MTV's Cross Cultural Reach

During the crisis in Afghanistan, teenagers in 375 million households from Boston to Berlin to Bombay tuned in to hear U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell field questions on military maneuvers.  For young people all over the world, MTV is not just the first stop for music, but for breaking news and views that shape their interpretation of cultural events.  MTV has vast global reach on par with brands like Coke and Levi's.  Though admired for it's vast influence, it draws the ire of some who accuse the teen-savvy network of cultural imperialism, trampling over regional values and preferences as its airwaves rock the world.

MTV, meanwhile, sidesteps such criticism and downplays its role as a conduit to export American culture.  While it's 64 channels world-wide feed teens' hunger for American music, they play local stuff too.  In fact the network insists on 70 percent home-grown content.  That means local veejays in Bombay belt out Bollywood soundtracks.  In Shanghai, MTV plays Chinese opera arias.  Looking outward, MTV scours the world for emerging local bands and exposes them to international audiences.

MTV is not alone in its discovery that global markets want more than homogeneous, plain vanilla content.  Instead, it's shows that are in tune with regional cultures that really sell.  Everyone from CNN to Disney is "de-Amercanizing" their global channels.  In addition, international programming is making its way onto the U.S. airwaves.  Globalization is growing.