The Place of Television Programme Formats

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Author(s)
Moran, Albert
Aveyard, Karina
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2014
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
'Formats are king!' or so declares the trade publication TV Formats Weekly (Brzoznowski 2011: 4). Indeed there are solid grounds for such claims regarding the current place of this type of programming in television schedules around the world. Formats are perceived to be highly effective in mitigating commercial uncertainties brought about by multi channelling, and the social uncertainties associated with cultural mobility and de-territorialization. However, their ubiquity also presents us with an interesting geo cultural paradox. As an industrial commodity, formats have a highly mobile, readily transferable quality. However, ...
View more >'Formats are king!' or so declares the trade publication TV Formats Weekly (Brzoznowski 2011: 4). Indeed there are solid grounds for such claims regarding the current place of this type of programming in television schedules around the world. Formats are perceived to be highly effective in mitigating commercial uncertainties brought about by multi channelling, and the social uncertainties associated with cultural mobility and de-territorialization. However, their ubiquity also presents us with an interesting geo cultural paradox. As an industrial commodity, formats have a highly mobile, readily transferable quality. However, as a social and cultural artefact, they can take on a form that is specific to the particular community for which they are adapted. In this article, we explore the characteristics of these multi-layered geographic interrelationships and consider the conceptual value (and limitations) of some of the key terms around which the role and function of formats have been understood.
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View more >'Formats are king!' or so declares the trade publication TV Formats Weekly (Brzoznowski 2011: 4). Indeed there are solid grounds for such claims regarding the current place of this type of programming in television schedules around the world. Formats are perceived to be highly effective in mitigating commercial uncertainties brought about by multi channelling, and the social uncertainties associated with cultural mobility and de-territorialization. However, their ubiquity also presents us with an interesting geo cultural paradox. As an industrial commodity, formats have a highly mobile, readily transferable quality. However, as a social and cultural artefact, they can take on a form that is specific to the particular community for which they are adapted. In this article, we explore the characteristics of these multi-layered geographic interrelationships and consider the conceptual value (and limitations) of some of the key terms around which the role and function of formats have been understood.
View less >
Journal Title
Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies
Volume
28
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© 2014 Taylor & Francis (Routledge). This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Continuum on 03 Jan 2014, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10304312.2014.870869
Subject
Media Studies
Film, Television and Digital Media
Communication and Media Studies
Cultural Studies