Recent developments in the online distribution and consumption of audio-visual content have brought relevant changes to the transnational flow of content. Thus, the need for a theoretical and methodological rejuvenation of flows research has been signalled. The aim of the present study is to analyse the different flow studies throughout time, following a series of parameters such as research question, methodology and scale of study. This article is a systematic literature review of 30 flow studies on film and television programmes, published between 1974 and 2014. The methods used by the studies are brought into focus and discussed thoroughly, in light of the method of data collection, the type of data used and the method of data analysis. Main findings show an evolution towards more detailed research, to include more contextual factors, an increased use of secondary data, as well as more focused regional and comparative studies.
AbramsonBD (2002) Country music and cultural industry: Mediating structures in transnational media flow. Media, Culture & Society24(2): 255–274.
2.
AngI (2005) Watching Dallas: Soap Opera and the Melodramatic Imagination, London: Routledge.
3.
AntolaLRogersEM (1984) Television flows in Latin America. Communication Research11(2): 183–202.
4.
Appadurai A (1996) Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Public Worlds, vol. 1. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
5.
ArtzL (2017) Commentary: Transnational capitalism and the new political economy of transnational media. The Political Economy of Communication5(2): 95–101.
6.
AttallahP (2002) Canadian television exports: Into the mainstream. In: SinclairJJackaECunninghamS (eds) New Patterns in Global Television: Peripheral Vision, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 161–191.
7.
BiltereystDMeersP (2000) The international telenovela debate and the contra-flow argument: A reappraisal. Media, Culture & Society22(4): 393–413.
8.
BizzocchiJTanenbaumJ (2011) Well read: Applying close reading techniques to gameplay experiences. In: DavidsonD (ed.) Well Played 3.0: Video Games, Value and Meaning, Halifax: ETC Press, pp. 262–290.
9.
Boyd-BarrettO (1998) Media imperialism reformulated. In: ThussuDK (ed.) Electronic Empires: Global Media and Local Resistance, London/New York: Arnold, pp. 157–176.
10.
Castells M (2000) The Rise of the Network Society. 2nd ed. Information Age, vol. 1. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
11.
ChadhaKKavooriA (2000) Media imperialism revisited: Some findings from the Asian case. Media, Culture & Society22(4): 415–432.
12.
ChalabyJK (2006) American cultural primacy in a new media order: A European perspective. International Communication Gazette68(1): 33–51.
13.
ChanJM (2002) Television in greater China: Structure, exports, and market formation. In: SinclairJJackaECunninghamS (eds) New Patterns in Global Television: Peripheral Vision, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 126–160.
14.
ChangT-KHimelboimIDongD (2009) Open global networks, closed international flows: World system and political economy of hyperlinks in cyberspace. International Communication Gazette71(3): 137–159.
15.
CunninghamSJackaE (2002) Australian television in world markets. In: SinclairJJackaECunninghamS (eds) New Patterns in Global Television: Peripheral Vision, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 192–228.
16.
De BensEde SmaeleH (2001) The inflow of American television fiction on European broadcasting channels revisited. European Journal of Communication16(1): 51–76.
17.
DickenP (2006) Global Shift: Reshaping the Global Economic Map in the 21st Century (Reprinted), 4th ed. London: SAGE.
18.
DoyleG (2013) Innovation in the use of digital infrastructures: TV scheduling strategies and reflections on public policy. In: StorsulTKrumsvikAH (eds) Media Innovations: A Multidisciplinary Study of Change, Göteborg: Nordicom, pp. 111–125.
19.
DupagneMWatermanD (1998) Determinants of U.S. television fiction imports in Western Europe. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media42(2): 208–220.
20.
EsserA (2010) Television formats: Primetime staple, global market. Popular Communication8(4): 273–292.
21.
EsserFHanitzschT (2012) On the why and how of comparative inquiry in communication studies. In: EsserFHanitzschT (eds) Handbook of Comparative Communication Research. International Communication Association (ICA) Handbook Series, New York: Routledge, pp. 3–22.
22.
FuWW (2006) Concentration and homogenization of international movie sources: Examining foreign film import profiles. Journal of Communication56(4): 813–835.
23.
FuchsC (2010) New imperialism: Information and media imperialism?Global Media and Communication6(1): 33–60.
24.
Garcia CancliniN (1995) Hybrid Cultures: Strategies for Entering and Leaving Modernity, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
25.
