Television Program Preferences
by National Origin

A corollary of the globalization of economic systems is the rise of globalized media.  The presumed consequence is the triumph of the imported American culture over the indigenous culture, resulting in a cultural homogenization across the globe with a standardized set of values, attitudes, lifestyles and behaviors, presumably heavily American in flavor.  This global culture is communicated from the USA through various media, the most significant are television programs and cinematic films.

In the Los Medios y Mercados de Latinoamérica 1998 study, the respondents were asked to rate their interests in programs from different sources by a five-point scale, with 5 meaning 'Very Interested' and 1 meaning 'Not interested at all'.   Across all 6,581 respondents between the ages of 12 and 64 from 18 countries, the average interest score in programs from the USA was 3.48 and the average interest score in programs from their own country is 3.98.  Thus, overall, Latin Americans prefer television programs from their own countries over those from the USA.  But the issue bears further analyses.

In the following table, we show the breakdown by various demographic classes.

Demographic Characteristic/Class Average interest score in 
programs from the USA		 Average interest score in 
programs from own country
Geographical Region
     Argentina
     Brazil
     Chile
     Colombia
     Mexico
     Venezuela
     Balance Central America/Caribbean
     Balance South America
3.44
3.52
3.41
3.43
3.27
3.70
3.83
3.57
3.82
3.89
4.02
4.12
4.14
4.08
3.99
3.94
Gender
     Male
     Female
3.62
3.33
3.92
4.04
Age
     12-17
     18-24
     25-34
     35-44
     45-54
     55-54
3.67
3.70
3.62
3.35
3.16
2.99
4.12
3.81
3.94
4.08
3.99
3.87
Number of years of education attained
     Less than 6 years
     6 years or more, but less than 12 years
     12 years or more
2.92
3.58
3.65
4.14
4.00
3.84
Socio-economic Level
    Level A
    Level B
    Level C
    Level D
3.70
3.79
3.54
3.18
3.81
3.81
3.96
4.14
Psychographic Segment
     Image Seekers
     Curious Cosmopolitans
     Global Professionals
     Concerned Traditionalists
     Comfortable Conservatives
3.55
3.76
3.62
3.31
3.09
4.15
3.75
3.91
4.17
3.88
TOTAL 3.48 3.98

(Source: Los Medios y Mercados de Latinoamérica 1998)

The above table contains a number of interesting results:

Given that there are quota systems in some countries with respect to the number of hours of imported content permitted on the few broadcast stations, we would expect that access to US program contents may have an impact on stated interests.  In the following table, we show the average interest scores among households with and without multichannel television (namely, cable, satellite and microwave television services).  Presently, multichannel television contains much programming that originated from the USA.  These include both global brand names such as CNN, ESPN, Fox, MTV and the likes as well as indigenous channels which nonetheless carry repackaged US content (such as Cinecanal, Magic Kids, Space and the likes).  In a previous note, we had observed that many people obtained multichannel television in order to get information and entertainment from other countries.

Presence of Multichannel Television Service Average interest score in 
programs from the USA		 Average interest score in 
programs from own country
Yes
No		 3.71
3.41		 3.89
4.01
TOTAL 3.48 3.98

(Source: Los Medios y Mercados de Latinoamérica 1998)

According to this table, persons with multichannel television service are more interested in programs from the USA (3.71 versus 3.41) and less interested in programs from their own country (3.89 versus 4.01) when compared with those who do not have multichannel television.  Nevertheless, when all said and done, those persons with multichannel television are still more interested in programs from their own countries than from the USA (3.89 versus 3.71).

In thinking about this subject, we should recognized that there is not one program, but many different programs being produced all over the world.  One may not like all American programs, just as one may not like all programs from one's own country.  In the following table, we show the program preferences by national origin separately for people who stated that they were very interested (5=very interested on a five-point scale).

Television Programs Very Interested In

 Average interest score in 
programs from the USA		 Average interest score in 
programs from own country
Recent Movies
Classic Hollywood Movies
Dramas
Music
Variety Shows
Game Shows
Situation Comedies
Documentaries
Cartoons
Sports
News
Telenovelas		 4.03
4.02
3.90
3.80
3.78
3.78
3.77
3.77
3.77
3.69
3.57
3.42		 4.10
4.16
4.30
4.29
4.28
4.37
3.96
4.14
4.27
4.06
4.09
4.23
TOTAL 3.48 3.98

(Source: Los Medios y Mercados de Latinoamérica 1998)

Given that Hollywood movies dominate the global film industry, both in cinematic releases as well as televised forms, it is not surprising that movie-lovers are apt to be more interested in movies from the USA.  At the other end, telenovela lovers are least likely to be interested in television programs from the USA, which does not produce any telenovelas.

But before we can talk about the issue of global media imperialism, we need to ask why US programs are as popular as they seem to be.  The answer cannot be something as naïve as US producers having bigger budgets.  After all, the US entertainment industry is replete with spectacular examples of colossal failures.

Here is a quotation from Olson's book:

"Why are movies and television programs from the United States so dominant?"  A few scholars have already tried to answer this question, but in most cases, they rely on purely economic or political expectations.  Those studies are important contributions, but only go part of the way to explaining the imbalance; analogously, they are like trying to account for Japanese success in the automobile industry only in terms of U.S. and Japanese governmental policy, without consideration of such crucial factors as local taste, consumer perceptions, marketing strategies, currency exchange rates, and, most importantly, the attributes of the product itself.

In other words, consumers came, in many cases, to prefer Japanese automobiles because of certain properties those cars had or were perceived to have.  This, more than any other factor, must account for their success: if consumers did not want them, for whatever reasons (including price, safety, styling, quality), they would not sell as well as they do.  The same must be true of films and television programs: For the most part, their success is a function of their desirability, and their desirability is a function of specific qualities that buyers assign to them.  To discover what these qualities might be, one has to look at audience expectations and responses and at the product ifself.  Looking at what the consumer expects and the actual way the product is used certainly reveals particular ways in which consumer desire is met with textual devices in a satisfying way either by a car or by the media.

This is not to say that the American media are in any way better than other media, just as it is problematic to say that Japanese cars are better than American cars.  It is more meaningful to frame the difference in suitability to particular tasks.  There is no meaningful and objective way of evaluating media or cars in this manner because such a qualitative evaluation is audience and consumer specific ... Nevertheless, the American share of international film and television remains the lion's share.  The reasons that share is so big need to be evaluated, systematized, and theorized. (page x: introduction)

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(posted by Roland Soong on 5/11/00)

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