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2017 | Book

Introduction: Transnational European TV Studies Read chapter Read first chapter

Transnational European Television Drama

Production, Genres and Audiences

Authors: Prof. Ib Bondebjerg, Dr. Eva Novrup Redvall, Rasmus Helles, Signe Sophus Lai, Henrik Søndergaard, Cecilie Astrupgaard

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Book Series : Palgrave European Film and Media Studies

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" , Springer Professional "Technik"

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About this book

This book deals with the role of television drama in Europe as enabler of transnational, cultural encounters for audiences and the creative community. It demonstrates that the diversity of national cultures is a challenge for European TV drama but also a potential richness and source of creative variation. Based on data on the production, distribution and reception of recent TV drama from several European countries, the book presents a new picture of the transnational European television culture. The authors analyse main tendencies in television policy and challenges for national broadcasters coming from new global streaming services. Comparing cases of historical, contemporary and crime drama from several countries, this study shows the importance of creative co-production and transnational mediated cultural encounters between national cultures of Europe.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. Introduction: Transnational European TV Studies
Abstract
The introduction argues for the importance of mediated cultural encounters for a deeper European understanding across borders. Fictional narratives and cultural encounters are posited as the missing link in European studies. The introduction outlines a sociology of mediated cultural encounters, considering the dynamics of cultural and media policy, the processes of co-production and distribution, the forms of creative encounters and the dimensions of transnational reception. Along with providing an overview of each of the chapters, it argues for the importance of combining qualitative and quantitative data and analysis in transnational television drama studies.
Ib Bondebjerg, Eva Novrup Redvall, Rasmus Helles, Signe Sophus Lai, Henrik Søndergaard, Cecilie Astrupgaard
Chapter 2. A Theory of Mediated Cultural Encounters
Abstract
In this chapter, we outline a theory of mediated cultural encounters based on social cognition theory along with theories and empirical evidence of cultural globalization and media consumption. Ideas around mediated cultural encounters are part of a broader theory of social and cultural categorization that can help us better understand European integration. This chapter also discusses theories of globalization and mediatization. We draw on theories and empirical studies of European integration and how this may gradually change the relation between national and transnational identities. Finally, we discuss the processes of transnational reception of TV drama and the complexity of the subjective and collective dimensions of reception.
Ib Bondebjerg, Eva Novrup Redvall, Rasmus Helles, Signe Sophus Lai, Henrik Søndergaard, Cecilie Astrupgaard
Chapter 3. The Perfect Storm: European Television Policy and the Emergence of Streaming Services
Abstract
In this chapter, we deal with the technological revolution of the European television market, the development of new streaming services, both national and transnational, the changing forms of production and distribution and new forms of viewing. The chapter maps the structural changes these developments entail, along with challenges and possibilities and their impact on the European media landscapes, not least for national and European media policy. The chapter discusses potential scenarios for the existing public service and commercial media and how these may affect the principles of cultural diversity in Europe.
Ib Bondebjerg, Eva Novrup Redvall, Rasmus Helles, Signe Sophus Lai, Henrik Søndergaard, Cecilie Astrupgaard
Chapter 4. Networks and Patterns of European TV Drama Co-production
Abstract
Although Europe is still very much a fragmented audiovisual space of many nations and territories, there are also very clear patterns of co-production, creative collaboration and distribution. In this chapter, we analyse which countries actually enter into creative or financial co-production networks based on data on TV drama production and distribution among twelve countries. Not surprisingly, we find regional and linguistic affinities in those networks, but some nations come out with a very prominent position in those networks, and across linguistic and regional divides. The chapter provides a robust and empirically grounded framework for the understanding of some of the basic structures behind mediated cultural encounters in Europe.
Ib Bondebjerg, Eva Novrup Redvall, Rasmus Helles, Signe Sophus Lai, Henrik Søndergaard, Cecilie Astrupgaard
Chapter 5. Creative Work in a Transnational Context: Cultural Encounters Behind the Scenes
Abstract
This chapter analyses tensions related to creative work when collaborating on making transnational television drama in Europe. Drawing on qualitative case studies of the bilateral Swedish–Danish co-production Bron/The Bridge (2011–), the co-financed shooting of episode 100 of the UK TV series Midsomer Murders (1997–) in Copenhagen, and the pan-European co-production The Team (2015), the chapter analyses what the main practitioners behind these series perceive as the greatest strengths or challenges when working with transnational television drama, along with notions of best practice in this regard.
Ib Bondebjerg, Eva Novrup Redvall, Rasmus Helles, Signe Sophus Lai, Henrik Søndergaard, Cecilie Astrupgaard
Chapter 6. National Patterns of TV Drama Consumption in Europe
Abstract
