“Everyone Working a Little More Closely Together”: The Transnationalization of Creative Production in TV Production Conglomerates

Abstract

To survive contemporary developments in the TV industry and as a result of international mergers and acquisitions, production companies often form transnational media corporations. In this article, we examine TV production groups as global-local networks that pursue competitive advantages of transnational integration. Combining a critical industry studies approach with management perspectives, and building on different data sources, this article aims to open up the black box of management beliefs, discourses, and material practices within TV production networks. Our analysis shows how the industry’s hunt for profitable, reproducible practices and intellectual property (IP) rights translates into transnational creative pipelines, knowledge flows, and interdependencies. Transnational management practices include surveillance of local production, the installation of information flows, shared practices and procedures, and socialization processes. This article argues that corporate structures, strategies, and management practices coordinate TV production across borders, shape industrial practices, and foster a transnational production culture.

Handmaidens of consolidation in the UK television production sector

“…This needs to align with the buyer's evolving business model in a changing market and be consistent with the needs of its distribution pipeline and possible international format deals (depending on genre) while securing, where possible, cost savings across the group. This is consistent with the findings reported by Van Keúlen et al (2019).…”

“…The whole process is an auction orchestrated by the intermediary in which there is a matching of buyers and sellers. Complementary fitness perspectives for both buyers and sellers are required: fit from the buyer's perspective for the potential acquisition to offer a well-managed and sustainable set of programme-making activities; but also, fit from the seller's perspective for a buyer's organisational structure to provide a degree of autonomy and positive conditions for creativity (for an analysis of these factors see Van Keúlen et al, 2019).…”

Transnationalisation revisited through the Netflix Original: An analysis of investment strategies in Europe

“…There is still limited information available about the investments that Netflix makes in European markets, or their evolution in the past years. In our own analysis of the topic, we have identified transnationalisation as a useful concept for analysing the platform’s investment strategies, as it has been extensively used in the past decades to reveal the increasing complexity in the media sector, ranging from discussions on transnational collaborations in cross-border production of audio-visual content, media ownership and regulation, circulation and reception, as well as cultural dynamics (Cunningham et al, 1998; Robertson, 1995; Straubhaar, 2007; van Keulen et al, 2020).…”

“We Don’t Aspire to Be Netflix”: Understanding Content Acquisition Practices Among Niche Streaming Services

“…The data collected for this research includes press coverage, marketing materials, promotional videos, and interviews with executives. As Van Keulen et al (2020) note, in the context of media industry studies research, the triangulation of data sources creates opportunities to situate industry executives' "promotional and performative expressions" in relation to other data sources and broader industrial contexts (p. 754).…”