‘Think globally, act locally’ is an interesting article that talks about how media corporations have adopted and localized in China. The article focusing is on the Viacom owned channel MTV. ”Viacom may well be the first American global media enterprise to significantly penetrate the China market and has drawn the attention of the Chinese public and officials alike.”
So how does a station like MTV which is all about Freedom of expression get aired in China? By not saying a word about the Chinese government. ”Like Viacom’s localization strategies in other countries, MTV renounced campaigning against the Chinese government for acceptance in China.” China has a population of 1.3 billion people, it’s a hard market for big corporations to ignore. And you have to censor some things to add millions of dollars to your revenue; as a business stand point it may be a solid investment. So how does Viacom turn China into a cash cow? MTV sells their China made syndicated program slots in different cities and then they just add advertising between the programs. (Cha-Ching)
Are stations like MTV a step in the right direction for process of globalization for China? ”Chinese authorities and their media are more flexible, sophisticated and active than West has given them credit for… The culture requires the ability to achieve a smooth hybridization between the state and global capital that works through various economic constraints and political forces.” To me it is entirely plausible for other media companies to tap into the Chinese market. And this could apply to other countries media markets are well, in the sense that as long as we embrace a localization strategy we can penetrate any global market. Think globally, act locally.
