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Global Television: An Introduction
In this book Chris Barker situates television as a cultural phenomenon in the context of global modernity.
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First published August 15, 1997
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January 12, 2013
While the book may appear dated at some points, Global Television: An Introduction by Chris Barker is still a useful work when trying to understand the impact that global distribution of television has. Barker looks to contextualize the relationship between “economic imperatives, organization practices and cultural meaning” (1997: 5) in global television programming. Barker largely accomplishes this task, examining both the macro level economics of global television, as well as looking at specific case studies of generic programming.
Barker is quite explicit with his political economy approach and takes a decidedly Marxist bent in his scholarship. He notes that the rise in the contemporary interest of political economics of global television can be attributed to the rapidly developing privatization and de-regulation of television across the earth. This, of course, means a rise in commercial interests and a decline in the material support for public television.
Global Television also positions the capitalist underpinnings of television in the context of globalism and modernity. However, Barker’s conception of modernity is different than the popular definition. Rather than subscribing to traditional concepts of modernity and postmodernity, Barker categorizes the current historical moment as one of radicalized modernity, or what Anthony Giddens calls high modernity. By this, Barker means that aspects of modernity, like the international dissemination of capitalism, are rapidly accelerated. There is still use for postmodernism in this framework, though, as Barker notes that it is best understood as the cultural aspects of high modernity.
The book is organized around three themes: the first part deals with institutions; the second with programming and audiences; and the third examines culture and politics. The text really shines in the first part of the book because Barker includes concrete examples of the different industrial organizations of television in multiple countries. The section concerning programming and audiences is also useful because we get an in-depth case study of soap operas as a global phenomenon (the discussion of telenovelas is, in particular, enlightening). The conclusion of the book, however, seems entirely too theoretical and abstract to fit the rest. The book’s organization makes Global Television a useful addition to any television industries or political economy class, either as a book to be read in whole or utilized in a piece-meal way.
The most glaring problem of the text is that it does not (and could not) discuss the role that digitization has played on global television. This, of course, is because the book was published in 1997, slightly over a year after the Internet had entered into the mainstream and close to a decade prior to any meaningful distribution of content online. Regardless, Global Television still makes for a useful work for any television studies scholar to include in his or her collection.
Barker is quite explicit with his political economy approach and takes a decidedly Marxist bent in his scholarship. He notes that the rise in the contemporary interest of political economics of global television can be attributed to the rapidly developing privatization and de-regulation of television across the earth. This, of course, means a rise in commercial interests and a decline in the material support for public television.
Global Television also positions the capitalist underpinnings of television in the context of globalism and modernity. However, Barker’s conception of modernity is different than the popular definition. Rather than subscribing to traditional concepts of modernity and postmodernity, Barker categorizes the current historical moment as one of radicalized modernity, or what Anthony Giddens calls high modernity. By this, Barker means that aspects of modernity, like the international dissemination of capitalism, are rapidly accelerated. There is still use for postmodernism in this framework, though, as Barker notes that it is best understood as the cultural aspects of high modernity.
The book is organized around three themes: the first part deals with institutions; the second with programming and audiences; and the third examines culture and politics. The text really shines in the first part of the book because Barker includes concrete examples of the different industrial organizations of television in multiple countries. The section concerning programming and audiences is also useful because we get an in-depth case study of soap operas as a global phenomenon (the discussion of telenovelas is, in particular, enlightening). The conclusion of the book, however, seems entirely too theoretical and abstract to fit the rest. The book’s organization makes Global Television a useful addition to any television industries or political economy class, either as a book to be read in whole or utilized in a piece-meal way.
The most glaring problem of the text is that it does not (and could not) discuss the role that digitization has played on global television. This, of course, is because the book was published in 1997, slightly over a year after the Internet had entered into the mainstream and close to a decade prior to any meaningful distribution of content online. Regardless, Global Television still makes for a useful work for any television studies scholar to include in his or her collection.
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