Page 194 - Communication Commerce and Power The Political Economy of America and the Direct Broadcast Satellite

184 Communication, Commerce and Power

transmission capacities generated by new distribution platforms. The
European Television Directive, for example, has stimulated a trend
among some US and European production interests to invest in one
another's markets. For many European companies, such as Canal
Plus, the best way to access major Hollywood 'hits' is to invest in
their production. For US-based producers, insuring access to
European-based markets by becoming legally 'European,' and the
recognition that local companies often are better able to produce
programing that is attractive to local markets, have become important
considerations. The desire to lower production costs and the high
risks inherent in the film and television production sector more gen-
erally have led some US producers to enter into relatively complex
production and distribution deals with foreign-based companies in
order to share costs and guarantee access into preferred markets. 74
As for the development of transnational television advertising
through DBS, European television has experienced some accidental
indications of the effectiveness of cross-border promotions. Advert-
isers who had not intended to sell products in a particular national
market have experienced instances of unanticipated consumer demand
as a result of incidental signal spillovers. According to Eric Scheck,
75
of BBDO Worldwide, transnational advertising has grown dramatic-
ally in recent years. As of 1992, it constituted 2 per cent of all
advertising expenditures in Latin America and 10 per cent of expend-
itures in Europe (the latter totaling US $8 billion). 76 David Webster
believes that there will be an ongoing movement toward globalized
advertising

because ... the homogenization of markets [is already taking place
and] will [continue to] ... take place. Also, certain economies can
be applied by the advertising business, [i.e.] using some of the
same ingredients used in other markets, modifying some version
rather than starting from square one. There is also the whole
business of satellite signals ... [which is already] changing the
geography of existing markets. 77

Les Margulis surmises that the ongoing development of transna-
tional communication and advertising outlets will compel 'broad-
casters to pick programming that is attractive to a larger audience,
so that Star[TV] has movies [and] has MTV ... [Transnational broad-
casters must] appeal to audiences that are ... [culturally] different.' 78
Eric Scheck adds that what this will result in is the ongoing but