{"title":"Cultural skimming, authenticity, and streaming preferences: Turkish serials ( dizi ) among young audiences in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE","authors":"Miriam Berg, Merfat Alardawi, Noura Al Obeidli","doi":"10.1177/17496020251404332","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17496020251404332","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores how young audiences in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates engage with Turkish television serials ( <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">dizi</jats:italic> ) within a fragmented digital media environment shaped by international streaming platforms and algorithmically curated social media. Drawing on exploratory, participant-led focus groups, the study examines how participants interact with Turkish serials produced as international streaming originals in comparison to traditional Turkish broadcast serials. Participants expressed a clear preference for broadcast <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">dizi</jats:italic> , which they described as emotionally compelling, culturally proximate, and reflective of what this study terms culturally sanctioned fantasy. These are narrative spaces that enable emotionally engaging yet culturally appropriate storytelling. In contrast, Turkish streaming originals were often viewed as emotionally detached and culturally distant. This response reflects an inverse cultural discount effect, in which narratives lose their appeal when reformatted for global audiences. Social media platforms, particularly TikTok and Instagram, played a central role in content discovery, often promoting episodic, short-form engagement. To describe this mode of viewing, the article introduces the analytical term cultural skimming, which captures the fragmented and algorithmically driven nature of serial engagement. These findings contribute to ongoing debates on cultural proximity, mediated authenticity, and transnational media reception within contemporary digital viewing practices.","PeriodicalId":51917,"journal":{"name":"Critical Studies in Television","volume":"118 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145664918","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Beyond tokenism: Power, partnership, and the craft of authentic portrayal","authors":"Beth Johnson","doi":"10.1177/17496020251405465","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17496020251405465","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51917,"journal":{"name":"Critical Studies in Television","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145610924","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Disrupting masculinity: Locating Indian OTT web series as quality television and sites of subversive masculine representations","authors":"Sreedarsana R Nair, Luke Gerard Christie","doi":"10.1177/17496020251398338","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17496020251398338","url":null,"abstract":"This paper addresses a void in academic discourse by scrutinising Indian OTT web series as exemplars of ‘quality’ television, referencing the criteria outlined by television scholar Thompson (1996). Drawing on Albrecht’s (2016) examination of masculinity in contemporary quality television, the study endeavours to explore how Indian web series provide fertile ground for diverse portrayals of masculinity in contrast to conventional soap operas that are sometimes seen to reinforce gender stereotypes. Focussing on two Amazon Prime Video series, the analysis seeks to shed light on the cultural significance of Indian web series and their subversive masculine representations.","PeriodicalId":51917,"journal":{"name":"Critical Studies in Television","volume":"51 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145498992","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Alienating through anger? Diasporic Muslim girls’ coming-of-age in France and Belgium through the white gaze of the SKAM franchise","authors":"Salma Mediavilla Aboulaoula","doi":"10.1177/17496020251394827","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17496020251394827","url":null,"abstract":"This article analyses whether and how the popular coming-of-age adaptations <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">SKAM France/Belgique</jats:italic> (2018–23) and <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">wtFOCK</jats:italic> (2018–present) employ a white gaze to depict diasporic Muslim girls in Western Europe, amidst a rise in ‘progressive’ Muslim representations. Drawing on a postcolonial feminist lens, it situates these series within the broader context of rising gendered Islamophobia in France and Belgium. Despite nuancing diasporic Muslim teen girls’ intersectional lived experiences, these series continue to reiterate a dominant white gaze. The article contends that through this unquestioned white gaze ‘racialized anger’ is misrepresented. Finally, it argues that the neoliberal logics informing these misrepresentations consequently naturalise what the article coins a <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">racialised knowledge binary</jats:italic> : ‘accepted ignorance’ for white teens versus ‘expected knowledge’ for Muslim/racialised teens.","PeriodicalId":51917,"journal":{"name":"Critical Studies in Television","volume":"249 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145434944","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Young, wild, and free? Rai and its industrial challenges for contemporary Italian teen content","authors":"Luca Barra, Emiliano Rossi","doi":"10.1177/17496020251391962","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17496020251391962","url":null,"abstract":"In recent years, Italian public service broadcaster Rai has developed strategies to engage young audiences and maintain its relevance for these traditionally under-represented consumers, notably through the production and commissioning of accessible, dedicated scripted content. This article explores recent trends in Rai’s targeting of young audiences from a production and distribution standpoint. Drawing on in-depth industry interviews and industrial materials, it maps key strategies developed by Rai’s digital