Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Few trends have had as much impact on television as formats have in recent years. Long confined to the fringes of the TV industry, they have risen to prominence since the late 1990s. Today, they are a global business with hundreds of programmes adapted across the world at any one time, from mundane game shows to blockbuster talent competitions, from factual entertainment to high-end drama. Based on exclusive industry access, this book provides an in-depth analysis of the complex world of the TV format from its origins to the present day.

Chalaby delivers a comprehensive account of the TV format trading system and conceptualizes the global value chain that underpins it, unpicking the corporate strategies and power relations within. Using interviews with format creators, he uncovers the secrets behind the world's most travelled formats, exploring their narrative structure and cultural meanings.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Chalaby (international communication, City Univ. London, UK) provides a fascinating look at the history and development of television formats, how they are adapted to different cultures, and the international business of managing and trading formats. In the early years, US television thrived on game shows and soap operas. Over time, many of those shows were exported to other countries and adapted for local audiences. Though the US was an initial supplier, the trend has expanded--today, talent, game, and reality shows can be developed in any region and sold repeatedly across the globe. Programs popular in the US--Dancing with the Stars, Deal or No Deal, Homeland, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Undercover Boss, and X Factor--all started life in the UK or elsewhere; the American shows Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy are shown as local productions around the world. With the advent of ever more entertainment avenues, the appetite for programming is insatiable. Now that independent producers maintain control of their intellectual property, they have incentive to produce globally transferable programming. Including detailed indexes, charts, and references, this book represents exhaustive research and first-person interviews with show developers and heads of networks. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals. --Roger Davis, formally Kent State University

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Jean K. Chalaby is Professor of International Communication at the Department of Sociology, City University London