Economics at the University of Southern California and a Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University.  Before joining IU in 1993, he was a faculty member of the Annenberg School for Communication at USC.  At USC, Professor Waterman taught in the Annenberg School's Communications Management Master’s degree program and in the Department of Economics.

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Invited Presentations (Selected)

 

• "The Economic Future of Online Video," Keynote speech, Sixth Annual Conference on Internet Search and Innovation, Searle Center on Law, Regulation, and Economic Growth, Northwestern University, Chicago, June 4-5, 2015

• "The Future of Online Video: An Economic Perspective,” Expert’s Workshop on The Future of Broadband Regulation, hosted by the Institute for Information Policy of Pennsylvania State University and the Federal Communications Commission, at the FCC, May 29-30, 2014.

• “Basic Cable Network Segmentation Toward Minorities and Other Niches Audiences in the U.S.: An Empirical Study,” 11th Annual Workshop on Media Economics, Tel Aviv, Israel, Oct. 9-10, 2013.

• “Digital Transition of Media Industries in the USA,” and “Digital Transition of U.S. Television,” The Dynamics of the Media and Content Industries, IPTS, The European Commission, Brussels, Belgium, October 25-26, 2012.

• "Television Competition in the U.S.: Online vs. Offline," presentation at The Digital Media and New Media Platforms: Policy and Marketing Strategies conference, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan, March 29, 2012.

• "Technology and the U.S. Movie Industry," Expert's Workshop on The Economics of the Media and Content Industry, IPTS, The European Commission, Sevilla, Spain, May 30-31, 2011.

• "Online vs. Offline Media in the U.S." presentation to the EuroCPR 2011, Ghent, Belgium, March 27-29, 2011.

• "The Experience of Vertical Control in Cable Television: Implications for Network Neutrality", Presentation at the Federal Communications Commission, Washington, D.C. February 25-26, 2010

• "Old Media vs. the Internet in the United States", Presentation to the 7th Annual Asian Media and Communications Forum and Asian City Forum, Changchun, Jilin, China, August 16th, 2009

• “Economic Effects of Digital Transition on the Entertainment Industry,” Presentation to the Economics of the Digital TV Transition Conference, Columbia Institute for Tele-Information, Columbia University, Dec. 12, 2008.

 

 

Research 

 

     Books

 

• Waterman, D. (2005), Hollywood’s Road to Riches, Harvard University Press

• MacKie-Mason, Jeffrey K. and David Waterman (eds.) (1998), Telephony, The Internet, and The Media: Selected Papers from the 25th Annual Telecommunications Policy Research Conference, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

• Waterman, David and Andrew A. Weiss (1997), Vertical Integration in Cable Television, MIT Press.

• Rosston, Gregory and David Waterman (eds.) (1997), Interconnection and the Internet: Selected Papers from the 24th Annual Telecommunications Policy Research Conference, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

 

 

     Selected Articles, Chapters, and Working Papers

 

• Sherman, R., and D. Waterman (2016), “The Economics of Online Video Entertainment,” in J. Bauer and M. Latzer, Handbook on Economics of the Internet, Edward Elgar.

• Bring, D., W. Leighton, K. LoPiccalo, C. Matraves, J. Schwarz, and D. Waterman (2015), “The Year in Economics at the FCC, 2014-15,” Review of Industrial Organization, Vol. 47, No. 4; pp. 437-462.

• Ji, S., and D. Waterman (2015), “Vertical Ownership, Technology and Programming Content,” in R. Picard and S. Wildman, Handbook on Economics of the Media, Edward Elgar.

• Ji, S., H. Lin, and D. Waterman (2014), “Basic Cable Network Segmentation toward Minorities and Other Niche Audiences in the U.S.: An Empirical Study,” Working paper, October.

• Sherman, R., D. Waterman and Y. Jeon (2014), “The Future of Online Video: An Economic and Policy Perspective,”  Working paper, September

• Sherman, R. and D. Waterman (2014), “Technology and Competition in U.S. Television: Online vs. Offline,” Ch. 17 in Yu-li Liu and Robert Picard, Policy and Marketing Strategies for Digital Media, Routledge.

• Ji, S., and D. Waterman (2014), “Implications of the Internet for Media Industries: An Economic Perspective,” Ch. 9 in Mark S. Graham and William S. Dutton (eds), Society and the Internet: How Networks of Information and Communication are Changing Our Lives, Oxford University Press.

• Ji, S., S. Michaels, & D. Waterman (2014), “Print vs. Electronic Readings in College Courses: Cost-efficiency and Perceived Learning,” The Internet & Higher Education, Vol. 21, pp. 17-24.

• Waterman, D., R. Sherman, and S. Ji (2013), “The Economics of Online Television: Industry Development, Aggregation, and ‘TV Everywhere',” Telecommunications Policy, Vol. 37, pp. 725-736.

• Waterman, D., “Network Neutrality and ‘Discrimination Shifting,” (2012), Working paper.

