The Netherlandization of television content: A research to the inflow of television programmes in...

The Netherlandization of television content A research to the inflow of television programmes in The Netherlands

Student Name: Rudolf den Hartogh

Student Number: 340907

Supervisor: Dr. An Kuppens

International Bachelor in Communication and Media (IBCoM)

Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication

Erasmus University Rotterdam

Bachelor’s Thesis

June 2013

Abstract

In the 1970s, a number of empirical studies have demonstrated the increasing dominance

of American television programmes in The Netherlands. To illustrate the ongoing

homogenization of television markets, scholars provocatively referred to this development as

Coca-Colonisation, McDonaldization, Americanization or Dallasification. This was a

disturbing signal for the Dutch public, as they believed that the American influence would

threaten the sovereignty of the national culture.

Hence, it was in this decade that the ‘cultural imperialism thesis’ became a significant

perspective in the social sciences and was largely adopted by the public. Scholars, journalists

and politicians sounded the alarms bells, urging governments to limit the American

dominance. However, the Dutch government did not interfere in the television market. In the

late 1980s, the problem even intensified when the number of commercial television channels

grew exponentially. Commercialization increased the competition in the Dutch television

landscape and forced the television stations to fill up the extra broadcasting hours with

relatively inexpensive imports.

Nevertheless, scholars argued that television audiences have “an outspoken preference”

for national television content, suggesting that commercial broadcasters increasingly invest in

local productions as soon as they have more capital to their disposal. However, the increase of

local programming is not without risks. Domestic productions require a lot of money and

expertise, without any guarantee of success. Therefore, at the turn of the 21st century a new

development appeared in the global media industry: the rise of ‘television format trade’.

Scholars have argued that The Netherlands play a key role in the global trade of

television formats and Dutch formats are exported to many important TV markets, including

Brazil, China, Italy, Spain, the UK and the USA. Because these formats explicitly empty out

traces of national belonging, they are attractive and relatively cheap media products to other

countries. This development signals that the media industry has changed and the position of

domestic television programmes in The Netherlands is strengthening: Dutch media

conglomerates generate more and more revenue, which is likely to benefit the local

production of television content.

Nevertheless, no research has been conducted for over ten years to examine whether the

position of Dutch television has actually changed in The Netherlands. The last empirical study

on the inflow of television programmes in The Netherlands was conducted in 1997,

suggesting a gap in academic research of 16 years. Therefore, this study begins to fill this gap

by empirically examining the position of domestic content and the position of the American

programming industry in The Netherlands.

Here, a programme analysis of six Dutch television channels compares the current inflow

of foreign television programmes in The Netherlands with the situation of 1997 and 1991. A

quantitative content analysis reveals that the position of domestic television programmes in

The Netherlands has strengthened at the expense of the American programmes. Nevertheless,

commercialization of the television programming appears to homogenize television content in

The Netherlands. Implications of these findings are positioned in larger themes of

globalization and effects in multinational television markets.

Key words

Americanization, The Netherlandization, globalization, programme analysis, TV formats,

television content, transnational television

Word count: 9,327

Table of contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1

Theoretical framework ................................................................................................................. 4

History of the Dutch television landscape ....................................................................................... 4

Theories and critique ....................................................................................................................... 6

The Netherlands and television format trade ................................................................................. 8

The Dutch television market today ................................................................................................. 9

Method ...................................................................................................................................... 11

Sample ........................................................................................................................................... 12

Data collection and codebook ....................................................................................................... 12

Description of the database .......................................................................................................... 15

Results ....................................................................................................................................... 16

General findings ............................................................................................................................ 16

Comparative analysis of the broadcasting schedules of public and commercial channels .......... 18

The import of television content ................................................................................................... 20

Origin of television content ........................................................................................................... 21

The origin of television content per programme category ........................................................... 23

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 30

References ................................................................................................................................. 34

Appendix A ................................................................................................................................ 39

Appendix B................................................................................................................................. 42

1

Introduction

Nowadays, the European media landscapes are characterized by a wide variety of content,

originating from all over the world. Especially for television programming, a high number of

imported programmes can be identified (De Bens & de Smaele, 2001). ‘Friends’, ‘Dr. Phil’,

‘South Park’, ‘CSI’ and ‘Dallas’ are only a few examples of television series that have proven

to be global successes. All of these programmes were initially produced for the American

television market, but sold cheaply across the globe. As a result, domestic television markets

have to compete with foreign imports, which is often a challenging task due to financial

disadvantage (Van Cuilenburg, 1999).

The share of foreign television imports on European media markets primarily advanced

with the launch of many new commercial channels in the 1980s (De Bens & de Smaele,

2001). Consequently, television audiences were increasingly confronted with American

television programmes, and subsequently, with American culture, food, music and other

products. In The Netherlands, this development did not go unnoticed, as the increased

competition in television markets became more than a financial problem.

Questions were raised by politicians, citizens and scholars about the possible influence of

American culture on the Dutch society and the (negative) consequences involved (Baakman,

1986). People feared that the globalization of media content would threaten the ‘sovereignty

of national cultures’ and only work in favour of the US (Nordenstreng & Schiller, 1979).

American television imports were believed to be intrinsically related to the spread of

capitalism, which undoubtedly would ‘threaten’ the integrity of societies (Nordenstreng &

Schiller, 1979).

Also within the social sciences, the evolution of American programmes was repeatedly

connected to dependency theories, signalling that European countries become more and more

dependent on America (e.g. Pragnell, 1985; Silj, 1988; De Bens, Kelly & Bakke, 1992;

Biltereyst, 1995, 1996). Specifically, the discussion revolved around concepts such as

‘cultural imperialism’, ‘homogenization’ and ‘cultural hybridization’, which are perceived by-

products of the continuous process of globalization. Accordingly, several scholars urged that

the audio-visual sector in general is too important for cultural purposes to be left alone to the

market and concluded that governments should intervene (e.g. De Bens & de Smaele, 2001).

Nevertheless, the Dutch government did not interfere in the television market. On the

contrary, the governmental support to (public) television broadcasters has even declined

(Rijksoverheid, 2013). Still, there are signals that the position of domestic television

2

programmes has been strengthened at the expense of foreign imports. Specifically, Dutch

newspapers report that the Dutch television industry is more prosperous than ever, both

national and international (e.g. Deans, 2010; van Soest, 2012). This evolution is primarily

caused by an increasing amount of television programmes that are sold as formats to other

countries.

To illustrate, television producers from all over the world increasingly buy Dutch

television programmes, or the ‘template’ of the programmes, and adapt it to other cultures.

Because these formats explicitly empty out traces of national belonging, they can easily be

customized to other cultures at relatively low costs (Waisbord, 2004). Consequently, Dutch

formats like ‘Big Brother’, ‘The Winner Is’ and ‘The Voice’ are deemed significant successes

all over the world and are still gaining popularity.

This development started in the early years of the 21st century and opened the doors to

multidirectional television flows in The Netherlands. New flows of capital and programming

opened new ways for media companies to expand into international markets through joint

ventures and production arrangements (Waisbord, 2004). For example, Endemol

Entertainment, which is the Dutch production company behind programmes such as ‘Big

Brother’, is cooperating with American companies such as ‘Warner’ and even exports formats

to Afghanistan (Benzine, 2013; Van Soest, 2012).

So, there is evidence signalling that the position of Dutch television has changed.

However, no empirical research has been conducted for over ten years to examine the position

of the Dutch television programmes in The Netherlands. Therefore, this study will start filling

the gap in research by analyzing the inflow and the origin of television content in The

Netherlands. Particular attention is devoted to the conclusion of De Bens & de Smaele (2001),

which posed that governments should interfere in European audiovisual industries to stop the

dominance of American television programmes. While building further on prior research, this

research proceeds by examining the following research questions:

RQ1: What is the position of domestic television programmes in the Dutch

broadcasting schedules?

RQ2: Are there noticeable differences between the purchasing and programming

(prime time versus non-prime time) strategies of public and commercial

broadcasting channels?

