From Telenovelas to Netflix: Transnational, Transverse Television in Latin America (New Directions in Latino American Cultures)

✍ Scribed by Joseph Straubhaar, Melissa Santillana, Vanessa de Macedo Higgins Joyce, Luiz Guilherme Duarte

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2021
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 276
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book is about television in Latin America. Its national and regional industries create most television programming there within genres developed over time in the region. However, part of the programming has always come from the U.S., Europe and elsewhere. With cable, satellite and now streaming TV, that inflow of foreign programming has increased substantially. While many in the audience still prefer national or regional programs for their cultural proximity, an increasing number among the upper-middle and middle classes, particularly the young, are turning to the new foreign services, like Netflix, Amazon and Disney for class distinction, cosmopolitanism or other motives. Among the television industries, global, regional and national actors are creating a variety of programs and channels (broadcast, pay-TV and streaming) to segment and appeal to different parts of the audience.

✦ Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Chapter 1: Introduction
Industries and Genres
Identities and Audiences
Ongoing Appeal of U.S. Programming in Latin America
Technologies that Increased the Flow of U.S. and Other Foreign Programming into Latin America
The Streaming Television Revolution
Theorizing the Audiences for Foreign Television
Outline of the Rest of the Book
References
Chapter 2: The Growth of Latin American Television
Introduction
Latin America: A Birthplace of International Communication Theories
Television Eras in Latin America
Putting Latin America in the Context of the Other World Regions and Countries
A Region of Broadcast Exporters and Importers
Brazil
Mexico
Argentina
Colombia
Venezuela
Chile
Peru
Ecuador
Audience Television Preferences Sample and Methods
The Impact of Streaming Television
References
Chapter 3: Why Latin American Audiences Stay Loyal to National Broadcast Television
A History of National Preferences
Dependency on U.S. in Television
Cultural Imperialism
National Production
Telenovelas
The Introduction of Dramatic Series in Latin America
Cultural Proximity
Primary, Local or National, Cultural Proximity
Secondary, Regional (Geo-Cultural), or Cultural-Linguistic Cultural Proximity
Ongoing Competition with Imported U.S. Television Programs and Channels
Capitals, Class, Viewing Options, and Viewing Choices
Methodology
Measurements
Data Analysis
Limitations
The Context of Multichannel Viewing Growth
Preferences for National and Regional Television Programs
General Preferences for National Programming and Channels
Genre Preferences and Domestic Bias
News
Telenovelas
Regional Programming Preferences
National Program Preferences and SES
Analysis/Conclusion
References
Chapter 4: The Persistence of the Popularity of US Television
Structural Factors Favoring the Commercial System of US Television
Cultural Imperialism and the Deeper Structural Factors Favoring the Popularity of US Television
The Persistence of US TV Programs on Broadcast Channels
The Structural Context for Latin American Elite Audiences
Impact of Transnational Pay-TV on the Increased Availability of US TV
Why Audiences Began to Choose Foreign TV More Often
The Growing Appeal in Latin America of the Big Wave of US Programs on Pay-TV
Changes in Latin American Audiences for US Television
Cultural, Economic, and Linguistic Capitals and Viewing Preferences
Cultural Capital
Economic Capital
Linguistic Capital
Age
Conclusion: Predicting Foreign Television Preferences
References
Chapter 5: Changing Class Formations and Changing Television Viewing: The New Middle Class, Television and Pay Television in Eight Latin American Countries 2004–2020
Social Class and Television in Latin America
Elite Desires for Diversity on TV
Beyond the Elite Audience on Pay-TV
The Growth of the Middle Class in Latin America
The Role of the Lower-Middle Class
Breaking Down Class with Bourdieu’s Capitals to Predict Multichannel Growth
Methodology
Findings: Income and Multichannel Penetration
Findings: Education and Multichannel Penetration
Education, Income, and Reasons for Getting Multichannel Television
The Bust Years: 2014–2019
Analysis and Conclusion
References
Chapter 6: Streaming Television, Netflix, and Transverse Transnationalism
Introduction
Eras of Television and Streaming
Transversality
Reasons Why Streaming Is Increasingly Global
A Multiplicity of Models for Streaming
YouTube
Netflix
Disney+, HBO, Amazon Prime
Broad Range of Streaming Competitors in Latin America
Toward a Systematic Classification of the New Online Video Players
Media Imperialism
Platform Imperialism
Streaming Services as Global and Cosmopolitan
Transverse Flows and Streaming Companies
Taste Clusters Across Borders and Algorithmic Globalization
Problems of Access to Streaming
Netflix Strategy in Latin America
Netflix and Quality Television
Multilingualism on Netflix
Netflix Production in Latin America
Conclusion
References
Chapter 7: Netflix, Distinction, and Cosmopolitanism Among Latin American Middle Class and Elite Audiences
Distinction
Cosmopolitanism
Cosmopolitanism and Globalization
Cosmopolitanism and Bourdieu
Multiple Mobilities
Cultural Omnivores
Aesthetic Cosmopolitanism
Peripheral Cosmopolitanism
Cosmopolitans and Omnivores in Latin America
Cosmopolitanism and Globalized Media Preferences
Cosmopolitanism as Branding for Netflix and Others
Cosmopolitanism and Audience Preferences for U.S. and European Television and Film
Conclusion
References
Chapter 8: Conclusion
National Preferences
Continuing Attraction and Power of Imported Programs and U.S. Culture
The Impact of New Television Technologies
Increase in Lower-Middle Class Increases Pay-TV Use
Economic and Cultural Capital and the Appeal of Foreign TV
Television Over the Internet, Streaming Television
Latin American Cosmopolitan Audiences
References
Index