Tuning Out U.S. TV : Unlike Europe, where American-made programming dominates the airwaves, Pacific Rim countries don’t watch Hollywood shows

It’s hard to believe, but somebody watches more TV than we do.

The Japanese, researchers say, keep their sets on an average 8 hours, 12 minutes a day--about an hour more than Americans and about two hours longer than the third-ranked Europeans.

Yet TV-hungry Japanese consume little U.S.-produced programming, despite the popularity of American shows across much of the world. “What I find particularly ironic is that American shows are as rare in Japan as Cadillacs, while in Europe the politicians are up in arms trying to keep the American shows from taking over the airwaves,” observes Paula Riff, a Japanese-speaking international program broker based in Los Angeles. “Aside from blockbuster movies, it’s almost impossible to get the Japanese to air Hollywood-made fare.”

This hesitancy to accept U.S. programming, a situation that applies to countries in every corner of the Pacific Rim, has become an enormous source of frustration for international program brokers eager to exploit what could become the largest market in the world. American TV programming that enjoys nearly effortless domination almost everywhere else--so much so that the European Economic Community is debating a proposal that at least 50.1% of all entertainment shows be EEC-produced by 1993--is facing a tough sell in the Far East.

Although the countries of eastern and southeastern Asia already have nearly twice as many TV viewers as Western Europe’s 100 million homes, industry trade groups estimate that the percentage of U.S. fare on Pacific Rim stations ranges from an average of less than 5% in Japan, China and South Korea to perhaps 15% in the former English-speaking colonies of Malaysia and the Philippines.

This compares with the 20% of European TV time filled with the likes of “Wheel of Fortune” and “Golden Girls.”

Europe’s broadcasters are expected to spend about $2 billion buying American TV shows in 1990, while the dozen largest Pacific Rim nations will likely spend $200 million filling a mere 8% of their air time.

Why the discrepancy?

“Cultural barriers are stronger in East Asia than anywhere in the world,” suspects Alex Paen, the Santa Monica-based publisher of the Telco Report, an international TV programming publication. “There just isn’t much demand for our shows.”

Besides the obvious differences in language and culture, U.S. suppliers must also cope with a baffling country-by-country array of content restrictions, broadcast monopolies, hard currency restrictions, import quotas, piracy problems, overwhelming competition and quirks of history.

Hong Kong, for example, has two English-language channels set aside for viewers in search of “L.A. Law” and the BBC’s “Dr. Who.” But even optimists are betting even money that one if not both of these channels will be shut down when China takes over the British colony in 1997. Meanwhile, 95% of the population tunes to Cantonese fare on TVB and ATV, almost all of it locally produced.

Indeed, Hong Kong’s powerful studios are Hollywood’s biggest regional competitors, as they churn out thousands of hours that fill network lineups from Seoul to Jakarta.

In Thailand, for instance, shows made in Hong Kong now account for fully half of all foreign programming. Under an unofficial quota system, American shows are squeezed into the 11 p.m. hour, where last fall’s top-rated offering was the “Flintstones” cartoon series, with a paltry viewership of 6,000.

“There has been a declining popularity of U.S. product,” reports Rasami Vadakan, a Los Angeles-based sales representative for Bangkok Broadcasting & Television. “We’ve been able to produce our own shows that cater more to local tastes.”

Vadakan said that Thailand’s lax enforcement of copyright laws has also made it tough for the state-owned networks to obtain some of the more desirable American fare.

“It’s true that a lot of classic Disney material has not been released to us because of the video piracy problem,” she says. “People can buy American hit movies and TV shows on almost any street corner, but they’re all pirate copies.”

In South Korea, the sale of illegal tapes is said to generate as much as 2 1/2 times the revenue taken in by legitimate vendors.

“The bigger issue in South Korea is cultural purity,” believes Paen, who has daily contact with Pacific Rim broadcasters and has distributed programs throughout the world. “Like Japan and most other Far East countries, Korea uses TV as an essential means of maintaining a homogeneous national identity. For Americans used to living in a melting pot society, this concept is hard to understand. Europe, with its pluralistic traditions, is a much easier sell.”

South Korea’s government has a controlling financial interest in the nation’s two commercial networks and buys only a handful of U.S. shows each year. The operating assumption is that those who are interested in U.S. programs will switch to the powerful station operated by the American armed forces garrisoned in Korea, even though its satellite-delivered sitcoms, dramas and sportscasts are broadcast only in English.

In Japan, at 36 million households Asia’s second-largest TV market, only one of six networks is government-operated, but the consensus is that cable distribution of old American movies and CNN should be enough to satisfy expatriate tastes.

“Japanese viewers often don’t understand American programs because of differences in culture, lifestyle and philosophy,” maintains Yasuo Ema, the Nippon TV official in charge of relations with the United States.

“Our approach to programming is in fact very much like our approach to baseball,” ventures a Fuji TV network executive who declined to be named. “It’s understood that our people will only accept a certain percentage of gaijin (foreigners) among the Japanese players. If there are too many Americans and they play too well, all of us will lose face.”

“Only about 3% of our schedule is obtained from foreigners,” concedes Ema, senior vice president of Nippon Television, one of Japan’s networks. “I’m sure the ratio is about the same among our competitors.”

Even NHK, a state-run network that has told syndicators it eventually wants 20% of its programming to be foreign-produced, still obtains just 4% of its programming overseas.

“NHK’s direct-broadcast satellite service is one of the only places in Japan where we can sell entertainment programs,” says Rainer Siek, senior vice president of CBS Broadcast International. “They aren’t paying very much, though, and their prices don’t show any sign of improving.”