RQ3: Do American television programmes still dominate the Dutch broadcasting

schedules?

3

These research questions are quite similar to those formulated by De Bens et al. (1992) and

De Bens & de Smaele (2001), which largely benefits the comparability between these studies.

Although this study is primarily relevant from a scientific perspective as it begins to fill

the gap in academic research, the social relevance should not be undervalued. Specifically,

this study will contribute to the societal debates on globalization of the media landscape.

Societal worries on (American) imperialism can be validated with the results of this study and

may even mute. Furthermore, this study can help television broadcasters and policy makers in

developing programming strategies and regulations, as well as evaluating the effectiveness of

current (European) quotas.

Before heading to the methodology and results of this thesis, a history and

contextualization on the globalization of television content in The Netherlands will be

provided in the theoretical framework below. The dissertation will be concluded with an

evaluation of the research questions, followed by a discussion of the findings and implications

for future research.

4

Theoretical framework

Today, worries exist within the Dutch society about the influence of globalization and about

possible (cultural) dominance. The significance of the fears related to the globalization of the

television landscape, however, can only be fully understood when the history of television in

The Netherlands is taken into consideration. Therefore this theoretical framework starts with

the situation in The Netherlands on October 2, 1951: the introduction of television

broadcasting.

History of the Dutch television landscape

While the impact and scars of the Second World War were still very apparent and the

country was financially recovering from the war, there was a strong desire for rest and peace

within society (Hooghe, 2009). Considering the expensive nature of television broadcasting,

there was not much appeal for the new communication device (Van der Heiden, 2000) and

many people perceived television as a threat for national culture and society (De Leeuw,

2003). In the magazine 'De Gids', for example, sociologist Fred Polak (1951) warned for

'idolatrous worship' of moving images that would corrupt the sight of the entire nation and be

the decay of the entire culture (p. 308, own translation).

Nevertheless, the introduction of television became the start of a new age, characterized

by development and financial prosperity (Von der Dunk, 1986). Whereas religious

fragmentation, or pillarization, had dominated traditional media for decades, television

initially offered only one channel with a very limited amount of programmes (Bank, 1986).

Viewers were therefore confronted with content that was not specifically targeted for

particular religious positions, forcing people to cross the boundaries of their religious

community (Van der Heiden, 2000). Consequently, the progressive nature of the new

communication device challenged traditional structures of society and triggered both societal

and political debates (Bank, 1986).

In the following decade, the landscape of media, politics and social structures changed

significantly (Brants & Van Praag, 2000). Television programmes crossed geographical

borders and confronted Dutch citizens with other cultures and lifestyles (Kuipers, 2011).

Consequently, it was not long after the introduction of television when foreign ideologies

reached the Dutch living rooms and even played a crucial role within society. Specifically, in

the 1960s, a new generation stood up in The Netherlands, which desired rejuvenation and

change. This development is argued to be directly inspired by the example of the young and

dynamic American president J.F. Kennedy (Hooghe, 2009).

5

As for media involvement, there is no reason to believe that the revolt in the ‘roaring

sixties’ was to any extent caused by media. Nevertheless, it was widely known that media

opens doors to foreign influence, and the upheaval in the second half of the 21st century was

perceived as a direct consequence of it. Considering the fact that there was a strong desire for

peace, rest and stability within the Dutch society, it may be no surprise that many people

reacted with cautious pessimism to the gradual expansion and globalization of the media

landscape (e.g. Baruch, 1962).

In the 1970s, an increasing body of research justified the apprehensions of the Dutch

public by drawing the attention to the consistent dominance of American television content in

the European media landscape (e.g. Nordenstreng & Varis, 1974; Boyd-Barret, 1977). It was

in this decade that the ‘cultural imperialism thesis’ became a significant perspective in the

social sciences and was largely adopted by the public (Chalaby, 2005). Cultural imperialism

can best be understood as being:

"the sum of the processes by which a society is brought into the modern world system

and how its dominating stratum is attracted, pressured, forced, and sometimes bribed

into shaping social institutions to correspond to, or even to promote, the values and

structures of the dominant centre of the system." (Schiller, 1976, p. 9)

The American dominance was particularly sensitive as most public channels in Europe

were built around the ‘Reithian concept’, which suggests that the “Nation shall speak unto the

Nation” (Clarke, 1983, p. 29). The public broadcasters were therefore expected to contribute

the nation’s imagined cultural boundaries, which should be done by primarily broadcasting

domestic television content (Chalaby, 2005). Consequently, the increase of foreign television

imports was perceived as trespassing frontiers and threatening “national cultural and

communication sovereignty” (Schiller, 1986, p. 12).

The problem intensified in the late 1980s when the number of television channels grew

exponentially. Specifically, October 1989 was a milestone in the history of television in The

Netherlands, as it is characterized by the launch of the first commercial television channel

(Van Eijk & van der Hende, 1990). Until 1989, there were only three television channels in

The Netherlands, and all them were controlled by the state. The development of commercial

channels was the end of the state-monopoly, but it was also the start of a new age of television

that would be dominated by multinational media corporations (Chalaby, 2005).

To illustrate, the rise of commercial television channels increased the competition in the

Dutch television landscape exponentially and forced the broadcasters to fill up the extra

6

broadcasting hours with relatively inexpensive imports (Chalaby, 2012). Particularly,

imported fiction from the USA ensured high viewer ratings and was therefore an attractive

alternative to domestic television programmes (De Bens & de Smaele, 2001). Within five

years, the Dutch television landscape changed from a governmental domain into a complex

interplay of multinational companies that relied heavily on foreign imports (Van Eijk & van

der Hende, 1990).

While the amount of commercial broadcasters increased in the 1980s, research to the

position the American audiovisual industry also intensified (De Bens & de Smaele, 2001). A

new wave of empirical studies analysed the developments and concluded that American

fiction dominated European television markets more than ever before (e.g. Pragnell, 1985;

Silj, 1988; Blumler & Hoffman-Riem, 1992; Biltereyst, 1995). To illustrate the ongoing

homogenization of television markets, scholars provocatively referred to this development as

Coca-Colonisation (Wagnleiter, 1991), McDonaldization (Ritzer, 1990), Americanization or

Dallasification (De Bens et al., 1992).

Eventually, the television landscape and economics have become very complex due to the

increased amount of commercial channels and players involved. These developments have

been acknowledged in the academic literature and resulted in more sophisticated theories to

explain the phenomenon. As a result, the theory of cultural imperialism, which dominated

societal debates in the latter half of the twentieth century (Crane, 2002), lost its dominance. It

became increasingly obvious that the cultural imperialism thesis failed to explain the

developments. Therefore, other theories were formulated, which are further discussed in the

section below.

Theories and critique

The cultural imperialism theory starts from the assumption that the cultural industry of

large countries, such as the US, can dominate other countries and can influence societies.

However, there are two main problems here. Firstly, the influence on society remains highly

debatable as it has not been empirically proven. To illustrate, some studies support the

cultural imperialism theory by reporting an influence of American media products on

domestic television markets, whereas others found no empirical evidence for the notion (e.g.

Ang, 1982; Biltereyst, 1991; Featherstone, 1987; Fiske, 1991; Katz & Liebes, 1990).

Secondly, the theory ignores the role of the audience by over-stressing the dominance of the

West on ‘the rest’ (Crane, 2002).

7

Opponents of this theory therefore emphasized the so-called ‘active audience approach’

(Hesmondhalgh, 2002). Whereas the imperialism theory suggests that media content has a

direct influence on the viewers and their perception of the world, this framework stresses the

dispersion of power and media consumers’ potential to not passively accept the message of

the sender, but critically assess, manipulate and resist American content (Tomlinson, 1999).

Support for the active audience approach was demonstrated in two studies on the reception of

the American soap opera ‘Dallas’, which revealed that audiences with different cultural

backgrounds decoded the content differently (Liebes & Katz, 1993; Ang, 1985). These studies

however, were later accused of putting too much emphasis on choice and romanticising

audiences’ sovereignty (Nederveen Pieterse, 1993).

