Murdoch’s dilemma, or ‘What’s the price of TV in China?’

Abstract

Satellite television figures prominently in scholarly speculation about globalization, since it has the potential to cross boundaries of class, gender, ethnicity and literacy, in addition to nation. Scholars furthermore suggest that satellite TV moves audiences towards a shared repertoire of images and ideas, thereby encouraging modernization and reflexive forms of representative government. Such lofty speculation fails, however, to take into account the actual operation of media institutions, such as Rupert Murdoch’s Star TV. Closely examining the development of Star since 1993, this essay delineates the forces (infrastructural, political and textual) that transformed what aspired to be the first pan-Asian satellite platform into a niche TV service that panders to the Chinese regulators, provincial bureaucrats and subnational advertisers. The article concludes that ultimately forces on the ground are more influential than high-speed conduits in the sky. It consequently interrogates the reputed power of global media moguls and advocates further institutional research regarding globalization of media.