platform, RaiPlay, and traces the trajectories of three teen dramas ( <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Mare fuori</jats:italic> , <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Un professore</jats:italic> , and <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Nudes</jats:italic> ), highlighting how the connection with young audiences is built through a stratified, contradictory yet productive process.","PeriodicalId":51917,"journal":{"name":"Critical Studies in Television","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145397892","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book Review: Television Drama from Germany: Production, Storytelling and “Quality” KraußFlorian, Television Drama from Germany: Production, Storytelling and “Quality”, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 298pp., ISBN 978-3-031-60621-2, £44.99 (hbk), ISBN 978-3-031-60624-3 £34.99 (pbk), ISBN 978-3-031-60622-9 open access (ebk).","authors":"Elke Weissmann","doi":"10.1177/17496020251386521","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17496020251386521","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51917,"journal":{"name":"Critical Studies in Television","volume":"34 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145295603","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Edgy in the ‘right’ way: Meeting pent-up demand for youth-oriented local content on Saudi TV","authors":"Naomi Sakr","doi":"10.1177/17496020251378308","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17496020251378308","url":null,"abstract":"Despite accounting for some 60% of the population, Saudi Arabia’s under-30s spent a long time not seeing themselves on screen, except in comedy, satire and drama they made themselves and circulated on YouTube. Things have changed spectacularly under the transformational Vision 2030 project spearheaded by the kingdom’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, launched in 2016 and aimed first and foremost at youth. Drawing on insights from cultural proximity theory, this article explores how a state-sponsored emphasis on Saudi identity and national unity has shaped changes in television production structures and content aimed at engaging young audiences.","PeriodicalId":51917,"journal":{"name":"Critical Studies in Television","volume":"84 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145241845","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jakob Freudendal, Christa Lykke Christensen, Pia Majbritt Jensen
{"title":"Danish films and series in a no-win-situation? Analysing the preferences of young audiences and domestic industry responses","authors":"Jakob Freudendal, Christa Lykke Christensen, Pia Majbritt Jensen","doi":"10.1177/17496020251383859","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17496020251383859","url":null,"abstract":"Drawing on the media psychological concept of motivation, this article explores the reasons behind young audience’s preferences for films and series and examines how two Danish public media institutions have responded to these preferences. Methodologically, the analyses are based on mobile ethnographic studies of 20 children and interviews conducted with key personnel within the two media institutions. The article finds that—despite domestic institutions reshaping their practices to serve young audiences’ preferences—Danish screen content is disadvantaged within a target age group, where US providers of films and series dominate by satisfying preferences for relatable and fascinating content.","PeriodicalId":51917,"journal":{"name":"Critical Studies in Television","volume":"113 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145254631","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Watching TV as a class practice: Brazilian coaches and the therapeutic critique of consumption","authors":"Lucas Priori, Mayka Castellano, Melina Meimaridis","doi":"10.1177/17496020251381213","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17496020251381213","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores how YouTube life coaches repurpose traditional anti-TV discourse for the social media age. While previous scholarship critiqued television as a ‘bad object’, this study reveals how such rhetoric now serves digital capitalism and self-optimisation ideologies. Analysis of eight videos shows how coaches blend anti-TV messaging with content creation, creating a paradox: they criticise ‘passive’ media consumption while producing content for viewers who scroll through endless recommendation feeds. This analysis contributes to media studies by showing how historical critiques of television are reconfigured within YouTube’s attention economy, reshaping cultural capital and digital labour in the platform era.","PeriodicalId":51917,"journal":{"name":"Critical Studies in Television","volume":"29 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145072541","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Placing the diaspora in the frame: A case study of Zee TV’s Raj Britannia documentary series","authors":"Gurvinder Aujla-Sidhu","doi":"10.1177/17496020251374473","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17496020251374473","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines the archives of current affairs programme <jats:italic>Raj Britannia,</jats:italic> produced by British journalists for transnational satellite broadcaster Zee TV, to better understand historic television journalism practice in the United Kingdom. The article evaluates the role journalists at Zee TV played in advocating, empowering and educating the British Asian diaspora in the run up to the General Election in 1997. The analysis reveals that while Zee TV journalists applied advocacy practices to encourage the viewer to be politically strategic in voting, the tone of programmes mimic mainstream media deficit discourses. This suggests ethnic media may on occasions perform contradictory roles, advocate for their audience and also apply deficit models in a reflection of dominant news ideologies.","PeriodicalId":51917,"journal":{"name":"Critical Studies in Television","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145017487","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}