This chapter combines three distinct quantitative data sources in a mixed methods research design in order to map national patterns of TV drama consumption in Europe. This design enables us to do three things: (1) map what characterizes the distribution of European, non-European and national television fiction series across the major channels in the United Kingdom, Belgium and Denmark; (2) focusing on the Danish case, to show how particular distribution has evolved over time; (3) characterize audience viewing patterns across the Danish population. We start out by targeting the three countries and their internal similarities and differences when it comes to national, European and non-European broadcast patterns. Secondly, we expand this snapshot, by investigating development over time in Denmark as an example. And thirdly, we turn to analysing audience viewing patterns and developing four ideal viewer types for European content.
Ib Bondebjerg, Eva Novrup Redvall, Rasmus Helles, Signe Sophus Lai, Henrik Søndergaard, Cecilie Astrupgaard
Chapter 7. Meeting the Others on TV: How Drama Translates into Cultural Encounters
Abstract
This chapter is grounded in focus group studies—that is, people interacting with each other and with us as researchers about specific TV drama episodes shown on an actual TV screen. We pose two questions: How do Danish viewers reflect on and engage with Danish and British series respectively? How do Danish viewers conceptualize and negotiate genre categories within and beyond the genre framework of the MeCETES project? In the concrete meeting between viewers and series, we were able to experience cultural encounters as they were happening. Focusing on five case study TV series, the chapter approaches the negotiations and understandings around these cultural encounters and in what they consist. As such, we analyse the stories people tell and the arguments they make in order to account for their personal reception.
Ib Bondebjerg, Eva Novrup Redvall, Rasmus Helles, Signe Sophus Lai, Henrik Søndergaard, Cecilie Astrupgaard
Chapter 8. Facing Everyday Life and the Societies We Live in: Contemporary Drama
Abstract
This chapter deals with contemporary drama, comparing primarily English and Danish series but also taking up Scandinavian and other European examples. By telling dual stories of large-scale contemporary conflicts and themes as well as showing scenes from everyday life, contemporary drama can expose the links between the public and private realms. In many ways, everyday life can be seen as the often unnoticed or taken-for-granted reality we all live in but upon which we seldom reflect. The chapter analyses the production and reception of the family-community drama and of the social-political drama. Family life and everyday life is central in these kinds of drama, and, by showing the lives of others, contemporary drama is an important vessel for mediated cultural encounters.
Ib Bondebjerg, Eva Novrup Redvall, Rasmus Helles, Signe Sophus Lai, Henrik Søndergaard, Cecilie Astrupgaard
Chapter 9. The Darker Sides of Society: Crime Drama
Abstract
Crime drama is without doubt the genre with the greatest transnational success in European television. It takes us into the darker side of society and human psychology, shaking us out of our normal everyday reality and testing the laws and morality on which we base our society. It is a genre that thrives on surprise and suspense. In this chapter, we deal with some major examples of the genre from Scandinavia, the UK and Belgium, considering production, co-production, distribution to audiences and reception from a transnational perspective. We try to answer the question of the transnational popularity of European crime series, taking into account its universal dimensions and the national variations.
Ib Bondebjerg, Eva Novrup Redvall, Rasmus Helles, Signe Sophus Lai, Henrik Søndergaard, Cecilie Astrupgaard
Chapter 10. History, Heritage and Memory: Historical Drama
Abstract
This chapter deals with European historical television drama, with examples from Scandinavia, the UK, Germany and Belgium. The chapter discusses why historical drama is one of the most popular transnational European genres. Our past seems to appeal to our present, living memory, and historical drama in Europe often creates strong reactions and debate. This is due to the role of memory in both the individual and the collective contexts. Part of the forming of identity in human beings is connected to the ability to create a link between past and present, the feeling of being a person with a particular history. Through case studies, the chapter deals with different kinds of historical drama, their transnational distribution and reception.
Ib Bondebjerg, Eva Novrup Redvall, Rasmus Helles, Signe Sophus Lai, Henrik Søndergaard, Cecilie Astrupgaard
Chapter 11. Conclusion: European Television—Diversity with Very Little Unity?
Abstract
In this concluding chapter, we discuss the main findings of the book in the context of the historical development of European media and policy. We consider the forms of mediated cultural encounters dealt with in the book, in terms of different forms of creative co-productions and in the dimensions of audience and reception. We point to our main findings apropos transnational networks in European television production and distribution but also to the still fragmented and nationally organized television culture, which leads to a rather limited distribution of many TV series. We also highlight the main findings about how audiences consume and evaluate national and European products. Finally, we discuss present and future perspectives for European collaboration in light of nationalism and globalization.
Ib Bondebjerg, Eva Novrup Redvall, Rasmus Helles, Signe Sophus Lai, Henrik Søndergaard, Cecilie Astrupgaard
Backmatter
Metadata
Title
Transnational European Television Drama
Authors
Prof. Ib Bondebjerg
Dr. Eva Novrup Redvall
Rasmus Helles
Signe Sophus Lai
Henrik Søndergaard
Cecilie Astrupgaard
Copyright Year
2017
Electronic ISBN
978-3-319-62806-6
Print ISBN
978-3-319-62805-9
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62806-6