Despite globalization, television is still bound to the nation-state in several aspects. The international television industry meets the national in the cross-border exchange of television content. Canned programming can hereby run into cultural barriers, which TV formats presumably can overcome, due to localization. Formats are translated to local versions that presumably suit national culture and identity. In globalization debates, localization is being used as an argument against cultural homogenization. However, there is little comparative work reviewing the extent to which TV formats are culturally specific. By comparing linguistic, intertextual and cultural codes in the Dutch and the Australian version of the British reality TV format Farmer wants a Wife, we will argue that localization of TV formats might be overrated as protection of cultural diversity.Farmer Wants a Wife is a reality TV format developed in Great Britain. The format has been purchased, adapted and broadcast in more than 20, mostly European, countries, as well as in South Africa, Australia and the United States. In most countries the show is extremely popular and breaks television viewing records, with the result that people from all across the world are watching a programme about farmers looking for a wife. However, different versions of the show exist, and in each country the format is localized and adjusted to suit national structures and characteristics. Farmer Wants a Wife is one of the reality TV formats that are incredibly successful on a global level and is therefore

To survive contemporary developments in the TV industry and as a result of international mergers and acquisitions, production companies often form transnational media corporations. In this article, we examine TV production groups as global-local networks that pursue competitive advantages of transnational integration. Combining a critical industry studies approach with management perspectives, and building on different data sources, this article aims to open up the black box of management beliefs, discourses, and material practices within TV production networks. Our analysis shows how the industry’s hunt for profitable, reproducible practices and intellectual property (IP) rights translates into transnational creative pipelines, knowledge flows, and interdependencies. Transnational management practices include surveillance of local production, the installation of information flows, shared practices and procedures, and socialization processes. This article argues that corporate structures, strategies, and management practices coordinate TV production across borders, shape industrial practices, and foster a transnational production culture.

Implications of the transnationalisation of television are often studied by focusing on the localisation of the content of formatted programmes. Although television is essentially an audio-visual medium, little attention has been paid to the aesthetic aspects of television texts in relation to transnationalisation and formatting. Transnationalisation of production practices, such as through formatting, implies a transnational aesthetic. At the same time, aspects of style are specific to place, culture or audience. In this article, the localisation of stylistic programme elements is explored using a comparison of two reality format adaptations. It is argued that style plays an important role in the expression of the local in a transnational industry.

The transnationalization of television production has been examined by studies on formats and multinational media companies, which have often highlighted the resilience of the local in the global. This article investigates transnationalization on the micro level of television production, drawing on participant observations in a Dutch production company that is partly owned by an American conglomerate. It explores the deep entanglement of the local with the global in different facets of production ‐ including legal, organizational and market aspects ‐ as manifested in daily practices and decision-making in television production. Our analysis reveals an industrial logic of formatting that is not only induced by transnational ownership structures and business models but also deeply ingrained in production routines and programme conventions. Through this logic, transnationalization shapes media professionals’ daily work, the selection of programme ideas and the process of content development.

TV formats provide an excellent lens to study the transnationalisation of television, but actual format production has rarely been examined. This article discusses three interrelated limitations of current format scholarship: (1) a gap between industrial and textual studies; (2) a selective focus on localisation; and (3) a lack of insight into daily practices of format production. Using the Flemish adaptation of The Great British Bake Off ( 2010 –2016, 2017–present) as a case study and drawing on participant observations, this article analyses transnational power dynamics in the TV industry and the meaning of the format on the micro-level of TV production.