The Production of Localities through Transcultural Television Formats and the Negotiation of Ambivalences in Everyday Life

Reality television formats are popular with audiences around the world. A successful television format is sold to other countries and is adapted to the particular local context. Using the case of the Top Model-format, this paper presents results from a reception study with young female viewers in Germany and the USA. By examining the appropriation processes of America’s and Germany’s Next Top Model through focus group interviews, results of the study show that viewers use the television format to negotiate ambivalences in their everyday life und thus make sense of the format within their very particular ‘locality’ as a central reference point of media appropriation. Drawing on the theoretical concept of governmentality and focusing on the enterprising self addressed particularly in casting shows, the study helps to understand the ambivalent fascination of reality television and shows cultural differences as well as transcultural similarities in the reception process of television formats.