2Ic( S/&L Ao. 7My LOCAL OR TRANSNATIONAL TELEVISION
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2ic( s/&l Ao. 7My LOCAL OR TRANSNATIONAL TELEVISION PROGRAMMING: MEDIA GLOBALIZATION IN EAST ASIA, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON DEVELOPMENT IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA THESIS Presented to the Graduate Council of the Universith of North Texas in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirments For the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE By Hongyan Zha, B.S. Denton, Texas December, 1995 2ic( s/&l Ao. 7My LOCAL OR TRANSNATIONAL TELEVISION PROGRAMMING: MEDIA GLOBALIZATION IN EAST ASIA, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON DEVELOPMENT IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA THESIS Presented to the Graduate Council of the Universith of North Texas in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirments For the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE By Hongyan Zha, B.S. Denton, Texas December, 1995 Sif Zha, Hongyan, Local or Transnational Television Programming: Media Globalization in East Asia, with an Emphasis on Development in the People's Republic of China. Master of Science (Radio, Television, and Film), December, 1995, 118 pp., 6 tables, bibliographies, 168 titles. This study focuses on the relationship between Western transnational broadcasters and East Asian media. It analyzes 1) the processes through which Western media players are localized and 2) the impact of media globalization on local broadcasters in East Asia. Recent developments in the People's Republic of China are the primary focus in the discussion of local media. This study is divided into five chapters. Chapter one is a literature review and general summary of research on the relationship between local and transnational media. Chapter two focuses on Asian audience preferences and the introduction of transnational broadcasting into East Asia. Chapter three discusses transnational programming and institutionalized media reform in P.R. China. Chapter four presents a case study of a provincial television station in China. Chapter five discusses the implications of transnational broadcasting in China. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES iv Chapter I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. TRANSNATIONAL BROADCASTING IN EAST ASIA 20 Trends in the Localization of Programming The Advantages of the Transnational Regionally-based Preferences Prospects for Transnational, Regional, and Local Broadcasting III. THE IMPACT OF TRANSNATIONAL BROADCASTING IN CHINA . 48 Institutionalized Reform and Broadcasting IV. A CASE STUDY OF THE JIANGXI TV INDUSTRY 87 V. GLOBALIZATION: TWO WAY TRAFFIC - IMPLICATIONS OF TRANSNATIONAL PROGRAMMING IN CHINA 101 Conclusion BIBLIOGRAPHY 107 LIST OF TABLES Page 1. RIPE ASIAN MARKET 20 2. LOCALIZATION OF WESTERN ROADCASTERS 29 3. BROADCAST TELEVISION EXPENDITURES (1987) 38 4. STATISTICS OF THE CHINA'S TELEVISION INDUSTRY 59 5. TV STATIONS ON SATELLITES IN THE P. R. CHINA 66 6. ADVERTISING RATES IN JXTV 92 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Over the last two decades, the internationalization of television broadcasting has become possible through the rapid development and widespread diffusion of cable and satellite technologies. Initially occurring in the European cable market in the seventies, the internationalization of television has already become a dominant tendency in the nineties. Coincidentally, Asia has become economically the fastest-growing region in the world ~ overall growth rates in the region have consistently been double or triple those of the USA and Europe during this period. Expansion of technology, a diverse and cheap labor pool, and the encouragement of foreign investment by Asian governments have contributed to this spectacular success. Indeed, as Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong says, "Asia's time has come," launching what might become, in a technological, economic, and political sense, the "Pacific century" (Leger 43). The dynamic economy of Asia undoubtedly provides an opportunity for Western media moguls to expand their global ambitions. A number of Western media companies have rushed into the Asian market during the past five years, with Rupert Murdoch's Australia-based News Corp. leading the stampede. At the time of this writing, most American major entertainment companies have stretched their services into Asia, including CNN, TNT, Disney, Discovery, CNBC, HBO, ESPN, and MTV. Currently, it is estimated that the total number of satellites capable of providing a signal over Asia exceeds 40 (Khushu 3), with an estimated 800 transponders available for television transmission ("An Asian Sky" 35). Furthermore, the maturing digital compression technology will enable the existing transponders to transmit more channels. The Western media's explosion in Asia has exerted a profound influence on Asian societies, cultures, politics and economies. It has also raised concerns related to several sensitive issues, including national sovereignty, cultural identity, social system and political structure, and the structure of the economic market. At the center of these issues are Western newcomers and Asian locals. The relationship between them becomes vitally important to the dynamics of media globalization in Asia and has aroused much controversy in scholarly research. Among the Asian countries, China is especially valuable for research because of its large population, dynamic economy and political structure. Having one-fifth of the population of the world, China obviously is a vast market. Since the late 1970s, China's economic system has been gradually transformed from a planned economy into a market economy. The result of this reform is the fastest national economic growth in the world. In 1993, China was the world's eleventh largest trader, with exports and imports totaling $165 billion ("China Belongs to Me" 13). Within this setting, ownership of TV sets over the past decade has increased tenfold ("China Becomes"). Television advertising revenue in China reached $2.2 billion in 1993, making China Asia's second largest television advertising market after Japan (Karp, "Cast of Thousands" 48). The changing economic infrastructure over the past 15 years has undoubtedly given rise to corresponding transformations in the superstructure, including the media. Western media players have long targeted China as a vast and enormously "underserved" market. Although entrance into the Chinese market is perceived as (and has been) difficult, due to the combination of political obstacles and economic problems, the transnational continue to try every possible way of getting into the Chinese market. The globalization of television is having a direct impact on the Chinese television audience's selection of television programs, the policymaking processes of the Chinese government, and the direction of China's media reform in the future. In response, for example, to a burgeoning market in illegal satellite dishes, the Chinese government imposed a strict regulation in late 1993 designed to inhibit the proliferation of private satellite ownership ("The Ministry of Radio"). Meanwhile, China has also imported more and more Western programs, and Western programs are becoming more and more popular in China in recent years. Over the years, communication scholars have discussed and debated various issues and problems relating to the internationalization of television. They have developed and employed many theories and approaches to the research, including imperialism, modernization, neo-Marxist, world system, and modes of production theories. Some have conducted quantitative research focusing on statistical analysis, while others have conducted their research using either an empirical qualitative methodology or a combination of quantitative and qualitative models. According to Rogers, media internationalization is a kind of "diffusion," which is "the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system" (34). For television, the process of diffusion, as described by R. Negrine and S. Papathanassopoulas is made up of several factors, each illustrating the way in which television is increasingly acquiring an international character. According to them, the first factor is that diffusion takes place when the same television signal becomes available simultaneously in at least three countries because of technological developments which make it easier for broadcasters to reach large audiences across frontiers. The second factor is that diffusion is a part of a much larger process whereby capital and investment funds flow easily across frontiers. The third factor is that diffusion draws together television producers, executives and regulators in the process of competition because there have been intensive negotiations about broadcasting issues among the concerned countries. The last factor is the standardization of product in order to meet the requirements of the increase of the transnational trade of television programs (1990, 1-2; 1991, 11-12). Kenneth Dyson and Peter Humphreys have used four terms to characterize the internationalization of communication in recent years with relation to its structure and interior competition - deregulation, globalization, synergy and convergence (1), while Annabelle Sreberny-Mohammadi divides globalization in the media sphere into four separable elements: the globalization of media forms, of media structures, of media flows and of media effects (118-38). Negrine and Papathanassopoulos also discuss the role of new media technologies, coming to the conclusion that "they have altered the balance of forces between the traditional media institutions and the new media players," and that "the new media created considerable pressure to liberalize broadcasting structures"