Nevertheless, both theories fail to rationalize why audiences would even appreciate the

foreign content. Specifically, in view of the absolute distance between America and The

Netherlands, it may be considered remarkable that the American television content finds

appeal among the Dutch audience. Therefore, scholars searched for possible causes and

started linking the success of imported media content to the ‘cultural proximity theory’.

According to this theory, audiences prefer media products that reflect their own culture

(Staubhaar, 1991).

From this point of view, scholars could easily explain the continuous dominance of

American television content by arguing that the American culture is more proximate to the

Dutch culture than the geographical distance suggests (e.g. Crabtree & Malhotra, 2000;

Huang, 2011). However, the main problem related to the cultural proximity theory is that it

does not rationalize about cause and effect. For example, several scholars have argued that the

perceived proximity was not always there, but increased due to foreign influence (e.g. Ryoo,

2009). Consequently, an increasing body of literature introduced a paradigm shift from

globalization of media as a homogenizing process to a process of ‘cultural hybridization’ (e.g.

Wang & Yeh, 2005; Shim, 2006).

Specifically, the ‘cultural hybridization theory’ assumes an interaction between the local

and the global culture, through which two or more cultures become interwoven in a new

‘hybrid culture’ (Kuppens, 2013). From this point of view, the dominance of American

television content in The Netherlands is not simply a one-directional process, wherein one

culture dominates another, but implies a complex interplay of various processes. With respect

to cultural proximity, this theory suggests that the American and Dutch culture have formed a

new hybrid identity, which makes the American television more proximate to Dutch

8

audiences. The main critique on this theory, however, is that it is nearly impossible to

empirically examine this effect (e.g. Smith & Keri, 2008).

Nevertheless, all the dependency theories share one problem: they are US-centric. Today,

it may not be ignored that many countries have entered the global media industry and have

become influential players (Chadha & Kavoori, 2000). American dominance is thus countered

by non-American television flows, which are often referred to as contra-flows (Biltereyst &

Meers, 2000). Despite the rise of such non-American television flows, studies from around

the turn of the 21st century have pointed out that American television programmes continue to

dominate television landscapes all across Europe (Kruisel, 2000). There are, however, signals

that the position of The Netherlands in the global media industry has been strengthened,

which will be further discussed below.

The Netherlands and television format trade

While many commercial broadcasters in The Netherlands relied heavily on foreign

imports in the 1980s, it was widely known that viewers have “an outspoken preference” for

national television content (De Bens & de Smaele, 2001, p. 52). These broadcasters realized

that domestic television content would attract higher viewer ratings and understood that they

should turn to local programming (Chalaby, 2012). Hence, as soon as they had more capital to

their disposal, the commercial broadcasters started to invest in domestic television content.

Consequently, domestic production increased in the second half of the 1990s at the expense of

imported programming (Rouse, 2001).

However, the increase of local programming is not without risks. Domestic productions

require a lot of money and expertise, without any guarantee of success (Chalaby, 2012).

Therefore, at the turn of the 21st century a new development appeared in the global media

industry, which is the rise of so-called ‘television format trade’. Instead of buying a finished

television programme, multinational media business only bought the ‘formula’, or the

‘template’ of television programmes. Traces of national belonging can easily be discerned and

these formats can therefore be customized to other cultures at relatively low costs.

Adaptations of international formats (US or other) are therefore often be used as an alternative

for US imports: they’re ‘local’ productions, but not quite as expensive as making a

programme from scratch and also involving less risk as formats have been tested globally.

Over the next two decades, two Dutch production companies became increasingly

dominant in the format business (Chalaby, 2012). Specifically, ‘John de Mol Productions’ and

‘JE Entertainment’ began to sell home-grown and developed television formats to media

9

businesses all over the world. The two companies merged in 1994 and created ‘Endemol

Entertainment’, which eventually played a key role in the globalization of format trade

(Bazalgette, 2005).

Today, it has even been argued that The Netherlands have emerged as a centre for

television format industry (e.g. Keane, Fung & Moran, 2007), and Dutch newspapers suggest

that the format trade from The Netherlands continue to expand its reach (e.g. Deans, 2010;

Van Soest, 2012; Benzine, 2013). Especially since 2000, Dutch reality-based formats such as

The Voice and Big Brother became international successes (Chalaby, 2012). The rationale

behind the success of these formats is unclear as the reasons for people to watch reality TV

are seem to vary for different demographic groups (Gardyn, 2001).

Nevertheless, the Dutch television formats are exported to many important TV markets,

including Brazil, China, Italy, Spain, the UK and the USA (e.g. Chalaby, 2012; Van Soest,

2012; Benzine, 2013). And as a result, this expansion in the global media industry may very

likely have strengthened the position of the Dutch television market, both nationally and

internationally.

The Dutch television market today

The development of the Dutch television market described above indicates that the

increase of television formats have generated more revenue for commercial broadcasters in

The Netherlands and may very likely have stimulated the production of domestic

programmes. Also, Dutch adaptations of international formats (US or other) might be used as

an alternative for US imports: they are ‘local’ productions, but not quite as expensive as

making a programme from scratch and also involving less risk as formats have been tested

globally. From this perspective it may be assumed that, as format trade increased, that local

programming expanded at the expense of foreign imports. However, no empirical research

exists to test whether this hypothesis actually applies to the current situation of the Dutch

television market.

Therefore, the purpose of this study is to contribute to this field of research by focusing

on the position of domestic and foreign television content in the light of broader dependency

theories. For this purpose, the inflow of television programmes is examined at two points in

time and particular attention was directed to (a) the possible dominance of American

television programmes, (b) to the position of domestic television content, and (c) to possible

differences in the programming strategies between public and commercial channels in The

Netherlands.

10

The reader should be aware of the fact that this study focuses on the inflow of canned

programmes in The Netherlands, not on formats. In addition, it must be noted no

reception/audience analysis is made due to the limitations of time and money. Nevertheless,

bearing in mind the criticism on the cultural imperialism theory, assumptions are made on the

influence of these flows on the audience.

11

Method

This study is a follow-up study of prior research of the ‘Euromedia Research Group’ from

1991. In the original analysis of 1991, the broadcasting schedules (TV guides) from 14

European countries were analysed to determine the amount and origin of fiction on European

television channels (De Bens et al., 1992). By looking at both public and commercial

television stations, differences in foreign television imports between these channels, but also

between countries could be determined. The conclusion of the study was that American

fiction is dominating the European television landscape and governments face the task to

intervene in the television market.

In 1997, the analysis was conducted again by De Bens & de Smaele (2001), yet on a

smaller scale. In this study, the television programming of the last two weeks of January 1997

was analyzed for six European countries. Similar to the analysis of 1991, a quantitative

content analysis was conducted of television guides, coding each television programme that

was listed in the TV schedule for the period under study. Each programme was coded as a

separate case, and for each case, the origin, duration, time of broadcast and genre of the

programme was determined. In the end, De Bens & de Smaele (2001) concluded that the

conclusion of the investigation from 1991 was still relevant at the end of the 1990s,

suggesting that governments should still intervene in the television market.

In order to examine whether the conclusion of 1991 and 1997 is still applicable for The

Netherlands in 2013, the analysis of 1991 (and 1997) is conducted again in this study, yet on a

smaller scale. The gap in research of 16 years is bridged by analyzing the television

programming of The Netherlands in 2005 (eight years after 1997) and 2013, which is again

eight years later than 2005. Since this study is centered on numbers of programmes, a

quantitative content analysis is the only applicable method.

Therefore, similar to the previous analyses, a quantitative content analysis is conducted of

two television guides: one television guide from January 2005 and one from January 2013.

All data is collected by one coder, who examined the programmes listed in the television

guides, coded each programme as a separate case in statistical software, and analyzed the data

accordingly. It must be noted here that all steps followed in this examination built on a long

tradition in programme analysis and are primarily based on the studies mentioned above.

Nevertheless, alterations are made to previous methods in order to offset the increased

complexity of the television market. Further details on sampling, the codebook that was used

and the database are discussed below.

