Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction : 'Descent and modification' / Albert Moran -- Rethinking the local-global nexus through multiple modernities : the case of Arab reality television / Marwan M. Kraidy -- When TV formats are translated / Albert Moran -- Imagining the national : gatekeepers and the adaptation of global franchises in Argentina / Silvio Waisbord and Sonia Jalfin -- Trading in TV entertainment : an analysis / Katja Lantzsch, Klaus-Dieter Altmeppen and Andreas Will -- The rise of the business entertainment format on British television / Raymond Boyle -- Collaborative reproduction of attraction and performance : the case of the reality show Idol / Yngver Njus -- Auditioning for Idol : the audience dimension of format franchising / Doris Baltruschat -- Adapting global television to regional realities : traversing the Middle East experience / Amos Owen Thomas -- How national media systems shape the localization of formats : a transnational case study of The block and Nerds FC in Australia and Denmark / Pia Majbrit Jensen -- Transcultural localization strategies of global TV formats : The office and Stromberg / Edward Larkey -- Tearing up television news across borders : format transfer of news parody shows between Italy and Bulgaria / Gabriele Cosentino, Waddick Doyle and Dimitrina Todorova -- Defining the local : a comparative study of news in Northern Ireland / Sujatha Sosale and Charles Munro -- Independent television production, TV formats and media diversity in China / Michael Keane and Bonnie Liu -- A place in the sun : global seriality and the revival of domestic television drama in Italy / Milly Buonanno -- Idol in a small country : New Zealand idol as the commoditization of cosmopolitan intimacy / Barry King -- From global to glocal : Australianizing the makeover format / Tania Lewis.