DANCING IN THE TENSION BETWEEN THE GLOBAL AND NATIONAL: SEEING CHINESE TELEVISION INDUSTRY THROUGH PHOENIX SATELLITE TV Shuang Xie A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY August 2010 Committee: Dr. Oliver Boyd-Barrett, Advisor Dr. Louisa Ha Dr. Radhika Gajjala Dr. Patricia Kubow Graduate Faculty Representative i ABSTRACT Dr. Oliver Boyd-Barrett, Advisor Phoenix Satellite Television is a TV network broadcasting to the global Chinese-speaking community, primarily to the mainland of China. This study examines Phoenix as a lens by which to consider the overall Chinese television industry in the era of globalization. Utilizing the theory of media imperialism, this study investigates the program content, format, scheduling pattern, and advertisement use of Phoenix, and finds that US-inspired neo- liberalism is expressed in the network’s programming strategies. The study also examines two leading TV networks in China – China Central Television, and Hunan Satellite Television – to compare their programming strategies with those of Phoenix. Although the results of this comparative analysis indicate that the three networks adopt different strategies, they also reveal hidden similarities. That is, all three networks, along with other TV networks at various levels in China, have embraced the ideology of neo-liberalism by emphasizing profit-making as their core goals. The analysis also reveals that the Chinese government still holds a tight control over the media in China. Ironically, this control has helped spread the very neo-liberalism the Chinese government’s control attempts to hinder. The implication of this study to the thesis of Media Imperialisms is that the findings suggest that the central question of imperialism and its relationship to media has to do with the ways in which media content and media format relate to, support or fail to support, the trajectory of imperialism in any of its manifestations. ii DEDICATION To my parents, 谢志明 Xie Zhiming and 周同芬 Zhou Tongfen and To my deceased grandmother 罗仲玉 Luo Zhongyu for raising me up with unconditional love. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I extend my sincere gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Oliver Boyd-Barrett, for his everlasting support and encouragement over the last five years, for his continuous patience and insights into my research, and specially for introducing me to the wonderland of International Media Studies. Also, I would like to give my great appreciation to Dr. Louisa Ha, who has surpassed her responsibility as a dissertation committee member by giving me support and help with both job hunting and research projects, and by offering me a variety of opportunities to enrich my experience as a doctoral student. In addition, I would like to thank my other committee members, Dr. Radhika Gajjala and Dr. Patricia Kubow, for their insightful viewpoints and inspiring suggestions. Additionally, I would like to thank Dr. Gi Woong Yun and Dr. Sung-Yeon Park for the meaningful and useful courses I took with them, for their encouragement, support, and help, and for their precious friendship. I owe several thanks to my colleagues and friends in Graduate College of Bowling Green State University. I would like to thank Mrs. Barb Peck, the director of the Graduate Student Enhancement Program (GradSTEP) where I worked for four years, for being such an understanding, patient, and supportive boss. I also would like to thank Dr. Terry Lawrence and Dr. Martha Gaustad and other colleagues for creating a pleasant and relaxing working environment. I am grateful to my friends, Jie Li, for the care, support, and fun times we have shared. I would especially like to give my gratitude to my landlord, Mr. James Bateson, who is the best landlord in the world. I will forever be indebted to Mr. Bateson for many favors, such as fixing my car, discounting my rent, giving me ride to and from the airport, and correcting my English iv pronunciation. I would also like to thank my friend in Texas, Bo Hu Waldo, for being such a patient listener, for parcels she mailed to me, and for our joyful talks on MSN. Over the course of my doctoral studies, I have felt much longing and gratitude to my homeland, China, where I learned how to love and care about people in the world. The sincere compliments and harsh criticisms offered about you in my dissertation are inspired by my profound love for you. Finally, my deepest gratitude and love go to my family. Thank you to my parents Xie Zhiming and Zhou Tongfen for your love and care. Thank you for supporting me and encouraging me to do whatever I want to do. A five-year Ph.D. program is a long and hard journey. My perseverance is from your faith in me. Thank you to my