Television isconstantly growing and evolving into big and better things. This is because itneeds to suit the needs of the viewing audience. There must beprogrammes/channels suitable for everyone, ranging from babies, to the oldergeneration, and of course covering all the possible genres people would want towatch. As well as this, people from different countries and cultures will needto have shows which are suitable for them. Television is a global medium because, like film, TV usesstandardised industrial processes such as video technology, studios, greenroomsetc. They also use common visual language such as cinematography and editing.English common language in global entertainment is a Hollywood influence.
Sincethe 1950’s, British television has had a close and significant relationshipwith the global market, and again, was influenced by Hollywood. There arecertain strong cultural identity’s that make our shows different to any othersin the world. These are the public service ethos, genre, documentary style andissues of class. This is wherethe globalisation of television comes in. Globalisation means “theprocess by which businesses or other organizations develop internationalinfluence or start operating on an international scale, widely considered to beat the expense of national identity.” This basically means that a televisionbroadcaster decides to sell shows on the international market, the shows arethen bought by other countries and recreated before airing on nationaltelevision.
On British television, we have a wide variety ofdifferent shows from different countries. For example: BlackWidow – This show was first aired in the Netherlands in 2010,and was aired in the UK on Channel 4. TheMissing – This show was first aired in Spain, and because ofglobalisation in TV and the amount of people who was streaming it and watchingit, it came to the UK and was aired on BBC Four.Merciless -This show is Brazilian and is now shown on Channel 4. Jamie Dornan acted thatdisturbing function in three series of BBC Two’s The Fall but in Brazilian DramaMerciless its dreamboat actor Bruno Gagliasso. Like other countries, the UK prefer producing their ownversions of foreign shows.
What they do to make it different is to adapt it tomatch the nation’s culture, laws and beliefs. An example of this is the show”Wheel”. This is a show we have adapted from the American show, “Wheel ofFortune”.
This show will be a lot more expensive to be imported, but havingcontestants, a host, audience and references from the United Kingdom, it willengage the UK audience a lot more that if the American show was on Britishtelevision. This is because the audience can relate more if the contestants,presenter and the people involved are British. As well as this, the prizes willhave to be different as it is a different country. For example, if there was acash prize, it will have to be in Great British Pounds instead of AmericanDollars. Also, if there was a physical prize such as a car, it will have to bedifferent as there are great differences in American and British cars. For this argument about whether not there are programmes aboutBritain, made by British programme-makers, on British screens matters, thereare sides that are that have reasons for why it matters, and also, why it doesnot matter.
To begin with, there are various reasons why I believe that it doesmatter if there are programmes about Britain, made by British programme-makers,on British screens. According to sources, “the BBC in general has been toldto air more British-made programmers and spend the same on viewers in Scotland,Wales and Northern Ireland as it does in England, under new rules set by Ofcom.” HavingBritish shows on British television shows how capable we are of creating ourown content to suit a variety of audiences (age groups, ethnicities, genreetc.) Having good, quality content that suits the needs of all of thesedifferent audiences is good for the reputation of British television, showingother countries that we can cater for a wide range of audiences, but is alsovery good for the growth of the company. Getting more and more views, leads toan increase in the income for them, which then leads to more money to invest inthe programme/channel. Requests will be made to change things, add new thingsin, etc. and that money can be put into action to try and improve the channel. As well asthat, it shows the quality of the content that can be aired on television.
Havinggood content created by British programme-makers enlightens other countries on howdeveloped we are as a country in creating films, documentaries, sitcoms, chatshows, game shows etc. An example of a game show that we created is called”Wheel of Fortune”. America have created a game which is the exact same as theEnglish version but with American prizes, and have also called it the same name.The set design, colour scheme, presenter and the way the show is laid out isdifferent, but the basics of the show are almost identical to the Englishversion of the game show. Also, patriotism is anotherreason why British shows, created by British programme makers, shown on Britishtelevision matter. Patriotism is when you support your own county more than anyother. This will make it easier for British TV film makers to have their showsaired on British television. Also, there will be no competition with othercountries about having their shows aired on television.
For example, the BBConly allows programmes created by British companies on their server. Examples includesitcoms/soaps such as East Enders, Doctors and Casualty, chat shows such as TheGraham Norton Show, The One Show and The Michael Macintyre Chat Show. Finally,they show various other programmes such as Bargain Hunt, Escape to the Country,Country file. All of these programmes are created entirely by a BritishCompany/ British Filmmakers. The BBC and some publicservice broadcasters have an obligation to show certain types of Englishculture and history on their channels as part of education.
Examples of educationalprogrammes that are shown on the BBC are BBC News, News night and Breakfast. In comparison to the above, there are reasons forwhy it does not matter if there are programmes about Britain, made by Britishprogramme-makers, on British screens. This is because globalisation hasbenefitted British television programme formats and co-productions. Theevolution of “format” in globalisation is where bought-in shows are moreexpensive to remake for home audiences. But format allows broadcasters totailor foreign show specifically to home audiences tastes and content. Potentiallybigger audience and advertising.
All of those advantageous aspects of whyglobalisation has been beneficial for Britain increases the sales for thecounties sector. British television has been selling sitcom and lightentertainment formats to global broadcasters as far back as the 1960’s. examplesinclude, TheMusketeers, Mr Sloane and Life Story. MIP-TV and MIPCOM are the annual markets for the Televisionsales and formats. When the market first started in 1963, it was attended by 119companies from 19 countries.
Last year (in 2016) the event was attended by 1632companies from over 100 countries. This is showing the growth and just howpopular television globalisation is becoming in the modern age. Globalisationexports British identity (public service, class etc.) and imports different culturalviews and perspectives.
American sitcoms are one of the most popular culturalsitcoms in the world. Multiple countries have bought American sitcoms on theglobal market and transformed it into one of the countries own. The reason whythey are so popular is because they have such a large amount of money to investinto the production.
Having more money to spend on the production means thatthey can spend more money on props, cameras, sets, and almost anything to makeit more aesthetically pleasing to the audience. Overall, my view on whether or not it matters that there are programmes about Britain, madeby British programme-makers, on British screens is that, for the UK economy, itwould be very beneficial to air programmes created by British filmmakers because,us, as a television economy, would save money. We would also and make money, aswell as save it, from selling our own shows on the global market.
