Sesame Street muppet Elmo, right, wears a Muslim hat and Rosita, behind left, cheers the students inside a classroom during a visit at a primary school in Malaysia. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
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Global TV Formats: The World Is Watching
By Amanda Weber
In this era of advanced technology, distance and time are no longer factors in international communication. The globalization of media has brought about a tremendous increase in the movement of culture around the world. In the entertainment sector, the advent of the "licensed television format" has fueled TV markets, and people of all cultures are enjoying quality television programming that is tuned to their sense of who they are.
American Idol judge Simon Cowell arrives at a hotel in Denver, Colo., for a call-back audition of contestants for "American Idol." (AP Photo/Charles Pulliam)
By Dan Heckeroth
Did you know that many of the shows that Americans see on network television are imported ideas? In fact, over 20 percent of the television we see is part of the global television trade market, where shows like “Friends,” “Survivor,” “American Idol,” “Antiques Roadshow,” or “Jeopardy” are merely formats bought, sold, or adapted for foreign markets.
"Licensed television formats" are TV show concepts sold and re-created for broadcasting in another country. For successful reproduction and audience reception, they are adapted to fit the culture of the country in which they will be broadcast. According to A. Moran writing in Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies (2008), “Local and national audiences invariably prefer to see a program that looks and sounds like one of their own. They ask that on-screen figures act and sound like them, that situations and places shown feel familiar and recognizable, and that stories told on screen have to do with their world.”
As an example, the popular children’s educational show, Sesame Street, originates from the United States, but children of many cultures are learning their alphabets and numbers in their own languages, thanks to the licensed format. Sesame Workshop collaborates with other countries to provide Sesame Street to children all over the world. The license agreements mandate that other countries are given “the opportunity to create a quality children’s program using the Sesame Street concept. Each country in which the show is broadcast has, to varying degrees, created a unique, culturally adapted program based on its own values and goals for the show,” according to the academic journal, Learning, Media & Technology (2006). Today, children in 140 countries tune in to their version of Sesame Street, hosted by characters they learn from, grow to love, and will remember the rest of their lives. As American children have Big Bird greeting them every day, Israeli children watch Rechov Sumsum and join Kippi ben Kippod, the porcupine, on their quest for knowledge.
Another popular licensed format of a television program is Pop Idol, coming from the United Kingdom. FremantleMedia, one of the leading companies in the creation and sales of programming formats, owns the rights. Now, what is referred to as the “Idols” format, is broadcast in 42 territories. In this reality series, contestants compete in a singing competition in which the winner, chosen by the citizens of his or her country, receives a recording contract, and a sum of money. This licensed format has proven to be very successful. In the United States, American Idol is in its ninth season.
There are many positive aspects to programming formats, such as the high profitability, and diverse entertainment availability for citizens. However, licensing a program for a new territory cannot be successful if key aspects of adaptation are overlooked.
In 2002, BBC’s original show, The Weakest Link, was brought to Thailand. In this quickly moving, high-stress quiz show, the host shows no remorse in humiliating the people who perform badly. After two months on the air, Thai audiences were appalled by the behavior of the host, who often made contestants cry. Thailand’s national youth bureau sent a letter of complaint to the producers saying the show contained “inappropriate foreign influences” and that it needed to "comply with Thai social values and culture to protect Thai youths,” according to the Guardian.
Critics of the licensed television format will continue to fear cultural erasure, and foreign political influence from such broadcasting. But, in our time of globalized media, people must learn to pick their battles. It is inevitable that countries will continually be inundated with foreign media of all forms.