12

Sample

Since the aim of this study is to examine the situation and developments in the Dutch

television landscape, it is vital to examine the television programming in The Netherlands.

However, it would be too labour-intensive to conduct a quantitative content analysis of the

entire television programming in The Netherlands for the two years under study. Therefore, a

sample is drawn of the total television programming in The Netherlands for the two years

under study. This is done by following the example of De Bens & de Smaele (2001).

Specifically, for each year under study, the television guide of the last week of January is

analyzed to represent the television programming of that year. Consequently, the first

television guide under study is from week 4, 2005, and lists all television programmes that are

broadcasted in the last week of January 2005. Likewise, the second television guide is from

week 4, 2013, and presents all television programmes broadcasted in the last week of January

2013.

From the total amount of channels presented in these television schedules, only the public

channels ‘NED1’, ‘NED2’ and ‘NED3’, and the commercial channels ‘RTL4’, ‘RTL5’ and

‘SBS6’ are included in the analysis. The choice to include only six television channels is

primarily made to have an equal balance between public and commercial channels. To

illustrate, there are only three national public channels in The Netherlands, which are offset

with three commercial channels in the analysis.

Although the period under study might be considered unrepresentative since it ignores

seasonal influences on programming (De Bens et al., 1992), the consistent nature of

programming strategies and schedules of television stations largely increases the

representativeness of the sampled period (Dhoest, 1999). Also, limiting the sample period to

one or two weeks is a common practice in similar studies due to the labour-intensive nature of

programme analysis (Nordenstreng & Varis, 1974; De Bens et al., 1992; De Bens & De

Smaele, 2001). Either way, the data and results of this study, first and foremost refer to the

period under study.

Data collection and codebook

The data collection is done by analyzing the television schedules and coding each

programme that is listed to be broadcasted on the six channels in the period under study. To

aid the coding process, a codebook (Appendix A) was created to provide practical directions

for the classification, or coding, of the programmes. To maximize the comparability,

programmes were coded and classified along the guidelines of similar studies.

13

Specifically, the codebook used in this study is designed with the help of E. de Bens

(personal communication, April 9, 2013) and previous studies (De Bens et al., 1992; De Bens

& de Smaele, 2001; Chalaby, 2012). Eight variables are formulated, and included in the

codebook, on which each programme under study is coded. Consequently, the coder had to

classify (code) each programme listed in the television guide that was scheduled on the

channels, and in the period, under study.

To illustrate: for each programme is first determined in which year (variable 1) and on

which day a programme is broadcasted (variable 2). Then, the name of the channel on which

the programme was broadcasted is identified (variable 3), followed by what type of station

(variable 4) it is (public or commercial). Next, it is specified what the duration of the

programme was (variable 5) and at what time of the day (variable 6) it was broadcasted

(prime time or non-prime time). Finally, it is determined what the country of origin (variable

7) is for each programme and to which programme category (genre) it belongs (variable 8).

For example, the coder started the coding-process by classifying the first programme

broadcasted on Monday, January 24, 2005, after 7 a.m. on the public channel NED1. This

programme was a non-fictional, informational, programme with a duration of 30 minutes.

Consequently, the coding of this programme on the eight variables is as follows: YEAR=1

(2005), DAY=1 (Monday), CHANNEL=1 (NED1), TYPE_CHNNL=1 (Public), GENRE=3

(Information), DURATION=30 (30 minutes), TIME=2 (Non-prime time), COUNTRY=1

(The Netherlands). This classification was repeated for each programme scheduled within the

period under study that was listed in the television guides.

To assure consistency in the coding process, the codebook provided strict guidelines for

each variable. For example, the codebook states that programmes should be classified as

‘prime time’ when they are largely aired between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. This means that more

than half of the duration of the programme should be within prime time to be considered as

such. Since night programming is not included in the analysis, the definition of non-prime

time used was therefore 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The year of broadcasting is taken into account to

make comparisons across time possible.

Likewise, the country of origin can be understood as the country a programme initially

originates from. Some programmes, such as films, might be co-productions between several

countries. In such cases, these programmes are considered either to be from ‘European’ or

‘other’ origin (De Bens & de Smaele, 2001). Specifically, a co-production between Italy,

Spain and Canada is considered as ‘European’, while a co-production between Italy, Canada

and China is coded as ‘other’ origin. When the origin of programmes was difficult to

14

determine, the original internet site of these programmes was consulted to aid the coding

process.

Furthermore, the duration, or length of programmes was formulated in the codebook as

the time that is reserved in the television schedule for a programme, measured in minutes. The

duration is an important variable because it avoids bias in the presentation and evaluation of

the results. Particularly, the duration variable made it possible to weight and assess all results

in proportion of the total amount of broadcasting time. This avoids, for example, that a 90-

minute movie is equally weighted as a 10-minute talk show.

Finally, the codebook was especially helpful to determine to what programme category,

or ‘genre’, a programme belongs. These genres can be understood as “conventions of shared

understandings that provide standards for evaluating and appreciating cultural objects”

(Bielby & Harrington, 2008 p. 67). Although the formulation of the genres is nearly similar to

those formulated by De Bens & de Smaele (2001), several adaptations were made to the fit

the scope of this study.

For example, where prior analyses merely focused on American fiction, this examination

includes all types and genres of television programmes. In doing so, the data allows a more

comprehensive understanding of the position of American television content, as well as the

position of domestic television programmes. Also, the increasing popularity of non-fiction

genres such as reality television (Chalaby, 2012) and infotainment (Compton, 2009) further

underlines the importance of not limiting the study to fiction.

In addition, home shopping programmes and programmes broadcasted at night (often

‘paid programming’) are excluded from the analysis to avoid a distortion in the origin of the

total supply of television content. Although many previous studies did include these

programmes in their analysis, the dynamics of today’s media industry simply demand a more

sophisticated approach (Chalaby, 2002). Consequently, the nine main genre categories that

are formulated include: (1) fiction, (2) entertainment, (3) information, (4) culture & education,

(5) reality TV, (6) children and animation, (7) sports, (8) music and (9) infotainment.

Finally, it must be noted that De Bens & de Smaele (2001) solely focused on series and

films, which they referred to as fiction, and added a separate category for entertainment.

However, the categories fiction and entertainment overlap in definition, which is slightly

confusing for the coding process. Therefore, the reader should be aware of the fact that the

category ‘entertainment’ solely refers to non-fiction entertainment in this study.

15

Description of the database

It is important to note that all collected data is nominal, meaning that no meaningful

ranking is possible. The only exception is the duration (in minutes) of the programmes.

However, the ‘duration’ variable is only used to give the cases different weights (by

proportion of total broadcasting time) for statistical analysis. Furthermore, all data was

checked for missing or incorrect values to ensure a reliable and smooth analysis. When a

clean dataset was achieved, a first analysis was conducted to get a general idea about the

database. Specifically, this was done by requesting frequency tables in SPSS.

Consequently, a first look at the data reveals that the total database consists of 1842

cases, representing 1842 different television programmes. Together, these 1842 programmes

account for 82.639 minutes, or 1377 hours, of total broadcasting time in the period under

study. On average, this means that each channel broadcasted over 16 hours of television, each

day. The largest number of programs can be found in the category information, closely

followed by culture & education and children & animation. From the total number of

programs, roughly 75 percent was domestically produced, while the other quarter was

imported.

This basic understanding of the database is helpful to understand the significance of the

findings below. Nevertheless, more sophisticated statistical tests are needed to answer the

research questions of this study. Therefore, cross tabulations are primarily used, but not

limited to assess the origin of programmes in detail. In addition, correlational tests are used to

compare the results over time. In the conclusion, the findings are grounded in theory,

compared with prior research and related back to broader media theories.

