East Asian Broadcasting Industries: Global, Regional, and National Perspectives
Author(s)
Langdale, John V.
Abstract
Langdale explores two related themes. First, he considers the complex interrelationships among the forces operating at different geographic scales (global, regional, and national) that affect television broadcasting in East Asia. Western media transnational corporations (TNCs) have major advantages in terms of their programming libraries and technology. Asian firms, however, have programming that is more attuned to local tastes and good contacts with other Asian firms and governments. Global and regional forces such as technological change, the internationalization of production, and deregulation are having important impacts on the restructuring of East Asian broadcasting. Yet I caution against giving too much emphasis to the role of global and regional processes; many Asian countries exhibit a diverse regional and local political, economic, and cultural fabric that shapes broadcasting industries. A second theme of the paper examines the interrelationships between foreign capital and the state in East Asian broadcasting. A consideration of the role of the state is central to an understanding of these industries, given the cultural, economic, and political sensitivities raised by them. While government regulation has severely constrained foreign investment, foreign firms are allowed limited entry in some countries.
