Constituting a new television genre, live broadcasts of "historic" events have become world rituals which, according to Dayman and Katz, have the potential for transforming societies even as they transfix viewers around the globe. Analyzing such public spectacles as the Olympic games, the moon landing, and Pope John Paul II's visits to Poland, they offer an ethnography of how media events are scripted, negotiated, performed, celebrated, shamanized and reviewed.