Jean K. Chalaby

Today transnational TV networks count among television's most prestigious brands and rank among Europe's leading TV channels. This is the first, dynamically told story of the extraordinary journey of transnational television in Europe from struggling origins to its present day boom. It is based on extensive research into the international television industry and makes full use of its author's remarkable access to leading industry figures, from BBC Worldwide and Discovery to Turner and Disney. The tale begins with a few cross-border TV channels, who fought hostile governments, faced antagonism from the broadcasting establishment and provoked the contempt of advertisers. But, Jean K. Chalaby argues, the planets came into alignment for pan-European television in the late 1990s, when a transnational shift in European broadcasting was produced. He shows how transnational television and globalization have transformed one another, and how transfrontier TV networks reflect - and help sustain - a global economic order in which the connection between national territory and patterns of production and distribution have broken down. 'For both academics and policymakers, this is surely a notable contribution to our understanding of what is going on with respect to changing media cultures and spaces. Jean K. Chalaby takes a significant step forward in addressing the major transformations associated with globalization and transnational communications flows.' - Kevin Robins, Goldsmiths College