Global Media COMM458

One of the interesting points we covered in yesterday's class was the transfer of international programs, using the "The Office" as an example of a British program becoming "popular" in the United States.

As one person said, the recent Emmy award for "Outstanding Comedy Series" was evidence of its success. But I'm not wholly convinced. The Emmy's are an industry award that recognizes excellence within various areas of the television industry. The awards are a symbol of peer recognition from over 12,000 members of the Academy. Each member casts a ballot for the category of competition in their field of expertise.

So does this constitute popularity? I think the awards for this are the "Choice" awards ... right (please correct me if I am wrong on this)? So how popular is this program? Many programs that were considered "good" from an industry perspective have not lasted because the public did not support it and then the economic imperative steps in and the show is pulled.

So, the questions are:

1. What changes were made to the British version that allowed the program to adapt to the US situation?
2. What does this situation tell us about global-local television dynamic of international television programming?
3. What lessons can be learnt from this example to faciliate further transfers of program genres or models between countries?

This example would make an excellent project for the research paper and media exercise for that matter.

What do you think?