Take-Home Midterm

Take-Home Midterm:
Global Media- The Franchise

Within the recent years, television has discovered and exploited the high demand for reality shows. These shows that portray real life situations and interactions on screen have become a franchising tool that has spread globally. One example of this programming strategy can be seen in the popular television broadcast, The Biggest Loser (Dave Broome, 2004, USA). This reality TV show originated in the United States and made its debut broadcast on NBC's network during October, 2004. The show centers on obese contestants competing to win a cash prize of $250,000 by losing the highest percentage of weight. The Biggest Loser has exploded in popularity since its successful pilot episode and now broadcasts in many different countries ranging from Australia, to the United Kingdom.
"The central problem of today's global interactions is the tension between cultural homogenization and cultural heterogenization." (1) This quote from Appadurai's article, Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy, explains the major issue involving the global spread of television franchises. The Biggest Loser represents an example of media homogenization because the strict format it follows denies a contribution from the local influences towards the shows aesthetic. The presentation of the show is similar in all locations, from the attire the contestants wear to the health resort settings they inhabit.
The Biggest Loser franchise is an internationally successful television format because it incorporates numerous engines. The most prominent of these “new engines” revolves around the idea of ordinary people renovating their bodies. This is further supported in Keane and Moran's article, Television's New Engines, as they explain that, "Weight-loss contests... engender a sense of striving to achieve socially acceptable norms." (2) Along with a personal transformation, the contestants are given the chance to win a large cash prize if they succeed in losing the most weight relative to their body. Each day the contestants must participate in a physical challenge and each week there is a weigh-in revealing their progress made thus far. To eventually achieve a winner, the show utilizes the common engine of elimination as the result of a voting process. The engines were created in an attempt to add value to their program and generate an interest in the audience.
While the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom programs share many similarities with each other in regards to format, each country works separately towards the formation of a national identity. On the American franchise, the contestants were invited by Michelle Obama, to the White House Kitchen with hope towards reaching as many people as possible with the first lady's message of healthy eating. The broadcasting from Australia took a different approach by making the legendary swimmer and Olympic athlete, Hayley Lewis, the host for next year's season. Hayley says of becoming the host of The Biggest Loser, "I've always been a devoted viewer of The Biggest Loser and have been so moved by people's stories of battling weight issues in the past." (3) Along with these special appearances, the show displays a national identity through the contestants who are typically residents of the host country and end up becoming reality television celebrities. This allows the audience to create a closer connection with them and invest more interest into the show.
I feel that The Biggest Loser franchise brings people closer together as it focuses on the shared issue of obesity that is seen throughout the world. The contestants' struggles become an inspiration as well as a mediascape in which the audience can project their own lives upon in hopes of living a healthier life. "Since its 2004 debut, The Biggest Loser--once a critically derided punch line--has grown into a cultural phenomenon that's helped participants shed more than 15,000 pounds." (4)


Endnotes:

(1) Arjun Appadurai, "Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy." Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Eds. Dilip Gaonkar and Benjamin Lee. (Minneapolis and London: University of Minnesota Press, 2008) p. 32.

(2) Michael Keane and Albert Moran, "Television's New Engines." Television and New Media. 9.2 (2008): 161.

(3) http://www.thebiggestloser.com.au/news-hayley-lewis-host.htm

(4) Dan Snierson, "Bigger Than Ever," Entertainment Weekly; 2/13/2009, Issue 1034, p. 34-37