GarofaloR (1993) Whose world, what beat: The transnational music industry, identity, and cultural imperialism. The World of Music35(2): 16–32.
26.
GitlinT (2003) Media Unlimited: How the Torrent of Images and Sounds Overwhelms Our Lives (A Metropolitan Book/Owl Book), New York: Holt.
27.
GrayJ (2017) Reviving audience studies. Critical Studies in Media Communication34(1): 79–83.
28.
GreceC. European Commission, Directorate-General for the Information Society and Media, et al (2014) On-Demand Audiovisual Markets in the European Union Final Report, Luxembourg: Publications Office.
29.
GubackTH (1969) The International Film Industry: Western Europe and America Since 1945, Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
30.
GülpınarÖGüçlüAG (2013) How to write a review article?Turkish Journal of Urology39(Suppl 1): 44–48.
31.
HafezK (2011) The Myth of Media Globalization (Reprinted), Cambridge: Polity Press.
32.
HamelinkCJ (1983) Cultural Autonomy in Global Communications: Planning National Information Policy. Communication and Human Values, New York: Longman.
33.
HardyJ (2014) Critical Political Economy of the Media: An Introduction. Communication and Society, London: Routledge.
34.
HeppA (2015) Transcultural Communication, Malden: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
35.
HesmondhalghD (2013) The Cultural Industries, 3rd ed. London: SAGE.
36.
HoskinsCMirusR (1988) Reasons for the US dominance of the international trade in television programmes. Media, Culture & Society10: 499–515.
37.
Jalali S and Wohlin C (2012) Systematic literature studies: Database searches vs. backward snowballing. In: Proceedings of the 2012 ACM-IEEE international symposium on empirical software engineering and measurement, Lund, Sweden, 20–21 September 2012, pp. 29–38. New York: ACM Press.
38.
JayakarKPWatermanD (2000) The economics of American theatrical movie exports: An empirical analysis. Journal of Media Economics13(3): 153–169.
39.
Jezierski A (2010) Television Everywhere: How Hollywood Can Take Back the Internet and Turn Digital Dimes into Dollars. Bloomington: iUniverse Inc.
40.
KatzEWedellEG (1977) Broadcasting in the Third World: Promise and Performance, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
41.
KimKBarnettGA (1996) The determinants of international news flow: A network analysis. Communication Research23(3): 323–352.
42.
Kitchenham B and Charters S (2007) Guidelines for Performing Systematic Literature Reviews in Software Engineering (Version 2.3). Technical Report. Software Engineering Group, Keele University and Department of Computer Science, University of Durham.
43.
KüngL (2013) Innovation, technology and organisation change. Legacy media’s big challenges. In: StorsulTKrumsvikAH (eds) Media Innovations: A Multidisciplinary Study of Change, Göteborg: Nordicom, pp. 9–12.
44.
LeeFLF (2006) Cultural discount and cross-culture predictability: Examining the box office performance of American movies in Hong Kong. Journal of Media Economics19(4): 259–278.
45.
LeeS (2007) A longitudinal analysis of foreign program imports on South Korean television, 1978–2002: A case of rising indigenous capacity in program supply. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media51(1): 172–187.
46.
LiebesTKatzE (1990) The Export of Meaning: Cross-Cultural Readings of Dallas, New York: Oxford University Press.
47.
LinderSB (1961) An Essay on Trade and Transformation, New York: John Wiley.
48.
LobatoR (2018) Rethinking international TV flows research in the age of Netflix. Television & New Media19(3): 241–256.
49.
LotzAD (2017) Portals: A Treatise on Internet-Distributed Television, Ann Arbor: Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library.
50.
LozanoJ-C (2011) Consumption of US television and films in Northeastern Mexico. International Communication Gazette73(8): 685–705.
51.
MagaldiC (1999) Adopting imports: New images and alliances in Brazilian popular music of the 1990s. Popular Music18(3): 309–329.
MattelartA (1979) Multinational Corporations and the Control of Culture: The Ideological Apparatuses of iImperialism, Hassocks: Harvester Press.
54.
Moran A and Keane M (eds) (2005) Television Across Asia: Television Industries, Programme Formats and Globalization. Transferred to Digit Print. Media, Culture and Social Change in Asia 1. London: Routledge.
55.
MoscoV (2009) The Political Economy of Communication, 2nd ed. Los Angeles: SAGE.
56.
NordenstrengKVarisT (1974) Television traffic – A one-way street? A survey and analysis of the international flow of television programme material. Reports and papers on mass communication no. 70, Paris: UNESCO.