16

Results

This study focuses on three main research questions, all directed to international flows of

television content in The Netherlands. By examining the amount and nature of the

international media flow of television in The Netherlands, this analysis shows the position of

imported and domestic television content. In addition, the research questions are evaluated

using Pearson’s chi-square test for independence, which is based on the probability

distribution. This test is used to determine whether possible differences between, for example,

the origin of films broadcasted in 2005 and 2013 are due to chance. All relevant results are

compared with prior research from De Bens & de Smaele (2001) to identify possible trends,

or fluctuations, in the share of national and international television products across time.

Before considering the findings, it must be noted that, although this research largely

follows the example of de Bens & De Smaele (2001) in the presentation of the findings,

adaptations are sometimes made to enhance the understanding of results. For example, reality

TV is clustered under the programme category ‘entertainment’ in all tables and graphs, unless

explicitly stated otherwise. Also, the reader must be aware of the fact that some tables or

graphs only include the programme categories fiction, entertainment and information to

increase the comparability with previous findings. This does not mean that other programme

categories such as culture & education, sports, music, and infotainment were excluded from

the analysis. Furthermore, all data is assessed and presented in percentages (of the total

broadcasting time) to strengthen the comparability between the programmes under study.

General findings

Table 1 shows the division of Dutch television programmes in 2013 across four main

programming categories: fiction, entertainment, information and culture & education.

Together, these four categories account for respectively 82.4 percent of the total broadcasting

time in 2005 and 67.4 percent in 2013. Prior research has repeatedly pointed out that fiction is

the most important programme category and has been dominating the European television

landscape for decades. Today, however, the largest share of broadcasting time was devoted to

culture & education, followed by information and reality TV. Especially reality TV acquired a

significant position in the television programming, which is likely at the expense of other

programme categories with the mere intention to entertain, such as fiction and non-fiction

entertainment.

17

Table 1 Main programme categories in January 1997, January 2005 and January 2013 (in percentage of total broadcasting time)

Fiction Non-fiction Information Culture & Reality TV Entertainment Education

Total Prime- Total Prime- Total Prime- Total Prime- Total Prime-

time time time time time time

1991 28.2 - 27.5 - 12.0 - - - - -

1997 33 39.6 23.1 25.8 12.4 13.8 - - - -

2005 23.0 28.8 17.6 28.3 22.9 17.2 19.7 12.9 1.3 3.6

2013 17.2 23.5 17.1 24.0 15.8 13.6 21.8 13.9 12.7 19.3

Note: 1. The categories music, sports and children’s programmes were also included in the analysis, but not reported here.

2. The total broadcasting time in 2005 and 2013 together is 82639 minutes or 1377 hours.

The differences with previous years are less substantial within prime time. The only

significant change within prime time is the declining share of fiction at one hand and the

increase of reality TV on the other. Furthermore, the share of broadcasting time devoted to

information has fluctuated over time, but no significant difference is observable between the

situation in 2013 and 1997. This suggests that the broadcasting time devoted to news bulletins

and news reels is not significantly different from the situation in the 1990s. On the other hand,

series, films and other non-fiction entertainment programmes tend to have lost a substantial

share of broadcasting time to reality TV (figure 1).

Figure 1 Trend in programme categories over time (in percentage of total broadcasting time)

Although prior research pointed out that the diversity of programmes is expected to

decrease due to commercialization of television (Van der Wurff & Van Cuilenburg, 2001), no

evidence is found to support this statement (figure 2). Considering the fact that the

broadcasting time is roughly distributed in five significant programme categories in 2005 and

six in 2013, means that there is no decline in diversity of programmes observable. In addition,

it may be observed that the gap between programme categories tends to decline, suggesting a

more equal distribution of broadcasting time between the categories.

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

1991 1997 2005 2013

Fiction

Non-fictionentertainmentInformation

Reality TV

Per

cen

tag

e

Year

18

Figure 2 Distribution of broadcasting time between programme categories (in percentage of total broadcasting time)

Note: Chi-square (df: 6) = 5029.61, p = .000

Comparative analysis of the broadcasting schedules of public and commercial

channels

Several authors have pointed out that commercial channels devote relatively more

broadcasting time to ‘popular’ programmes than to ‘serious’ programmes (De Bens et al.,

1991). Consequently, it is expected that public channels have a higher share of information,

education and children’s programmes, whereas films, series, entertainment, reality TV, music

and sports are more likely to be found on the commercial stations. In prime time, both

commercial and public channels tend to increase the amount of ‘popular’ programmes such as

films, series and entertainment. Table 2 does confirm this trend.

To illustrate, the findings shows that the most important programme category on

commercial channels is fiction and that their public counterparts primarily fill their

programming rosters with cultural and educative programmes. As far as entertainment is

concerned, the public and commercial stations compete on relatively equal terms, suggesting

that both stations continue to rely significantly on programmes such as talk shows, magazines

and quizzes to attract audiences. These programmes are relatively cheap to produce locally

and are often very popular with the viewers.

As could be expected, the lion’s share of information, children’s programmes and culture

& education is to be found on public channels. Surprisingly, children’s programmes account

for 19 percent of the total broadcasting time on the public channels, whereas their commercial

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Fict

ion

Ente

rtai

nm

en

t

Info

rmat

ion

Cu

ltu

re &

Ed

uca

tio

n

Re

alit

y TV

Ch

ildre

n's

pro

gram

me

s

Spo

rts

Mu

sic

Programme categories

Year 2005

Year 2013

Per

cen

tag

e

19

Table 2 Main programme categories in January 1991, 1997, 2005 & 2013 (in percentage of total broadcasting time)

Fiction Entertainment Information (Non-fiction)

Total Prime- Total Prime- Total Prime-

time time time

1991*

Public 21.3 - 24.0 - 18.0 -

Commercial 35.0 - 31.0 - 6.0 -

1997*

Public 16.8 25.2 20.2 29.0 14.3 14.6

Commercial 49.2 54.0 26.0 22.5 10.5 13.0

2005

Public 9.0 15.9 14.1 32.4 27.8 25.3

Commercial 39.5 42.3 21.7 24.0 17.0 8.7

2013

Public 7.0 10.5 15.1 27.1 23.1 17.6

Commercial 30.5 36.9 19.8 20.8 6.2 9.4

Culture & Reality TV Children’s Education Programmes

Total Prime- Total Prime- Total Prime-

time time time

2005

Public 24.2 16.2 1.4 3.5 16.3 2.0

Commercial 14.4 9.5 1.1 3.6 0.0 0.0

2013

Public 25.6 27.3 2.3 6.1 19.3 0.6

Commercial 16.7 0.0 26.3 32.9 0.0 0.0

Music Sports

Total Prime- Total Prime-

time time

2005

Public 5.2 1.2 1.9 3.4

Commercial 5.6 3.2 0.8 8.7

2013

Public 6.6 0.5 0.9 10.1

Commercial 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0

Note: 1. The data of 1991 and 1997 is based on results from De Bens et al. (1991) and De Bens & de Smaele (2001).

2. The data of 1991 and 1997 was only available for the categories fiction, entertainment and information.

20

counterparts did not devote any time to such programmes. This difference is not apparent in

prime time, which is probably because it may be not very cost-effective for the television

stations to broadcast children’s programmes in the evening.

When considering the distribution of programme categories, the most important change is

undoubtedly the increase of reality TV. As theorized in the theoretical framework, the

inexpensive nature of reality TV in combination with its attractiveness for viewers is certainly

the main reasons for the increasing dominance of this category. However, the difference in

share of broadcasting time of reality television between public and commercial stations

(around 24 percent in 2013) is striking. Nevertheless, a general decrease of other ‘popular’

programmes such as fiction, entertainment, music and sports is observable on both

commercial and public broadcasters.

The import of television content

Tracing the origin of television programmes was sometimes a rather problematic process,

since there are many programmes using a foreign format or which happen to be co-

productions between several countries. It must therefore be noted that co-productions are

classified as either other European country or as other country. Also, it should be mentioned

that foreign inserts (such as ‘Junior Masterchef NL’) are considered as domestic productions.

