Television’s new engines

Abstract

Internationalization is a key to the success of television formats. In order to understand format trade it is necessary to draw out distinctions between formats and genre. Engines—innovations in programming engineered by format devisors—allow formats to regenerate and hybridize across genres. The core principle of formats, however, is the practice of franchising. Causal relations can be established between formats, engines and the tradability of television culture. The article shows how formats have impacted upon platforms, markets, labor, audiences and distribution of TV content.