Mtv Network Europe example essay topic

... t success in the United States as well as in foreign markets. The channel broadcasts to twenty-four countries in Europe in ten languages. On average it reaches about fifteen million homes. The channel has also had similar success in Latin America. There are twenty-four hour a day channels that broadcast in Spanish, English and Portuguese. Fox Family reached about six million home in seventeen countries.

The Fox Family Network provides programming to fifty countries in fourteen languages (Thussu 170). Fox Family Kids has succeeded in their attempt to go worldwide. Like Fox Family Kids, Disney has gone global. In 1995 the company launched its first overseas channels in Britain and Taiwan. Now the company has feeds in many countries. Disney broadcasts in many languages to fit the needs of their international audiences.

Currently the company broadcasts in Spanish, German, French, Italian, Cantonese and Malay (Thussu 170). Disney has not only had international success with television but also with movies. Because most Disney movies are animated they too sell well overseas. Within two weeks of the release of The Lion King over 2.88 million tickets had been sold in eleven countries (Thussu 171). Children's programming is an enormous market.

After the children grow out of this market in their pre-teen and teen years they often find themselves viewers of MTV (Music Television.) The United States music industry has gone through great changes since 1981 when Video Killed the Radio Star, the first video ever played on the channel, was broadcast ed. In the last twenty years this channel has grown amazing fast in both size and status. Today the channel is viewed as the most visual symbol of globalization of Western popular music and youth culture. "Think globally, act locally". The network's slogan could be the reason for their worldwide success.

By targeting different areas and applying the region's individualistic music style to the channel MTV has been able to be successful all around the world. Although each channel is designed to appeal to a certain culture there is a large amount of English-language popular or rock music on all of the networks. In 1999 MTV reached over 314 million households in eighty-three different countries and boasted that they were the "most widely distributed network in the world" (Thussu 172). Although MTV began in the United States, it has become amazing popular overseas. The network's biggest market is Asia that was launched in 1995. More than 107 million households in twenty countries watch MTV on a regular basis (Thussu 172).

The channel broadcasts in both English and Mandarin. MTV Asia has some real competition from its challenger Channel V. This channel is part of the star platform and "claims to reach 72 million homes in Asia (Thussu 173). Europe is MTV's second largest market. Created in 1987, MTV Network Europe reaches eighty-three million homes in forty-one countries.

This market has received a giant boost by the growth the increased usage of satellites and digital cable. MTV Europe is also broadcast ed in English. In 1996 the channel split into four separate services. They are MTV in Britain and Ireland, MTV Central (includes Austria, Germany, and Switzerland), MTV Europe (35 counties), and MTC Southern (Italy).

A fifth service, MTV Nordic, was later added for the markets of Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland (Thussu, 173). The United States is the third largest market for the MTV network with a loyal following of seventy-two million. The network is so popular that it was able to split and form MTV 2. This channel shows more music video, and often will preview new and less popular artists before their appearance on MTV.

MTV is a true media powerhouse. As a symbol of what is popular not only in the United State but also all over the world the network has immense influence on its viewers. Because MTV's power of influence on what is popular, advertising on the station is at a premium. By advertising on the network companies are able to reach an influential global audience. International advertisers, especially record companies, often want to use MTV's global reach and name to market their products. .".. targeting youth throughout the world would be much sought after by advertisers seeking to expand their share of the world market for specific consumer goods of interest to youth, including jeans, designer clothes, watched and soft drinks" (Thussu, 173). Individuals in the music industry have been able to capitalize on MTV's influence.

Britney Spears, a pop music star, is the newest spokesperson for Coca-Cola. MTV is responsible for much of the singer's success. The visual word we live in has allowed this beautiful young adult to become a video star. Many young people watch the channel to see the latest fashion trend. As Rogers commented, "I often watch to see what the new style of dress and hairstyles. Jennifer Lopez and other performers are always trendsetters.

It's like they decide what is hot for people my age" The United States in no longer the target market for major recording labels and Hollywood companies. The statistics mentioned above show that there is a large market that is hungry for quality outside the United States. Companies no longer want to just sell to the United State market; their goal is to sell globally. They often use MTV to promote their films and music. Due to international networks, such as MTV, that promote American companies all around the world, our economy has received a boost.

The world's top ten brands in 1999 were all from the United States. They include Coca-Cola, Microsoft, IBM, General Electric, Ford, Disney, Intel, McDonald's, AT&T and Marlboro. An amazing "one-third of the world's wealth can be accounted for by the brands and could account for fifty percent of global wealth within the next twenty-five years (Thussu, 168). Americanization appears to be happening all around the world. However, some people do not believe this to be a positive happening.

They see the expansion of television as a form of cultural imperialism. They fear that programming from the United States' programming will corrupt the morals of their people and change their culture. Western media often shows "images of lifestyles, expected social relations, and ways of representing the world, which go beyond verbal communication and which survive translation" (Thussu, 195). Some believe that American television promotes individualism and hedonism.

In the United States they two values are not looked upon as being bad. We embrace being differences that make us unique. Professor Kim Smith commented that entertainment television "does not represent the world we live in. It exaggerates, ignores and distorts the real world. The result is that television represents characters in a highly stereotypical manor". An excellent example of how true his beliefs are is the number one globally syndicated show is Baywatch (Thussu 168).

This show hardly represents the typical American. Baywatch is not popular because of its high entertainment quality but rather because of the amount of promotion behind it. Smith also stated that we watch these shows "to be entertained and escape from the real world". The United States also portrayed as an extremely violent culture in television and film. Seventy-five percent of shows contain at least one act of violence.

In these shows it is often the police, or another authority person, that is portrayed as being violent, not the criminal. In addition the majority of victims tend to be innocent random people (Smith). It is understandable that other cultures would be tentative about wanting to assimilate the United States, as it is portrayed on television. To limit the amount of programs that are produced outside the country Taiwan requires that seventy percent of its programming be domestically produced (Folkerts, 238.) South Korea has allows even less imported television permitting only twenty percent of its shows to be imported. The practice of limiting the amount of imported shows limits the exposure residents have to American culture and have slow down the Americanization process. There seems to be an internal battle in many of the countries that the Unites States exports its media to.

A large portion of the public must enjoy our productions; otherwise they would not watch the shows. The overseas' networks enjoy using our programs as well since it takes some of the strain of producing so many programs. However, some people within the country are worried that the shows are changing their cultures. Why I understand their desire for their cultural to remain true to itself, I also know that change cannot be prevented. As long as there is money to be made internationally I don't see a decline in Americanization. American's love money and will go to great lengths to provide the services that overseas countries want.

I predict that other countries will pick up on this idea and try to export them like the United States has been doing for yea.