Whether it be from the UK, Japan, Europe, America, or our home Australia, the access to global media has never been so easy. With platforms like youtube, Netflix, Stan, Foxtel, or Tv on demand, the world has become a lot smaller. We are able to view Tv shows and movies from all over the globe comfortably in our living rooms through our small laptop screens or televisions.
Through the app 9 now I am able to watch multiple shows from all over the world. Being an Australian-based-channel it surprises me how many shows there are from other countries on just one media platform. The highly controversial show love island was released to Australian tv for only one season in 2018. The show failed to have a big impact with Australian audiences unlike the UK where the show originated from. The UK has had such a success that its recently aired its 5th season. Along with love island shows such as the voice, bachelor/bachelorette, married at first sight, and idol had replications of the base concepts of the show spanning from Europe, Asia, America, the Uk and Australia.
These are only a few examples of the many shows I have seen to be replicated across the globe. A great example is ‘Got talent’, which has been replicated in 58 countries. In fact, in 2014 the show originally founded by Simon Cowell in Britain, was “recognised by Guinness World Records as the worlds most successful reality tv format” (Lynch, 2014). On searching Got talent on google, the first result that came up was a video posted on YouTube by ‘Britain’s got talent’ of a girl named sacred Riana. Sacred Riana originally entered the Asia’s got talent in 2017, where she wowed (freaked out) the judges. She is someone I had seen before on YouTube having sat with my parents who had seen it on Facebook and were absolutely in awe of her performance. Her first audition saw her reaching “650 million views on YouTube, which is more than any Got talent star in the world” (McIntyre, 2019). She has also been described by Simon Cowell as the “scariest act ever” as she brought her act over to Britain’s got talent only this year. Due to the global platform provided by the numerous media access we are exposed to, she has become a global sensation.
It wasn’t like this in 1975 when my Uncle David Mckay competed and won the Australian remake of ‘Opportunity knocks’. At the age of 14, a boy soprano, he won the show against adults. Therefore, won the opportunity to fly to England where the show originated, and he competed in their show. Although viewed in Australia on TV, there was no media coverage or video when he competed in Britain, due to no internet and media platforms like YouTube.
It’s hard to believe how far our global access has come over the many years. It’s become too easy for us to view whatever Tv show and movie we want to and whenever we want to. As stated in O’Shaughnessy’s article ‘globalisation’, “the most important points for media students to focus on include the relationship between globalisation and technological and economic changes in the media industries”. These days when the opportunity knocks, it’s not just a knock, it’s more like a bash.
References:
Lynch, K. (2014). Simon Cowell’s ‘Got Talent’ confirmed as world’s most successful reality TV format. [online] Guinness World Records. Available at: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2014/4/simon-cowells-got-talent-confirmed-as-worlds-most-successful-reality-tv-format-56587/ [Accessed 28 Aug. 2019].
McIntyre, C. (2019). Britain’s Got Talent 2019: Amanda Holden terrified by ‘scariest act’ ever. [online] Newslanes. Available at: https://newslanes.com/2019/08/31/britains-got-talent-2019-amanda-holden-terrified-by-scariest-act-ever/ [Accessed 28 Aug. 2019].
O’Shaughnessy, M. (2012). Globalisation. 5th ed. [ebook] South Melbourne: Oxford University press, pp.458-471. Available at: https://tr.uow.edu.au/uow/file/e01a63f7-0d98-4c21-8b3b-9b259ada70a9/1/o%27shaughnessy-2012-458-471.pdf [Accessed 28 Aug. 2019].
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