The media industry plays a crucial role in advancing globalization, which can be understood as the spread of global trade and cultural exchange, often largely disregarding traditional political borders. As previously discussed, the inherent low marginal costs of media content mean that reaching a broader international market can create significantly larger profit margins for media companies. Because information primarily exists as digital, intangible data rather than a physical, tangible commodity, media companies generally incur inconsequential shipping and distribution costs when disseminating content across the globe, a stark contrast to nearly all other industries. This digital nature allows for near-instantaneous global delivery. Finally, the inherent worldwide appeal and reach of compelling media content allow its relevance to span across many different countries and cultures. Modern technology, particularly the ubiquitous high-speed internet, enables quick communication, facilitates fast and coordinated digital distribution, and supports highly efficient global marketing strategies, all of which have profoundly accelerated the process of globalization, especially for globalized media, allowing it to take hold on an unprecedented scale. This is vividly demonstrated by the global reach of streaming services, which launch content simultaneously in dozens or hundreds of countries, and by social media platforms, which allow content, trends, and narratives to go viral across continents in a matter of hours.

Globalized Culture, Globalized Markets

A significant amount of globalized media content continues to originate from the West, particularly the United States. However, the global media landscape is increasingly diversified by content from regions like East Asia (e.g., K-pop, anime, K-dramas) and India (Bollywood). Driven by advertising, U.S. culture and media often exhibit a strong consumerist bent, meaning they encourage the ever-increasing consumption of goods as an economic virtue. This dynamic can lead to foreign cultures increasingly developing consumerist ideals, thereby not only providing content to a foreign country but also potentially creating demand for U.S. products and ideologies. Critics frequently express concern that this phenomenon could contribute to a one-way transmission of ideas and values, potentially resulting in the displacement or marginalization of indigenous cultures.

Globalization, while fundamentally an economic trend involving the lowering of trade barriers, carries profound cultural implications. Just as the transfer of industry and technology often encourages outside influence through the influx of foreign money into an economy, the transfer of culture opens up these same markets to new influences. As globalization takes hold and a particular community becomes more economically integrated with global systems, it may also come to adopt and personalize global cultural values. The outcome of this cultural spread is a complex interplay that can result in homogenization, where local culture becomes more like a dominant global culture (often Western); heterogenization, where aspects of international culture come to exist alongside local culture, leading to increased diversity and new hybrid forms; or, most commonly in modern academic thought, a dynamic process of hybridization or glocalization, where global cultural elements are adapted, reinterpreted, and integrated into local contexts, creating unique cultural blends (Rantanen, 2005).

Understanding the global media landscape is a complex but crucial task. Due to inherent linguistic and cultural differences, the globalization of media often follows a model distinct from that of other products. On the most basic level, much of media content is deeply rooted in specific languages and cultural nuances, and as such, does not always translate seamlessly or resonate universally across foreign countries without adaptation. Thus, media globalization frequently occurs on a more structural and organizational level, involving broader “ways of organizing and creating media (Mirza, 2009).” In this sense, a major global media company can maintain a globally integrated corporate structure while simultaneously operating many different culturally specific brands, producing and distributing localized content tailored to diverse markets around the world. This strategic approach, which balances global efficiencies with local relevance, is key to navigating the complexities of the contemporary global media landscape.

Vertical Integration and Globalization

Because globalization has as much to do with the corporate structure of a media company as with the products that a media company produces, vertical integration in multinational media companies becomes a necessary aspect of studying globalized media. Many large media companies practice extensive vertical integration: major news organizations handle their reporting, digital publishing, and distribution across various platforms; television and streaming companies control their own content production, broadcasting, and direct-to-consumer delivery; and even many film studios now have parent conglomerates that manage international production, marketing, and global distribution.

A media company often benefits greatly from this combination of vertical integration and globalization. Due to the widespread appeal of certain cultural content, particularly from the U.S. and increasingly from other global hubs like East Asia, media outlets can leverage many of the same underlying production and digital distribution structures with minimal changes for different international markets. Because modern media relies on the speedy ability to react to current events and trends, a vertically integrated company can execute this strategy on a global rather than a purely localized marketplace; different branches of the company can readily handle diverse markets while sharing resources and data-driven insights. Furthermore, the high production values necessary for compelling content, whether initially conceived for a single country or multiple, are essentially the same for global distribution. This synergy allows, for example, a single film studio or streaming content producer to invest in higher-budget movies and series, knowing they can maximize returns by distributing that content globally through their integrated channels, reaching a vast worldwide audience and building global franchises.

Foreign Markets and Titanic

One should not overlook the reciprocal influence of foreign culture on American culture. While the United States indeed continues to be a major exporter of its cultural products worldwide, particularly through its dominant media industries, what Americans consider their own culture is now increasingly tailored not only to the tastes of U.S. citizens but also to those of global audiences. Foreign markets offer enormous potential for securing profits, often surpassing domestic revenue. If a movie performs exceptionally well abroad, it can significantly compensate for a weaker showing in the United States and, in a feedback loop, even drive renewed interest in the film domestically.

James Cameron’s 1997 film, Titanic, remains a seminal example of a movie strategically marketed to appeal to a global culture. As one of the most expensive movies ever produced at the time, with an official budget of around $200 million, its financial success was heavily predicated on international performance. Indeed, only about one-third of the Titanic‘s total box office receipts came from the domestic market. While Titanic became the highest-grossing film of its era, its domestic gross was just $140 million more than Star Wars achieved 20 years earlier (Box Office Mojo). The actual difference manifested in the foreign market, where Titanic grossed an astounding $1.2 billion, propelling it to nearly $2 billion worldwide and solidifying its status as a global phenomenon.

A more contemporary illustration of this phenomenon can be seen with Denis Villeneuve’s 2017 film, Blade Runner 2049. A visually stunning and critically acclaimed sequel to a cult classic, Blade Runner 2049 was a high-budget production, costing between $150 million and $185 million. Despite strong critical reviews, it significantly underperformed at the domestic box office, grossing around $92 million in the United States and Canada. However, its international performance was more robust, bringing in approximately $175 million. This meant that roughly 65% of its total worldwide gross of $267.5 million came from foreign markets. While the film ultimately failed to break even on its substantial budget, its reliance on international audiences to generate the majority of its revenue perfectly exemplifies how studios now routinely design and market tentpole films with a primary focus on global appeal and simultaneous worldwide releases, even for niche or more contemplative genres. The film’s dystopian future, prosperous with diverse cultural influences and universal themes, resonated with audiences beyond North America.

One reason U.S. studios can consistently make these kinds of arrangements is their well-developed and deeply integrated ties with the global movie industry. Hollywood studios have extensive agreements with theater chains worldwide to screen their films, and increasingly, they leverage their global streaming platforms for direct distribution. By contrast, the foreign market for films from many other countries, such as French cinema, is not nearly as globally established, often relying on partial government subsidies to support local productions. Historically, debates have arisen, with Hollywood lobbying organizations like the Motion Picture Association (MPA) engaging with bodies such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) to challenge these subsidies as unfair trade restrictions. However, the WTO’s stance on “electronic transmissions” and cultural goods remains a complex area of international trade law (Terrill, 1999).

In many ways, the dominance of global media, particularly from major studios, continues to present legitimate concerns about the potential endangerment or marginalization of indigenous cultures and local film industries. However, simple concerns over the one-way transfer of culture do not represent the only, or even the biggest, worries caused by the pervasive spread of global cultural products and values. The conversation now also encompasses issues of market access, fair compensation for local creators, and the need for diverse representation within globally distributed content.