Reflection i: Transnational TV Formats: Making the Local Visible and the Global Invisible

Abstract

This short reflection contends that formats make ‘the local visible and the global invisible’—just like football games and the FIFA rules and regulations that shape them globally. Second, it is argued that formats are successful internationally only if they resonate with an audience in each and every market in which they air. Finally, Lascia o Raddoppia? (Leave It or Double It, 1955–59) is used as an example to demonstrate that format adaptations can have genuine local impact, in this case, contributing to Italy's linguistic and cultural unification.