57.
OhJ (2001) International trade in film and the self-sufficiency ratio. Journal of Media Economics14(1): 31–44.
58.
PendakurMSubramanyamR (2002) ) Part I: Indian cinema beyond national borders. In: SinclairJJackaECunninghamS (eds) New Patterns in Global Television: Peripheral Vision, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 67–82.
59.
Robertson R (1995) Glocalization: Time-space and homogeneity-heterogeneity. In: Featherstone M, Lash S and Robertson R (eds) Global Modernities. London: SAGE, pp. 25–44. DOI: 10.4135/9781446250563.n2.
60.
RobinsonWI (2017) Debate on the new global capitalism: Transnational capitalist class, transnational state apparatuses, and global crisis. International Critical Thought7(2): 171–189.
61.
Schiller HI (1971) Mass communications and American empire. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
62.
SchillerHI (1976) Communication and Cultural Domination, White Plains: International Arts and Sciences Press.
63.
Sinclair J, Jacka E and Cunningham S (eds) (2002) New Patterns in Global Television: Peripheral Vision. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
64.
SklairL (2016) The transnational capitalist class. In: FarazmandA (ed.) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 1–4.
SparksC (2007) What’s wrong with globalization?Global Media and Communication3(2): 133–155.
67.
StorsulTKrumsvikAH (2013) What is media innovation? In: StorsulTKrumsvikAH (eds) Media Innovations: A Multidisciplinary Study of Change, Göteborg: Nordicom, pp. 13–26.
68.
StraubhaarJD (2007) World Television: From Global to Local, Los Angeles: SAGE.
69.
StraubhaarJD (2008) Plenary I. global, hybrid or multiple? Global, hybrid or multiple?Nordicom Review29(2): 11–29.
70.
StraubhaarJDDuarteLG (2005) Adapting US transnational television channels to a complex world: From cultural imperialism to localization to hybridization. In: ChalabyJK (ed.) Transnational Television Worldwide: Towards a New Media Order, London: I. B. Tauris, pp. 216–253.
71.
Thussu DK (ed) (2007) Media on the Move Global Flow and Contra-Flow. New York: Routledge.
72.
Thussu DK (ed) (2009) Internationalizing Media Studies. New York: Routledge.
73.
TomlinsonJ (1991) Cultural Imperialism: A Critical Introduction, London: Pinter Publishers.
74.
TranfieldDDenyerDSmartP (2003) Towards a methodology for developing evidence-informed management knowledge by means of systematic review. British Journal of Management14(3): 207–222.
75.
TunstallJ (1978) The Media Are American: Anglo-American Media in the World (Reprinted). Communication and Society, London: Constable.
76.
Uribe-JongbloedEEspinosa-MedinaHD (2017) An introduction to cultural transduction. Palabra Clave – Revista de Comunicación20(3): 615–621.
77.
VarisT (1985) International flow of television programmes. Reports and papers on mass communication no. 100, Paris: UNESCO.
78.
WaisbordS (2004) McTV: Understanding the global popularity of television formats. Television & New Media5(4): 359–383.
79.
WatermanD (1988) World television trade. Telecommunications Policy12(2): 141–151.
80.
WatermanDRogersEM (1994) The economics of television program production and trade in Far East Asia. Journal of Communication44(3): 89–111.
81.
WebsterJWatsonRT (2002) Analyzing the past to prepare for the future: Writing a literature review. MIS Quarterly26(2): xiii–xxiii.
82.
WildmanSSSiwekSE (1988) International Trade in Films and Television Programs, Cambridge: Ballinger.
83.
WinseckDR (2011) The political economies of media and the transformation of the global media industries. In: WinseckDRYong JinD (eds) Political Economies of the Media: The Transformation of the Global Media Industries, London: Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 3–48.
84.
Wohlin C (2014) Guidelines for snowballing in systematic literature studies and a replication in software engineering. In: Proceedings of the 18th international conference on evaluation and assessment in software engineering, London, UK, 13–14 May 2014, pp. 1–10. New York: ACM Press.
85.
WuHD (2003) Homogeneity around the world? Comparing the systemic determinants of international news flow between developed and developing countries. Gazette (Leiden, Netherlands)65(1)9–24.
86.
XuXFuWWStraubhaarJD (2013) National self-sufficiency in broadcast television programming: Examining the airtime shares of homemade versus U.S.-made programs. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media57(4): 543–561.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
