Becoming a Global Audience

Book excerpt: What does globalization mean for the television audience? Becoming a Global Audience examines concerns of cultural imperialism in relation to the actual experience of television reception in a postcolonial context. The rise of satellite television in India in the context of economic liberalization in 1991 has been marked by the localization of global music television networks like MTV and Channel V. This book argues, however, that this «Indianization» is no cause for celebration. Using in-depth interviews with Indian music television viewers and theoretical approaches drawn from political-economic, cultural, and postcolonial studies, it argues instead that the reception of «Top Ten» shows and nationalistic music videos is part of a profound reordering and appropriation of common sense under the changing social relations of globalization.