brother Meng Xie and sister-in-law Fang Liu. My memories of every minute I spent in Canada are filled with fun and sweetness. Thank you for being proud of me. Thank you to my dearest nephew, Steven Yunhai Xie, the most handsome boy in the whole universe, for so much happiness that you have brought to me. The best thing in the world is watching you grow. At last, thank you to my deceased grandmother, Luo Zhongyu, a phenomenal woman who raised all of her children and grandchildren. When you gave me that little pencil and guided me hand-in-hand as I wrote my first Chinese character, you gave me the most valuable moment of my life. I have always kept this memory in my heart, and will forever remember that time we shared. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 2 EVOLUTION OF MEDIA IN CHINA, RISE OF TV AND PHOENIX .................8 Global Context: Media Liberalization and Neo-Liberalism ................................................8 Evolution of Media and Television in China…………………………………………….10 Rise of TV in China……………………………………………………………………...14 Phoenix Satellite TV and Phoenix Television Corporation……………………………...24 CHAPTER 3 THEORETICAL EVOLUTION IN THE GLOBAL MEDIA STUDIES IMPERIALISM THESIS, GLOBALIZATION, AND HYBRIDITY………......30 Political Economy Approach…………………………………………………………….30 Imperialism Thesis……………………………………………………………………….31 Globalization……………………………………………………………………………..37 Hybridity: Cultural Impacts of Globalization……………………………………………46 Research Questions………………………………………………………………………52 Methods………………………………………………………………………………….52 CHAPTER 4 PROGRAMS OF PHOENIX…………………………………………………….59 News Programs of Phoenix………………………………………………………………61 Non-news Programs……………………………………………………………………...78 Advertisements………………………………………………………………………......95 Discussion………………………………………………………………………………100 vi CHAPTER 5 SIMILARITY AND DIFFERENCE OR SIMILARITY IN DIFFERENCE PHOENIX, HUNAN SATELLITE TV, AND CCTV…………...……………...102 Phoenix Satellite TV and China Central Television (CCTV)…………………………..102 Phoenix Satellite TV and Hunan Satellite TV………………………………………….113 The Advertisements of Phoenix, CCTV, and Hunan Satellite TV……………………..119 Concluding Remarks…………………………………………………………………....122 CHPATER 6 CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION………………………………………….124 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...124 Discussion………………………………………………………………………………127 Suggestions for Future Research………………………………..……………….……..139 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………………142 vii LIST OF TABLES/PICTURES Tables Page 2.1 The Development of the Media in China…………………………………………….11--12 4.1 Phoenix Major Programs……………………………………………………………80--81 5.1 Comparison of Programming Strategies of Phoenix, CCTV, and Hunan TV………….119 Pictures 4.1 The Logo of Phoenix………………………………………………………………….….59 4.2 A Date with Luyu………………………………………………………………………...83 4.3 Oprah Winfrey Show……………………………………………………………………..84 5.1 CCTV Network News…………………………………………………....……………..107 5.2 A Happy Heart: Tell Me Your Story……………………………………………………121 5.3 Beat the Mic……………………………………………………………………………..122 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This study is focused on television, which continues to be the most powerful medium (Thussu, 2007a) and the main source for news and entertainment for most people in the world (Straubhaar, 2007). We are living in an era of new media; however, that does not mean that “old” media are dead. Newspapers, radio, films, and television are still supplying information and entertainment for people around the world. Television remains the pivotal element in people’s consumption of cultural industries, and cultural industries are still central in our daily lives because they create the media texts that have impact on our understanding of the world (Hesmondalgh, 2007). Thus, television, although supplemented more and more by other media, especially by new media, still constitutes “a dominant layer of media experience” (Straubhaar, 2007, p.2) for most people. Moreover, Parks and Kumar (2003) state that the recent trend of television globalization reveals a vast array of political, economic, cultural, and technological transformations around the world. Straubhaar points out similarly that given the rapid extension of economic and technological changes, “television in our world is an increasingly complex system with global, transnational, translocal, national, regional, metropolitan, and local spaces, dynamics, players, and flows” (p. 1). Changes have taken place not only in the Western media capitals of the United States, Western Europe, and Japan, but also in Brazil, China, and India, and these changes can only be understood through the close examination of television industries, programs, technologies, audiences,