Additionally, children’s programmes are not taken into account here because (1) including

them would give a false impression of the actual imports and (2) they were also excluded

from the analysis in similar studies (such as for example Nordenstreng & Varis, 1986; de

Bens & De Smaele, 2001). Consequently, the reader must be aware that the share of domestic

productions may be slightly lower than is claimed in the statistics.

A first look at the origin of television programmes reveals that, on both channels, the total

programme supply is dominated by domestic television programmes (table 3). Especially on

the public stations it is remarkable how insignificant the proportion of foreign imports is in

2013. The findings also confirm previous findings by showing that commercial channels tend

to rely more heavily on foreign imports than do their public counterparts. When considering

the development of imported programmes compared with domestically produced television

content over time, an increasing share of domestic television content is observable on both

types of channels. On the other hand, foreign imports tend to decline. This trend is especially

significant on the public television stations. Surprisingly, the share of imported content within

prime time is nearly equal to the overall proportion of imports.

21

Table 3 Import of the total supply of television programmes (in percentage of total broadcasting time)

Home Foreign

Total Prime- Total Prime- time time

1991*

Public 79 - 21 -

Commercial 46 - 54 -

2005

Public 90 90 10 10

Commercial 56 61 44 39

2013

Public 96 96 4 4

Commercial 55 56 45 44

Note: 1. * Source: de Bens et al. (1991)

2. No data is available for 1997

Nevertheless, the ratio between home and foreign productions in the overall

programming is not a very relevant parameter. Only a comprehensive system for analysis of

all programmes could be expected to yield rich and reliable results. This is why these results

will be discussed in more detail below.

Origin of television content

A closer look at the origin of television content in The Netherlands reveals that only a

quarter of the total broadcasting time is devoted to foreign television content (figure 3). With

up to 18 percent of the total broadcasting time in 2013, the largest share of foreign

programmes originates from the United States of America. The other seven percent of the

broadcasting time is devoted to programmes produced in European countries other than The

Netherlands. Furthermore, it is remarkable how insignificant the share of television content is

that is imported from countries outside Europe: less than one percent.

When comparing the origin of television programmes with previous years, there is a trend

observable that suggests that domestic content is increasing at the expense of foreign content.

A cross tabulation found statistical significance for this proposition when examined with chi-

square (χ2 (3, N = 74452) = 177.22, p = .000), yet the strength of the relationship was

reasonably weak (Cramer’s V = 0.05, p = .000). It may therefore be stated that the share of

broadcasting time devoted to domestic programmes is gradually increasing since 1991 at the

expense of foreign imports.

22

Figure 3 Origin of the total supply of television programmes (in percentage of broadcasting time)


In addition, many authors have argued that commercial channels tend to rely more

heavily on foreign imports than do their public counterparts. Table 4 and figure 4 confirm this

assumption by showing that commercial channels have a substantially larger share of non-

domestic television content in 2013, of which most tend to be American programmes. Further

support for this statement was found in the χ2 test of independence, where this difference was

shown to be statistically significant (χ2 (3, N = 36823) = 9376.45, p = .000) and the strength

of the relationship appeared to be reasonably strong (Cramer’s V = 0.51, p = .000). Therefore,

it can be stated that there is a significant difference between the public and commercial

channels in origin of television content, in both years.

Table 4 Origin of the total supply of television programmes, compared by type of broadcaster (in percentage of broadcasting time)

The Netherlands Non-national USA Other

European

Total Prime- Total Prime- Total Prime- Total Prime-

time time time time

2005

Public 89.8 89.6 6.5 6.5 1.8 3.9 1.9 0.0

Commercial 55.8 60.8 4.3 7.2 38.9 32.0 1.0 0.0

2013

Public 95.7 96.0 2.3 2.8 0.8 1.2 1.2 0.0

Commercial 54.5 55.6 8.8 5.2 36.5 39.2 0.2 0.0


0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

The Netherlands USA Non-nationalEuropean

Other

2005

2013

Pe

rcen

tage

Country

23

Figure 4 Origin of the total supply of television programmes, compared by time of broadcast (in percentage of broadcasting time in

2013)


Furthermore, when examining the origin of programmes between prime time and non-prime

time, Pearson’s chi-square test reveals a significant correlation between the origin of

television content and the time of broadcast, χ2 (3, N = 36823) = 197.54, p = .000. However,

it may be assumed that this is a negligible relationship (Cramer’s V = 0.073, p = 0.000).

Nevertheless, these findings suggest that, although the differences in origin of programmes

between prime time and non-prime time are minimal, they are not due to chance.

Although the above findings largely reveal the origin of television content in The

Netherlands, a more in-depth analysis will provide a more thorough understanding of, for

example, the position of American programmes. Therefore, the origin of television content

will be further explored per programme category and compared across time.

The origin of television content per programme category

Because the five main programme categories (fiction, entertainment, information, reality

TV and culture & education) together account for more than 80 percent of the broadcasting

time, these categories will be examined in further detail. Consequently, the results in table 5

provide a detailed overview of the origin of television content per category, which will be

further discussed below.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

National USA Non-nationalEuropean

Other

Pe

rce

nta

ge

Country

Primetime

Non-primetime

24

Table 5 Origin of programmes by category (in percentage of total broadcasting time)

Fiction Non-fiction Information Culture & Reality TV

Entertainment Education

Public channels

2005

National 24.2 98.2 99.7 96.4 100

USA 16.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Non-national European 45.2 1.8 0.3 2.3 0.0

Other 13.8 0.0 0.0 1.3 0.0

2013

National 61.8 100.0 100.0 97.0 100

USA 4.8 0.0 0.0 1.1 0.0


Other 13.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Commercial channels

2005

National 6.2 76.0 100.0 82.5 85.0

USA 87.1 18.4 0.0 5.9 15.0


Other 1.8 0.9 0.0 1.1 0.0

2013

National 14.3 78.4 100.0 60.5 62.7

USA 85.7 9.1 0.0 29.5 15.9


Other 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.6

Note: 1. The categories music, sports, infotainment and children’s programmes were also included in the analysis, but not

reported here.

2. The total broadcasting time in 2005 and 2013 together is 82639 minutes or 1377 hours.

Fiction

When prior research is taken into consideration, it is striking how much attention is

devoted to the (increasing) dominance of American programmes on European television.

Particularly fiction was pointed out as a category that was increasingly dominated by

American imports, all across Europe. Table 6 partly confirms this trend by showing an on-

going dominance of American fiction on commercial channels (up to 85 percent), while the

share of broadcasting time devoted to American fiction is significantly declining on public

channels. Nevertheless, fiction is the only category where direct imports from America are

important to such a degree. Figure 5 further illustrates this trend.

25

Table 6 Origin of the fiction, compared by type of broadcaster (percentage of broadcasting time devoted to fiction)

The Netherlands Non-national USA Other European

Total Prime- Total Prime- Total Prime- Total Prime-

time time time time

1991*

Public 21.0 - 25.5 - 40.0 - 13.5 -

Commercial 5.5 - 13.5 - 76.0 - 5.0 -

1997*

Public 28.3 44.6 30.0 21.7 36.1 31.6 5.6 2.1

Commercial 12.6 20.2 6.4 9.0 78.8 67.6 2.2 3.2

2005

Public 24.2 39.9 45.2 36.1 16.8 24.1 13.8 0.0

Commercial 6.2 13.3 4.9 14.1 87.1 72.6 1.8 0.0

2013

Public 61.8 84.1 20.0 15.7 4.8 1.2 13.3 0.0

Commercial 14.3 13.8 0.0 0.0 85.7 86.2 0.0 0.0

Note: *The sources of the data of 1991 and 1997 are respectively: De Bens et al. (1992) and De Bens & de Smaele (2001).

Figure 5 Origin of the programme category ‘fiction’, divided by type of broadcaster (percentage of broadcasting time devoted to fiction)

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

The Netherlands USA Non-NationalEuropean

Other

Pe

rce

nta

ge

Country

Public channels

1991

1997

2005

2013

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

The Netherlands USA Non-NationalEuropean

Other

Pe

rce

nta

ge

Country

Commercial channels

1991

1997

2005

2013

26

While it would be interesting to compare the origin of television content of each programme

category with the results from de Bens et al. (1991) and de Bens & De Smaele (2001), it was

unfortunately only possible for the programme category fiction. This is due to the simple

reason that prior research does not provide rich data for the other programme categories.

