At the origin of a global industry: The TV format trade as an Anglo-American invention

Abstract

Many of today’s popular TV programmes are formats that are adapted for local audiences as they travel from country to country. It is an industry that was transformed in the late 1990s by four ‘super-formats’ ( Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Survivor, Big Brother and Idols) and that is today worth an estimated €3.1 billion per year. This article focuses on the evolution that explains the emergence of these super-formats in the late 1990s. It traces the origins of the trade, uncovers the world’s first deals and identifies the first TV formats that aired in the UK, France, Spain and Italy. It shows that the two key principles of the TV format trade were established by the early 1950s and argues that the TV format trade is an Anglo-American invention because the first format licences of US shows were acquired by British broadcasters. The second part explains those factors that led to the emergence of the super-formats and argues that the truly pivotal decade was the 1990s. This is the time when the forces that unleashed the super-formats gathered speed, when the format trade expanded beyond game shows and embraced emerging genres that have since become the bedrock of the TV industry, when British TV production companies emerged as leading format creators and producers, and when the world’s two format powerhouses formed.