New Media and Globalization By: Heather Poulsen
My dissertation is about the role of new media technology, specifically the streaming on-demand service Netflix, in bringing about hybridized video resulting from glocalization. With the proliferation of technology across the globe, global convergence has been inevitable for Netflix. This new media’s audience is global, demanding programs that take aspects from multiple cultures to develop unique experiences that push boundaries.1 In order to apply a theoretical context, it is important to understand the relationship of new media and globalization. Media or Cultural globalization is supported and accelerated by technological developments. The media issues arising from globalization include: the international flow of media technologies and content, the global and local aspects of media texts (genre, narrative, style, actors, etc.), and the global media audience. Hybridization entails a more even-handed way of looking at media globalization. Hybridization is defined as the interaction or mixing between previously separate cultures over time. Such hybridized media products can result from glocalization- taking an idea or formula that proved successful in one place (f.x. genres, scripts, concepts) and adopting it in another by adding local elements. Glocalization can also mean the blending of cultures and/or the borrowing and adapting of local productions with global forms or ideas. The strategy of glocalization of entertainment content has become institutionalized and systematically practiced by new entities in the global entertainment area2. This media globalization concept is evident in the video content that Netflix provides to their global audience. The role of new media technology, such as video, enable countries to distribute and view national films that many viewers would not otherwise see. Even more so, the streaming on-demand service, Netflix, has pushed international growth hard and now services over 130 countries in 20 languages. Netflix may seem to create a new wave of U.S. dominance as it pushes towards co-production in many countries including Brazil, Colombia, and Norway.3 Yet, with locally created and globally distributed content and heavy attention to in-house subtitles and audio dubbings, Netflix has shown a great appreciation of regional cultural differences and preferences. Netflix has proven that it understands the different values of their viewers, and ensures that they provide localized content based on those values and preferences.4 This new media has revealed how the concept of glocalization proves to be successful and how/why it works in the world of media globalization. As an example, when Netflix considered the popularity of its Brazilian-language show, 3%, among American audiences, it continued to invest in local content. Netflix saw how investing in local content in international
1 Rude, Logan. 2 RTF 305 Lecture, Module 4: Globalization and Media- Part 1. Concepts and Theories. 3 Straubhaar, Joseph D., Robert LaRose, and Lucinda Davenport. 4 Cole, Brian. 1 territories helped draw in new subscribers internationally. “The main reason for Netflix’s popularity in European countries, such as Germany and France, has been its mix of original English language programming and local content.”5 Glocalization has greatly influenced Netflix’s success internationally. Netflix is an expanding channel and this connection to multiple nations has lead to original, hybridized products. For example, in Netflix’s TV show, Narcos, the hybridization of American and Colombian cultures lead to a finished product where every actor spoke the native language of their character. There was local content from South America and local content from the U.S., resembling a hybridized media product resulting from glocalization. With a plot line that follows a drug lord in Colombia, spanish dialogue was an essential part of the story, and is the reason why global convergence is so helpful for Netflix’s success.6 This confrontation between cultures is seen yet again in another Netflix original series. Many have acknowledged the formal and cultural hybridity of the transnational Netflix series Lilyhammer. The combination of American and Norwegian cultures in the show serves to renew both the Hollywood gangster genre and the customary Nordic television codes7. Specifically, when Bruce Springsteen made a guest appearance on the show, it blended the American culture directly within a show that took place in a completely different country. Additionally, throughout the show, the main character is a part of both cultures: knowing that he will never be completely integrated into the society but yet, is still becoming more Norwegian and part of the culture, according to Van Zandt, the director. Even though many people believed that the show wouldn’t appeal to viewers outside Norway, it was a huge success due to the fact that it utilized glocalization. Just like Narcos, Lilyhammer tried to be as international as possible by replicating every nuance, detail and eccentricity of the Norwegian culture and it’s people. The TV show added local elements to a format they knew would work as well as blending cultures.8 The concept of hybridization, and glocalization, is not just seen within Netflix’s exclusive content, but it is also utilized within other entertainment content that Netflix offers. The show, The Office, is available on Netflix and Netflix offers both versions, from the U.S. and from the U.K. The Office is an example of glocalization because the it is an adaptation of local production with global format. The show was originally locally produced in the U.K., and later adapted by the U.S. because the show contained a global format or idea. Different formats of TV shows have made television content more international and moreover, it reveals that U.S. executives no longer view themselves exclusively as television exporters but are open to the import of formats and the know-how that comes along9. It is important also to note that each country has developed aesthetic and other standards that structure a programme’s production. Domestic programs are
5Pelts, Shirley. 6 Rude, Logan. 7 Souladié, Vincent, and Chloé Monasterolo. 8 Greene, Andy 9 Robertson, Roland.
