New Flows Moran in Global TV By Albert Moran New Flows Although TV distribution has undergone a massive Albert Moran has given us a thoughtful and increase in volume and value over the past fifty readable account of the flows of formats and the implications of this new form of ‘cultural years, there is a systematic lack of curiosity and merchandising’. The book is mandatory for knowledge on the part of both industry and anyone wanting to understand the business of scholars about this area. This book assists in global television. the filling of this gap by studying what in fact Professor Janet Wasko, Knight Chair in occurs in global trade in TV program formats Communication Research, University of Oregon within international markets such as Cannes, Las Vegas and Singapore. The study investigates The timely and eagerly awaited New Flows in key components of this trade, elucidating the Global TV expands scholarly investigation and crucial dynamics at work in the most significant analysis into television program distribution in Global TV contemporary transnational cultural industry. across the world. Milly Buonanno, Sapienza University of Rome Albert Moran is Senior Lecturer in Media at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. ISBN 978-1-84150-194-9 00 9 781841 501949 intellect | www.intellectbooks.com New Flows in Global TV This book is for James Moran New Flows in Global TV Albert Moran ^ciZaaZXi7g^hida!J@8]^XV\d!JH6 First published in the UK in 2009 by Intellect Books, The Mill, Parnall Road, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 3JG, UK First published in the USA in 2009 by Intellect Books, The University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA Copyright © 2009 Intellect Ltd All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Cover designer: Holly Rose Copy-editor: SueJarvis Typesetting: Mac Style, Beverley, E. Yorkshire ISBN 978-1-84150-194-9 EISBN 978-1-84150-331-8 Printed and bound by Gutenberg Press, Malta. CONTENTS Preface 7 Acknowledgements 9 Chapter 1 Issues 11 Chapter 2 Places 23 Chapter 3 Rhetorics 43 Chapter 4 Stars 59 Chapter 5 Languages 75 Chapter 6 Geographies 89 Chapter 7 E nvoys 111 Chapter 8 Piracy 129 Chapter 9 Outposts 143 Chapter 10 New flows in global TV 157 References 161 Index 175 PREFA C E In 1992, I was fortunate enough to visit Grundy House in Sydney with Stuart Cunningham and Marie Delofsky. Stuart and Marie were there to interview Ian Holmes, Grundy World Wide’s president, as part of the research that would result in the book Australian Television and International Mediascapes (Cunningham and Jacka 1996). I had previously interviewed Ian Holmes as part of earlier research work on Australian television drama production but had failed to keep up with the company’s international developments, first in the area of program distribution, and more recently in the area of format adaptation. Like others, I was conscious of the process of program copycatting whereby television program ideas from elsewhere metamorphosed into Australian productions and vice versa. However, I was surprised to learn in the interview with Ian Holmes that this kind of content exchange took place under regular business arrangements rather than by some kind of mysterious osmosis. Over succeeding years, I have continued to connect with the phenomenon of the TV format industry and culture. Besides various journal articles and book chapters, I have authored, co-authored or co-edited several book-length studies of the social and business dynamics of television format programming. In 1998, the University of Luton Press published Copycat TV: Globalization, Program Formats and Cultural Identity by Manuel Alvarado. Together with a team of researchers in Asia and the Pacific, led by Michael Keane, I co-edited the book collection Television Across Asia: Globalisation, Industry and Formats for Routledge/Curzon. In 2006 this was followed by the handbook Understanding the Global TV Format, co-authored with Justin Malbon and published by Intellect. The following year saw the appearance of New Television: Globalization and the East Asian Imagination, published by Hong Kong University Press and co-authored with Michael Keane and Anthony Fung. Clearly, there is much more to be said about the subject of TV program formats. An inventory for further inquiry might include the dynamics of the trade; its impact in the domain of production and reception; the meaning and consequences of the processes of localization that 8 | NEW flows IN global tv it engenders; its place within international television and media developments; cross-border comparisons of program adaptation; its consequences for a ‘television after TV’ or even ‘the death of television’ scenarios; conceptualizations of what occurs