Nevertheless, the origin of the other main programme categories in 2005 and 2013 is further

examined below.

The origin of films and series A closer look at the programme category fiction reveals that the American dominance on

commercial channels is primarily caused by the fact that all films were from American origin

(figure 6). In addition, from the total supply of series, over 75 percent was from American

origin in 2013 (figure 7). On the other hand, an increasing amount of film and series on public

channels was domestically produced, whereas their commercial counterparts continue to rely

heavily on American imports. Nevertheless, the share of Dutch series is increasing.

Figure 6 Origin of films, divided by type of broadcaster (percentage of broadcasting time devoted to films)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Public Commercial Public Commercial

2005 2013

Pe

rce

nta

ge

Year

The Netherlands

USA

Non-National European

Other

27

Figure 7 Origin of series, divided by type of broadcaster (percentage of broadcasting time devoted to series)

Non-fiction entertainment

As for entertainment, both commercial and public broadcasters rely most heavily on

domestic content (figure 8). Specifically, in 2013, only 21.6 percent of the total broadcasting

time on commercial channels was filled with imported entertainment, while the public

broadcasters solely relied on national content. Obviously, the high share of national

entertainment on both channels is directly connected to the low share of foreign content.

Specifically, today, European entertainment only accounts for 12.5 percent and American

content only for 9.1 percent. Furthermore, the share of American content is significantly

decreasing (χ2 (3, N = 10945) = 163.28, p = .000) and it is striking that American

entertainment even disappeared on public channels in 2013 (Appendix B-7, B-8).

Figure 8 Origin of the programme category entertainment, compared by type of broadcaster (percentage of broadcasting time

devoted to entertainment)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%


2005 2013

Pe

rcd

en

tage

Year

The Netherlands

USA


Other

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%


2005 2013

Pe

rce

nta

ge

Year

Other


USA

The Netherlands

28

Reality TV

While the share of American entertainment has decreased on commercial channels, this

trend tend to be connected to the increase of reality TV and especially within prime time

(Cramer’s V = 0.35, p = .000). Although the entire amount of reality TV on public channels

originates from The Netherlands, a surprising development is observable on commercial

channels. Specifically, it is striking that the proportion of reality TV from other European

countries has increased from zero, in 2005, to 20.8 percent of total broadcasting time devoted

to reality TV in 2013. This is even more than the share of American reality TV and is not due

to chance (χ2 (4, N = 14335) = 1757.54, p = .000).

Information and culture & education

As could be expected, information exclusively originates from The Netherlands,

suggesting that all news bulletins and news reels are domestically produced. Furthermore, the

programme category culture & education is also dominated by Dutch television content, but

the situation is somewhat different here. Figure 9 shows that no substantial differences may be

observed on public channels, but that the amount of American programmes is significantly

increasing on commercial channels. A closer look at this programme category reveals that this

shift in origin of cultural and educational programmes is solely caused by one of the

commercial channels: RTL 4 (an increase in American imports within this category of 76

percent). Conversely, the other commercial broadcaster, SBS6, significantly increased the

amount of domestic cultural and educational programmes (primarily) at the expense of

American imports (Appendix B-10).

Figure 9 Origin of the programme category culture & education, compared by type of broadcaster (percentage of broadcasting time

devoted to culture & education)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%


2005 2013

Pe

rce

nta

ge

Year

Other


USA

The Netherlands

29

All in all, nearly all findings reported here align in suggesting that national television

content is increasingly dominating Dutch television at the expense of foreign imports.

Consequently, the dominance of American programmes is not apparent in 2013, with the

exception of the programme category fiction. While the overall share of fiction is decreasing,

commercial channels continue to rely heavily on American series and film to fill up the

broadcasting time. It looks as though an evolution of national programmes is taking place,

limiting the importance of American programmes.

30

Conclusion

The aim of the current study was to empirically examine the position of domestic

television content and the position of the American programming industry in The

Netherlands. A quantitative content analysis of the programme schedules of January 2005 and

January 2013 reveals that the share of domestic television programmes is increasing in The

Netherlands at the expense of American content. Indeed, more than 75% of the total

broadcasting time in 2013 was devoted to Dutch programmes, compared to 18% of American

origin. At this level, and as measured with rank ordering of the indicated frequencies, it is all

but undeniable that the position of domestic television programmes in the Dutch

programming schedules has been strengthened. Likewise, it can be stated that American

television programmes do not (longer) dominate the Dutch broadcasting schedules.

Although the total share of American television content is decreasing on both public

stations and commercial stations, there is an on-going dominance of American films and

series. Strikingly, all films that were broadcasted on commercial channels were from

American origin. At one hand, this dominance is likely caused by the inferior position of the

Dutch film market: there are simply more American than Dutch films (Hofstede, 2000). On

the other hand, it might be argued that it underlines the notion of cultural hybridization in

terms that American film is appreciated as if it were a domestic product.

When considering differences between public and commercial channels, the most

important and noticeable conclusion is that commercial stations tend to rely more heavily on

foreign imports than their public counterparts. This confirms the findings of prior research.

Additionally, public broadcasters clearly take their responsibility to address all demographic

groups within society (e.g. Rijksoverheid, 2012), while it obviously does not whet the appetite

of the private operators: not one television programme of commercial channels was

specifically targeted for children. Instead, the commercial programmers probably expect to

yield more revenue with so-called ‘popular’ programmes (such as films and series), which

were therefore primarily found on commercial stations.

Within prime time, commercial and public stations tend to have a more similar agenda.

Specifically, the ‘popular’ programme categories, such as fiction, entertainment and reality

TV gain importance on both channels, while smaller genres increasingly lose out (especially

cultural, children and music broadcasts). Also, the share of domestic television content

significantly increases on both channels. The explanation can be found in the fact that the

highest viewer ratings can be found and a programme within prime time is therefore expected

31

to reach the largest audience (e.g. Lotz, 2009). The expensive local productions are therefore

mostly aired within prime time, as this is most cost-effective.

Furthermore, the difference in share of reality TV between public and commercial

channels is striking, as well as the increase of this genre over time. The increasing

commercialization of the Dutch television landscape has not lead to increasing American

content (as might have been expected), but instead, in an increase of reality programmes.

Many of these reality programs are based on foreign formats and combine the cheapness of

imports with the ‘localness’ of domestic fiction. Especially within prime time, these ‘local’

productions are shown to be an attractive alternative for American imports.

The findings confirm the cultural proximity theory by showing that television

programming in The Netherlands is dominated by local productions. The high share of

domestic programmes reflects the preference for cultural proximate programmes, as well as

the assumption that commercial channels increasingly invest in domestic television content

(e.g. De Bens & de Smaele, 2001). Furthermore, the notion that The Netherlands is subjected

to American dominance or ‘Americanization’ (as suggested by De Bens et al., 1992; De Bens

& de Smaele, 2001) is not supported. Instead, the findings show that the programming is

increasingly dominated by domestic television programmes. In this respect, ‘The

Netherlandization’ would be a more appropriate term to define of the situation.

However, while there are less foreign television programmes, the import which still exists

appears to homogenize. From the total amount of imported content, American content is

increasing at the expense of non-national European programmes. In other words, American

programmes continue to homogenize the Dutch television programming, while the diversity

in origin of television content is decreasing. Specifically, only seven percent of the total

broadcasting time was devoted to non-national European programmes and less than one

percent of television programmes was imported from outside Europe. Therefore, it seems that

the assumption made in prior studies is still applicable today, which posed that there continues

to be a one-directional flow television programmes from ‘the West to the rest’.