2 usually closer to the everyday life of the viewers, reflecting social, political or cultural situations in their country, presenting actors from the respective country and more accurate images of everyday life, which provide a competitive advantage over the foreign program. As in The Office, Steve Carrell is a very well-known actor who has been seen on many shows and films.10 This helps explain the power of glocalization and the reason why adaptation can in some cases prove to be very successful. Netflix has proven to be an exemplary representation of how new media utilizes the globalization concept of hybridization and glocalization. As mentioned, digital technology plays a pivotal role in the growth of content localization and consequently, because of the strong market players such as Netflix, there has been a notable rise in the demand for competition, which in turn has resulted in the growing demand for localization. This increased hybridity of local cultures has been used in many of the shows on Netflix, and furthermore, texts produced and originally distributed in other cultural contexts are now readily available on Netflix. For example, The Mysterious Cities of Gold (the classic animated series so frequently mentioned by French and Japanese consumers) can now be viewed instantly on Netflix11. Even more so, Netflix considers a global convergence as they translate programs into different languages so more people globally can enjoy the content in the same way. Even though this might not directly contribute to hybridization of cultures or content, it does expose larger audiences to programs which can lead to future adaptations of shows in new formats12. This hybridity of globalized cultural forms has allowed media consumers new points of entry into various elements of global culture, encouraging viewers to more fully engage with the globalized hybridity that characterizes our contemporary era13. This dissertation has argued of the pertinent role that new media technology plays in the world of media globalization. Netflix has established itself as the world’s leading internet television and has created and hosts video content that reveals cultural hybridity and glocalization of cultures as well as content.
10 Moran, Albert. 11Esser, Andrea, Iain Robert. Smith, and Miguel A. Bernal-Merino. 12 Rude, Logan. 13 Esser, Andrea, Iain Robert. Smith, and Miguel A. Bernal-Merino.
3 Bibliography
Scholarly Articles: Esser, Andrea, Iain Robert. Smith, and Miguel A. Bernal-Merino. Media across borders. Localising TV, film and video games. Basingstoke: Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2016. Print.
Moran, Albert. TV formats worldwide: localizing global programs. Bristol, UK: Intellect, 2009. Print.
Cole, Brian. "5 Global Companies Localizing Right." KantanMT. N.p., 04 Oct. 2016. Web. 03 July 2017.
Greene, Andy. "How 'Lilyhammer' Changed the TV World." Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone, 05 Dec. 2013. Web. 02 July 2017.
Moran, Albert. TV formats worldwide: localizing global programs. Bristol, UK: Intellect, 2009. Print.
Pelts, Shirley. "Why Netflix Is Emphasizing Local Content in International Markets." Why Netflix Is Emphasizing Local Content in International Markets - Market Realist. N.p., 24 Feb. 2017. Web. 02 July 2017.
Robertson, Roland. European Glocalization in Global Context. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. Print.
Rude, Logan. "Netflix." The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System. University of Wisconsin , 2017. Web.
RTF 305 Lecture, Module 4: Globalization and Media- Part 1. Concepts and Theories.
Souladié, Vincent, and Chloé Monasterolo. "Conference report: 21st SERCIA Conference: Cinema and Seriality in the English-speaking World. Université Paris Diderot, Paris, France, September 8-10, 2016Conference Organized by Ariane Hudelet and Anne Crémieux." Miranda. Revue pluridisciplinaire du monde anglophone / Multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal on the English-speaking world. Université Toulouse 2 - Le Mirail, 28 Nov. 2016. Web. 03 July 2017.
Straubhaar, Joseph D., Robert LaRose, and Lucinda Davenport. Media Now: Understanding Media, Culture, and Technology. 10th ed. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2016. Print.
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