in TV program remaking; and theory building to do with adaptation including TV format remaking. At the same time that such a research program can be envisaged, there are signs of a burgeoning interest in the overall subject of TV program formats on the part of experienced and newly emerging scholars. The next two years will see the publication of two important collections of essays: Global Television Formats: Understanding Television Across Borders, edited by Tasha Oren and Sharon Shahaf for Routledge; and Localizing Global TV, edited by myself for Intellect. In addition, Michael Keane and I are editing a theme issue of Continuum: A Journal of Media and Cultural Studies entitled ‘Cultural Adaptation’, which will also be made available by Routledge under its journal- to-book publishing arrangement with the UK-based Taylor & Francis. New Flows in Global TV should be seen against this background. In 2003, I was fortunate to meet and become fast good friends with Bill Grantham while he was teaching in the Law Faculty at Griffith University. We discovered common origins in Dublin as well as subsequent degrees in English literary studies. Bill is the author of the seminal study of French film policy,‘Some Big Bourgeois Brothel’: Europe’s Culture Wars with Hollywood (2000). Somewhere in there, he found time to pursue a career as a television journalist working for such trade papers as Variety and Television Business International. The idea of a study of the global TV industry had already taken root and Bill generously shared his extensive knowledge of the trade fairs and exhibitions with me over several days. In 2004, I visited the MIPTV trade convention in Cannes as part of fieldwork to do with the international TV industry in general and the TV format business in particular. Understanding the Global TV Format was a first down-payment on that research cycle. The present volume represents a subsequent phase of the same work. Meanwhile, a business biography of Australian television executive Reg Grundy, now in progress, will complete this program of work. Grundy used to refer to the practice of TV format adaptation in terms of an ‘international parochialism’. Clearly, there is a lot more to be said about such a subject. AC KNOWLEDGEMENTS The research and writing for this book were supported by an Australian Research Council grant awarded for the project ‘The Culture of International TV Format Flows’ (DP0667066 2006–9). I am grateful for this support. I would also like to thank my home institution, Griffith University, which for over 30 years has given me the opportunity to undertake investigative work relevant to understanding how the media fit into the human landscape. The idea of this book first took the form of an unknown reviewer’s comments in regard to a publishing submission on a rather different topic; those thoughtful suggestions led to the present volume – I am most grateful. Various people have helped me along the way. Bill Grantham deserves a particular thanks for his generosity in sharing his extensive knowledge of the TV industry trade fairs. While I have not had a full-time research assistant on the project, nevertheless many have contributed in a part-time capacity or have assisted me with specific tasks and requirements. I am most grateful to Elizabeth Davies, John Davies, Tom Graham, Cory Messenger and Kate Moran, who have all aided me in this research journey. In the latter stages, Sue Jarvis has been wonderful with her copy editing and other inputs. Teresa Jordan has drawn the maps. Melanie Harrison and Sam King at Intellect Books have been most supportive and patient. I would also like to thank Holly Rose for providing the design for the book’s cover. My biggest debt, however, is to my wife and family. Noela has been a rock of support and encouragement, and at times an unsuspecting sounding board. James has been encouraging, even if he believes that fame and fortune might await the writing and publication of a textbook. Kate has been very responsive to my continuing demands on her time and patience. My grateful thanks go to them and to those mentioned above. 1 ISSUES The choices TV programmers make about what gets made reflect more than their attempt to please audiences and tap the cultural Zeitgeist. Behind the creative task of bringing programs to audiences, TV is a business. That matters because the way TV conducts its business has a direct impact on the process by which programs are selected, financed, and produced. Reality TV may have captured the attention of audiences, but it also looks good on the books and balance sheets of those whose business is television (Magder 2004: 133). Introduction Back in 1920, French filmmaker Abel Gance wrote that the time of the image has come (Wollen 1968).