Determinants of U.S. television fiction imports in Western Europe

Abstract

Our primary hypothesis is that a country having a larger gross domestic product (GDP) or broadcast television economic infrastructure (BTEI) will import a lower proportion of its programming from the United States than a country with lower GDP or BTEI. Results support our primary hypothesis but also indicate that the percentage of private stations may be a more important predictor. Contrary to our expectations, the existence of program quotas is unrelated, and English fluency negatively related, to the proportion of U.S. imports.