Creative Writing on "Why Are American TV Shows Popular?"

Creative Writing 4 pages (1264 words) Sources: 2

[EXCERPT] . . . .

American television industry is the largest in the world, and exports its product to nearly every country. Programs and characters have become global icons -- consider the just-rescued Chilean miner who was nicknamed "Dr. House" as an example of the worldwide popularity of American television. There are a number of reasons why American television has become so popular, especially in recent years. These include the size and diversity of the industry, the emergence of cable and satellite in overseas markets and the emergence of global media as a promotional tool.

In most parts of the world, television has been a relatively local affair. Government protection, linguistic and cultural barriers and a limited number of broadcasters all worked to prevent the globalization of television entertainment. In recent years, however, several critical shifts have opened up the world's television markets, and the American TV industry has moved aggressively to capture market share around the world.

New technologies have resulted in a proliferation of cable and satellite services around the world. Nations that once had only a handful of television stations now have dozens or even hundreds. This creates demand for programming. As cable and satellite in particular have relatively low viewership, the advertising revenue from most channels is insufficient to finance proprietary programming. This means that programming must be purchased, creating demand for foreign programming. Stations will then seek out programming most attractive to its audience. There are a number of criteria that guide such decisions including language, production quality and the brand name of the program in question. In most cases, American programming is well-positioned.

In particular, American television benefits from the size and scope of the industry, which is the world's most developed. Budgets for American programs are high, which increases the production value of programs. In addition, production values are higher because of the extensive experience that the U.S. TV industry has in production, dating back to the beginning of television. The U.S. was one of the earliest adopters of cable and satellite technology for television, which increased the amount of programs made in the U.S. beginning in the 1980s. This has given the industry substantial experience that allows it to produce higher quality television shows than many nations, allowing these programs to be more attractive to foreign buyers. In addition, this level of experience and financing attracts the best talent from around the world. The U.S. television industry is highly integrated with the Canadian industry for example, and the star of House is English. The ability to attract talent from around the world also serves to increase the production value and attractiveness of U.S. programming.

The sheer volume of productions also means that the United States has a wide variety of programming to sell to the world. Foreign buyers can choose between dozens of different types of shows, and hundreds of shows. Many of these programs are owned and marketed by major media companies as well. These studios have a global marketing reach, cultivated over the years out of necessity. As the U.S. market began to produce more programs, its studios began to seek out export markets for the product, in order to increase the profit margins associated with these shows. A program, for example, may only break even in the U.S. But with 50 export countries the show can ultimately be very profitable nevertheless. As a result, American television production companies have become aggressive in the export markets. For example, NBC Universal now licenses the aforementioned House to 250 territories around the world (Adler, 2008).

In 1989, Hoskins et al. identified that American production companies were selling their shows around the world at very low prices relative to their production value. Indeed, U.S. studios have as a business model the use of the world market to finance… READ MORE

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