TV Goes Global

The X-Factor is going to America.

You’ve probably already heard – come 2011, the British phenomenon will make its way to the land of baseball, Uncle Sam, and Barack Obama.

Late last year, TV personality Simon Cowell announced that he would be leaving ‘American Idol’ to launch ‘X-Factor’ in the US, given its massive popularity in the UK.

This isn’t the first such instance: for years America has been adopting British shows and adapting them for American TV. (Think ‘Idol’, ‘America’s Got Talent’, and ‘Dancing with the Stars’, known in the UK as ‘Pop Idol’, ‘Britain’s Got Talent’, and ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, respectively.) In fact, these shows have gone on to become some of America’s most highly rated and bankable. The US isn’t the only country doing the borrowing though; the ‘Idol’ series, for instance, has been adapted for 42 territories, including Australia, Singapore, and France.

Then there are programmes like ‘Glee’, which in contrast to ‘Idol’ have been aired throughout the world in their original state and without alteration. Though an American show, the programme’s popularity is evident here; Channel 4 shows it every Monday to strong ratings, stores are stocked with the show’s music CDs, and the occasional person can even be seen walking around campus donning their ‘Proud to be a Gleek’ shirt. It has become apparent that whether British or American, Asian or African, neither ethnicity nor country of residence matters: a Gleek is a Gleek.

It is shows like these that bring fans together and bridge the cultural gap between countries. Despite political or economic tension between two nations, the increasingly global nature of TV acts as a unifying force between peoples who might have little else in common. There are two key features that contribute to this globalisation of television.

The first is the Internet, which facilitates global communication. With the help of social media websites and blogging, it becomes feasible for a TV show to go global as excited fans across the world can discuss their views online. The Internet additionally allows for the easy distribution of programming.

Secondly, the advent of reality programming encourages the globalisation of TV. In contrast to scripted shows, reality television can be easily adapted to another country’s mores and customs.

To illustrate, we can again look at ‘X-Factor’: upon its introduction to the US, the general format of the show will be preserved, but American judges, American contestants, and an American host will make the show presentable to Americans.

As long as reality TV thrives, broadcasting companies will continue to take advantage of the relative simplicity and low cost of adapting such shows for new audiences around the world.

As a result, we see and will continue to see shows making a universal splash, creating some common ground between otherwise diverse societies.

According to 19th century poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Music is the universal language of mankind.” Perhaps if Longfellow were around today, he might consider TV too.