• Waterman, D., and S. Ji. (2012), “Online vs. Offline in the U.S.: Are the Media Shrinking?” The Information Society, Vol. 28, No. 5, October-December.

• Waterman, D. and S. Choi (2011), “Non-discrimination Rules for ISPs and Vertical Integration: Lessons from Cable Television,” Telecommunications Policy, Vol. 35, pp 970-983.

• Ji, S., and D. Waterman (2011), “Production Technology and Long Term Trends in Movie Content: An Empirical Study,” Working paper.

• Waterman, D., and A. Weiss (2010), “Time Consistency and Seller Commitment in Inter-temporal Movie Distribution: An Empirical Study of the Video Window,”Journal of Industrial Economics, Vol. 58, No. 3, September.

• Waterman, D. and S. Han (2010), “Broadcasters vs. MVPDs: Economic effects of digital transition on television program supply,” Info: The Journal of Policy, Regulation, and Strategy for Telecommunications, Vol. 12, No. 4.

• Wang, X., and D. Waterman (2010), “The Economics of Foreign Language Media in the U.S: An Empirical Study of Radio Markets,” Journal of Media Economics.

• Waterman, D., with S. Han, and S. W. Ji (2009), “Old Media vs. the Internet in the United States,” in From Asia and Beyond, Proceedings of the 7th Annual Media Forum and the 2nd Asia City Forum, August, 2009, pp. 23-41.

• Waterman, D., A. Weiss, and S-C Lee (2008), “Time Consistency and Seller Commitment in Inter-temporal Movie Distribution: An Empirical Study of the Video Window,” Working paper, Dept. of Telecommunications, Indiana University.

• Jayakar, K., and D. Waterman (2008), “Hollywood and the Italian Film Industry,” in Janet Wasko and Paul MacDonald (eds.) The Contemporary American Film Industry, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

• Waterman, D., S. W. Ji, and L. R. Rochet (2007), “Enforcement and Control of Piracy, Copying, and Sharing in the Movie Industry,” Review of Industrial Organization (Special Issue on the movie industry), Vol. 30, No. 4.

• Waterman, D. (2007) “The Effects of Technological Change on the Quality and Variety of Information Products,” Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Vol. 16, No. 8.

• Chen, D., and D. Waterman (2007), “Vertical Ownership, Program Network Carriage and Tier Positioning in Cable Television: An Empirical Study,” Review of Industrial Organization, Vol. 30, No. 3.

• Lee, S-W, and D. Waterman (2007), “Theatrical Feature Film Trade in the United States, Europe, and Japan since the 1950s: An Empirical Study of the Home Market Effect,” Journal of Media Economics. Vol. 20, No. 3.

• Waterman, D. (2006), “How Does Technological Advance Affect the Quality and Variety of Information Products?,” Working paper, Dept. of Telecommunications, Indiana University, January 29.

• Waterman, D (2005), “Economics of Media Programming,” Ch. 18 in A. Albarran, S. Chan-Olmsted, and M. Wirth, Handbook of Media Management & Economics, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

• Waterman, D. (2003), “Economic Explanations of American Media Trade Dominance: Contest or Contribution?,” Journal of Media Economics & Culture, Vol. 1, No. 1.

• Waterman, D. (2003), “Business Models and Program Content,” Ch. 5 in E. Noam, J. Groebel, and D. Gerbarg, (eds), Internet Television (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates).

• Waterman, D. (2001), “The Economics of Internet Television,” Info: The Journal of Policy Regulation, and Strategy for Telecommunications, Information, and the Media, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 215-229.

• Waterman, D. and K. Jayakar, (2000), “The Competitive Balance of the Italian and American Film Industries,” European Journal of Communication, Vol.15, No. 4. pp. 501-528.

• Waterman, D. (2000), “CBS-Viacom and the Effects of Media Mergers: An Economic Perspective,” Federal Communications Law Journal, Vol. 52, No. 3, p. 531-550.

• Waterman, D. and K. Jayakar (1999), "Da che parte pende la bilancia della competizione fra l'industria cinematographica italiana e quella statunitense,?" L'Industria, Vol. No.3, August-September.

• Waterman, D. and Z. Yan (1999), "Cable Advertising and the Future of Basic Cable Networking," Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Vol. 43, No. 4, Fall, pp. 645-658.

• Waterman, D. (1998), "Digital Television and Program Pricing," Prometheus, Vol. 16, No. 2, pp.165-195; also in D. Garberg (ed)(1999), The Economics, Technology and Content of Digital TV, Kluwer, 1998 (Chapter 11).

• M. Dupagne and D. Waterman (1998), "Determinants of U.S. Television Fiction Imports in Western Europe," Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Vol. 42, No 2 pp.208-220, Spring.

• Waterman, D. (1996), “Local Monopsony and Free Riding,” Information Economics & Policy, Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 337-355.

• Waterman, D. and A. Weiss (1996), "The Effects of Vertical Integration between Cable Television Systems and Pay Cable Networks," Journal of Econometrics, Vol. 72, pp. 357-395.

 

     [For works prior to 1996, please see my CV.]