Regional variations on a global theme: Formatting television for the Middle East and beyond

The issue of cultural interchange of foreign programming is growing ever more pertinent within the deregulated television industries of emergent economies and regions. Adaptation of global program formats has become a common practice around the world, though it has proven more challenging in the Middle East, in a context of variable religious conservatism, political freedoms and economic affluence. Drawing on case histories of format adaptations that have experienced differing degrees of success within the region, this paper develops inductively a typology for contingent creative strategies, namely replica, indigene, collage and hybrid. With an eye to targeting both advertisers and audiences, television networks and program producers might thus cater to diverse cultural sensibilities across sub-regional audiences when broadcasting regionally. Finally, the paper highlights under-researched issues surrounding media reproduction for geolinguistic regions.