This article looks at the increasing incidence of television format flows in the Asia-Pacific, and draws upon findings from a three-year, 11-country study. It argues that format activity is both a consequence of demand for low-cost content and a catalyst for change in local content. Fashioning formats has become a means of financial and cultural insurance. Media producers in Asia have joined the international television format trade circuit. This paper looks at a number of international formats that have staked out a presence in the Asia-Pacific region.
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