The international “Idol” franchise is game show with a little reality show in it. The franchise started with a British television series from 2001 called, “Pop Idol.” The franchise is basically a series of contests in different countries, all with different names, and they’re in the form of a long talent show. The basic idea behind the show is a country trying to find the best new singer, in the country of which the show is taking place. The winners are chosen by viewer voting, and participation. The mega-popular “American Idol” is an example of this franchise that is probably the most popular. Premiering in 2002, (the year after Pop Idol premiered) America’s Fox Network quickly broadcasted what is now perhaps the most watched television show in America, with a growing rate of 29 million average viewers.
There is an “Idol” in pretty much every major country on the planet; Specifically, in America there is American Idol, in Australia there is Australian Idol, and in Germany there is Deutschland sucht den Superstar, which means, “Germany searches for a superstar.” Regardless of the name, all of these television shows are exactly the same and they all copied each other, with the exception of the original “Pop Idol’, made in the United Kingdom. This is totally, completely, and exactly the definition, and a perfect example of media homogenization. All of these channels that broadcast these television shows are delivering the same thing to their viewers, the only difference is the people in the shows. They’re all set up the same way, and economically, more and more shows will keep being created, until the people reveal that they have gotten sick of it, by not watching anymore.
In Television’s New Engines, written by Michael Keane, and Albert Moran, the idea that television’s new engines are controlling our networks, is quite plausible. The new engines being the reality t.v. in general, the sophomoric outlook of many humans that is based on appearance, and coolness, that certain people are better than others, the gladiatorial element, etc.. Internationalization is key to the success of television shows of this era, and so therefore it forces homogenization upon our media. These “Idol” franchises use popular techniques like voting off, and leaving everyone on the show except for the “weakest link” every week, in order to keep up with what the people want to see. Using this process of elimination, there is one winner at the end, and with less and less people left on the show each week, it’s not uncommon to see that the top players are very good-looking, and always cool.
In each country’s “Idol”, most of the judges have the specific heritage of the country’s identity, and the show is broadcasted clearly for the country in which of which’s name is in the title. In watching clips from Deutschland sucht den Superstar , for example, you can see that the people are participating because they have a dream to become a popular singer in Germany. If they wanted to become a popular singer in Mexico, then they would try-out for “Latin Idol.” In reality, the people who win Deutschland sucht den Superstar are going to be famous in Germany but no one in Mexico, or anywhere else outside Europe will know about them. However, people partaking in Deutschland sucht den Superstar, and Australian Idol, and even American Idol are all of different heritage's, colors, and different backgrounds. But, most of them still have the same culture; like a German culture, because most of their participants have grown up in Germany. This creates a cultural unity for Germany, so that when German people watch it they can feel like it’s their show; not anyone else's.
I believe that this “Idol” franchise brings our world closer together, in that it promotes perfect media homogenization; so well that it almost advertises it, in a way. In fact, this whole franchise wouldn’t be possible without the process of globalization, which is bringing our world closer together on it’s own.
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