Altogether, it can be concluded that the position of the Dutch programming industry has

certainly be strengthened in The Netherlands. Specifically, nearly all television programme

categories were dominated by domestic television, with the exception of fiction. Commercial

channels continue to rely more heavily on foreign imports and tend to have a less diverse

supply of television content than their public counterparts. Interestingly, there is increasing

amount of reality TV broadcasted on both channels, which can be considered as a

consequence of the global format trade (e.g. Chalaby, 2012; Van Soest, 2012). This

32

development underlines the strengthened position of domestic content. Finally, American

programmes tend to decline and no longer dominate the Dutch television programming.

Nevertheless, homogenization of media content seems to be still very apparent in the Dutch

media industry.

When taking these arguments into account with the regard to the research questions posed

here, the main conclusion is that the position of domestic television programmes in The

Netherlands has strengthened at the expense of the American programmes, yet the import

which still exists appears to homogenize. While partly confirming prior studies, this research

indicates that the concerns expressed by scholars, politicians and citizens are justified, but

only to a certain extent. Nevertheless, future research would be necessary to further examine

the actual influence of the American programmes that are still very much apparent.

Limitations and implications

All in all, the findings of the study reported here may provide an appropriate basis for a

decision on media policies to politicians and scholars, but certain limitations must be

acknowledged. Particularly, the period under study introduces certain limitations on

generalizability and may even be considered unrepresentative. For example, seasonal

influences on programming were not taken into account and reported fluctuations in television

content over time were limited. It should therefore be noted that the results and conclusions of

this study, first and foremost refer to the period under study.

In addition, the share of domestic productions may be slightly lower than is claimed in

the statistics. To illustrate: even after consulting the website of television programmes, the

origin of the content was sometimes very hard to determine. In such cases, and only if the

origin of programmes could not be identified by any other means, the situation called upon

the expertise of the researcher. Furthermore, the reader should be aware of the fact that the

entire coding process was conducted by only one researcher, limiting the reliability of the

results. Nevertheless, the data collection was conducted with great precision and reviewed

with great scrutiny.

Although this study presents clear insights in the inflow of television content in The

Netherlands, future research would be necessary to further develop the conclusions of this

study. Especially important would be the application of a larger research sample. In doing so,

a more reliable and comprehensive understanding could be attained, providing more insights

on the developments of the Dutch television market. Also, a slightly more advanced

categorization of the programmes is necessary to meet the dynamics of today’s media

33

industry. Specifically, subgenres of ‘reality TV’ would be helpful to further explain the

significant increase of this genre on commercial channels.

In summary, statistical evidence has shown that the position of domestic television content in

The Netherlands is strengthening at the expense of the American programming industry.

Given that the local productions increased without governmental interference, it can also be

argued that the market itself is solving the problem of ‘Americanization’ and governmental

interference is not required. Moreover, as commercialization appears to increase reality

television, it is crucial that media scholars and practitioners take this shift into account. Media

flows of television content, however, present a considerable challenge for the field to explore

and more fully understand. Yet, from the analysis presented here, it is clear that domestic

content is rising in The Netherlands, but that the influence of America cannot and should not

be ignored in the interpretive impact of television programmes.

34

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Appendix A Codebook

The Netherlandization of television content

A research to the inflow of television programmes in The Netherlands

The units of analysis are Dutch television programmes broadcasted in week 4, 2005

and week 4, 2013 in The Netherlands. Each programme is assessed as a separate case

and classified by the researcher according to the guidelines of this codebook. All cases

are coded and numbered on each of the variables below.

VAR1 Year the programme is broadcasted

Identify in which country a program is broadcasted. Select the number that matches the year

of broadcast.

1. 2005 2. 2013

VAR2 Day the programme is broadcasted

Identify the number that matches the day of broadcast.

1. Monday

2. Tuesday

3. Wednesday

4. Thursday

5. Friday

6. Saturday

7. Sunday

VAR3 Name of television station (channel)

Specify on which day of the week the program is broadcasted.

1. Nederland 1

2. Nederland 2

3. Nederland 3

4. RTL 4

5. RTL 5

6. SBS 6

VAR4 Type of station

Identify what type of television station the channel was broadcasted on. Public channels:

Ned1, Ned2 and Ned3. Commercial channels: RTL4, RTL5 and SBS6.

1. Public channel 2. Commercial channel

40

VAR5 Time of broadcast

Prime time is considered as the time period with the highest amount of viewers. Prime time in

the Netherlands refers to the period between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. When a program largely is

broadcasted within the prime time slot, it should be coded as prime time. Use the following

codes:

1. Non-prime time 2. Prime time

VAR6 Duration of programme

The duration time of a specific television programme should be specified in minutes and

refers to the total time of the broadcasting, from the beginning to the end. To illustrate: a

program that is broadcasted from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. has a total duration of 150 minutes. In

the coding sheet, you fill in: 135. The duration time also includes time that is devoted to

commercials during the television programme.

VAR7 Country of origin

The country of origin refers to the country a television programme initially originates from, or

in which country it was broadcasted for the first time. Consult the website of the programme

when the country of origin is hard to determine.

1. The Netherlands

2. Germany

3. Belgium

4. United States of America

5. France

6. United Kingdom

7. Scandinavia

8. Eastern Europe

9. Australia

10. Other European country

11. Other country

VAR8 Programme category (genre)

Identify which of the following genres is most applicable to the television programme. Only

classify the overarching television genre, not the (possible) sub-genre.

1. Fiction

A programme within this category should qualify the following criteria:

- Programmes should have a script that is written before the broadcast.

- There should be one or more actors involved.

- Programmes should be structured by a plot, or a story.

41

3. Entertainment

A programme within this category has the mere intention to entertain. Examples are:

a. Talk shows

b. Game shows

c. Lifestyle

d. Magazines

4. Information

This category only includes:

a. News bulletins b. News reels

5. Culture & Education

A programme within this category has the mere intention to inform and educate.

Examples:

a. Documentaries

b. School TV

c. Economic programmes

d. Scientific programmes

e. Consumer programmes

6. Reality TV

Programmes within this category feature ordinary people instead of professional actors

and are often characterized by unscripted dramatic or humorous scenes. Examples are

competition and talent shows.

7. Children & animation

A programme within this category has to be primarily targeted to children, or has to be

animated.

8. Sports

Programmes within this category have to be merely related to sports.

9. Music

A programme within this category has to be connected to music.

10. Infotainment

Information-based programme that includes current affairs into a form of

entertainment to enhance popularity with audiences. Examples are talk shows centered

on current affairs combined with a high level of entertainment.

42

Appendix B SPSS Output

1) SPSS output for table 1: Main programme categories by year

43

SPSS output for table 1: Main programme categories by year, categorized by

time of broadcast.

45

2) SPSS Output for figure 2: Distribution of broadcasting time between programme

categories per year (in percentage of total broadcasting

time).

46

3) SPSS output for table 2: Main programme categories by year, categorized

by type of broadcaster

47

SPSS output for table 2: Main programme categories by year, categorized by

type of broadcaster and time of broadcast.

49

4) SPSS Output for table 3: Import of the total supply of television programmes,

categorized per broadcaster.

50

SPSS output for table 3: Import of the total supply of television programmes,

categorized per broadcaster and time of broadcasting.

52

5) SPSS Output for figure 3: Origin of television content (in share of total

broadcasting time)

53

6) SPSS Output for Figure 4: Origin of the total supply of television programmes,

compared between time of broadcast (in percentage of

total broadcasting time).

2005:

54

2013:

55

7) SPSS Output for table 4: Origin of the total supply of television programmes (in

percentage of broadcasting time).

2005:

56

2013:

57

Prime time, 2005:

58

Prime time, 2013:

59

8) SPSS Output for table 5 & table 6:

2005, Public channel:

60

2013, Public channel:

61

2005, Commercial channel:

62

2013, Commercial channel:

63

2005, Public channel, prime time:

64

2013, Public channel, prime time:

65

2005, Commercial channel, prime time:

66

2013, Commercial channel, prime time

67

9) SPSS Output for origin of entertainment

68

10) SPSS Output for the distribution of American television content

69

Within prime time:

70

11) SPSS Output for the development of culture & education

71

13) SPSS Output for position of American programmes

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