The Carlsberg Foundation: The Global Rise of the Danish TV Drama

Danish TV drama is experiencing a global boom in exports; Israeli reality shows are being adapted all over the world; and Turkey is one of the biggest producers of audio-visual fiction in the world. These are but three examples of non-Anglophone TV cultures and industries that in recent years have achieved unprecedented success in global TV markets. With a focus on the global reception of the Danish TV drama and to better understand this non-English language turn in the international TV industry, the main objectives of this project, funded by the Carlsberg Foundation, are (1) to develop transnational media reception as a research field based on a three-tier audience research model (including buyers/distributors, critics/journalists as well as different groups of transnational viewers), and (2) to advance and build theories of transnational media reception that make room for the evermore complex experience of cultural space and identity for media audiences living in an increasingly connected and mediated world. Empirically, the multicultural city of Sydney, Australia, in which it is possible to recruit a range of audiences from different cultural backgrounds, will serve as a microcosm of this global audience.