American cultural hegemony on the wane?

Another NY Times cover story this morning reports that American TV shows are no longer the automatic international blockbusters they used to be.
This really shouldn't be such a surprise, in that many of the past US exports were not necessarily the best cultural fit worldwide. What they did offer, however, were production values vastly higher than the norm for television in most of the world, developed and developing alike.

But we live in a competitive age, and it was only a matter of time before television producers worldwide upgraded their products. We'll see how it all turns out, but I wouldn't be surprised if the much-feared American pop-culture juggernaut turned out to be something far more ephemeral.

Posted by David on January 2, 2003 10:45 AM