Fellow New Yorker Joe Bellon has spent years brokering Japanese TV shows with little promise of a windfall.

“No one is doing very well selling to Japan right now,” he says. “I think it has to do with the maturity of their industry. As a domestic market matures, it can produce more of its own programs and tends to favor them, selecting only the choicest things from outside.”

That’s precisely the situation in the Philippines, argues Arsenio Uy, who buys American product for Channel 7, one of five Manila-based national networks.

“We used to air ‘Knots Landing,’ ‘The Colbys’ and all the other American night-time soaps,” says Uy, who works out of his Palmdale home. “Then the ratings dropped as people became more interested in domestic dramas, comedies and game shows.”

Although Channel 7 is still top-heavy with “blockbuster” American films, Uy estimates that foreign product on other Philippine networks has plummeted as low as 20%. This in a country where 85% of the population speaks English.

At the same time, in English-speaking Singapore, “The Cosby Show” and “Punky Brewster” are still prime-time hits in the face of a government “family fare” dictum that bars “Dynasty” and “thirtysomething” on the island’s three state-run networks.

“I couldn’t even sell an educational AIDS special to Singapore,” laments one American distributor. Similar content rules prevail in Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, where officials are anxious to protect their large Islamic populations from the broadcast of gratuitous sex, violence and profanity.

This ultraconservative approach has fostered video black markets in all such countries. In Indonesia, a flourishing underground recently prompted the government to end its ban on all foreign TV shows and broadcast advertising.

“We are quite pleased with how well we’ve done since we went on the air two years ago,” says Diri Sukamto, assistant executive director of RCTI, a subscriber-based TV outlet in Jakarta. “About 55% of our schedule comes from America and 30% is from Japan, Europe and Australia.”

Neil Persky, who supplies the U.S. product to RCTI through his Indo-American Television, says the new channel’s success is a reflection of the near-insatiable desire for American-style programming in a part of the world where McDonald’s restaurants are now commonplace.

“It makes no sense to try to keep Hollywood out by simple government decree,” he says.

But that’s exactly what some Pacific Rim authorities appear to be doing.

“There is definitely more concern about the content of American programs now,” says Geye Lei, the former director of acquisition and U.S. liaison for China Film Import & Export, buyer of U.S. shows for the mammoth CCTV network. “We are much more conservative (since the Tian An Men Square uprising) and avoiding anything of a political nature.”

China used to buy “a lot of action/adventure and detective programming,” recalls Hong Kong native Grace Ip, whose Neutral Distributing Services specializes in Pacific Rim TV sales. “Now they are playing it very safe with love stories, nature documentaries and family fare.”

American studios “are all going into China as a service,” says Bill Saunders, longtime president of 20th Century Fox’s international TV arm. “We’re being nice to them. If anyone tells you they’re doing big business with the Chinese, just forget it. That’s rubbish.”

A popular series that easily fetches $10,000 an episode in France or Germany may garner only $1,000 per segment in Beijing. Some studios have decided simply to give their programs to China in exchange for advertising time. Warner Bros. has used this approach to good advantage in Shanghai, where a semiautonomous network is still airing a handful of American series.

Until China’s economy and politics stabilize, the plum for American syndicators in the Pacific Rim region is unquestionably Japan, where it’s estimated that more than 100 million viewers are wired in with cable, direct-broadcast satellite and a 70% VCR penetration.

But beyond occasional films and big-name music events, there is almost no American presence in Japanese prime time. A few vintage series, especially crime dramas such as “Kojak” and “Perry Mason,” show up late at night, but most were squeezed out.

“The interests of our viewers are often totally different (from Americans),” believes NTV’s Ema. “Japanese people are very unique and have a tendency to want to remain that way. . . . Japanese culture is based totally on teamwork and not individual effort. That’s why American sitcoms are difficult for many of us to understand, because our family standards and values are just not the same.”

But Ip, who represents China, Japan and Hong Kong for such Los Angeles-based TV firms as ITC and Transatlantic, suggests that Americans develop the Asian virtue of patience.

“Even if you are making only a little money in this region,” she concludes, “it’s important to get your foot in the door. . . . In the long run, those who are establishing a presence now will come out much farther ahead later on, as the Pacific Rim catches up with Europe.”

TUNING IN ON TV IN THE PACIFIC RIM COUNTRY: BRUNEI POPULATION: (Millions) .380 TV SETS: 250,000 % FOREIGN PROGRAMS: 90% AVE. COST PER HOUR: $500 NETWORKS: 2 Govt. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: Imports virtually all its programming but like other Islamic countries steers clear of gratuitous sex, violence or profanity. COUNTRY: MYANMAR POPULATION: (Millions) 42 TV SETS: 750,000 % FOREIGN PROGRAMS: Unknown AVE. COST PER HOUR: $100 NETWORKS: 1 Govt. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: One of the smallest TV markets; Chinese technicians are (Burma) building a satellite-based TV system, but details are unknown. COUNTRY: CAMBODIA POPULATION: (Millions) 7 TV SETS: 500,000 % FOREIGN PROGRAMS: Unknown AVE. COST PER HOUR: $100 NETWORKS: 1 Govt. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: Like Burma, Cambodia is almost isolated from the world. Few of its citizens earn enough to buy a TV set. COUNTRY: CHINA POPULATION: (Millions) 1,100 TV SETS: 130 Mil. % FOREIGN PROGRAMS: 3% AVE. COST PER HOUR: $1,200 NETWORKS: 3 Govt. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: Since Tian An Men, government programmers are selective with foreign fare. Family dramas and documentaries prevail. COUNTRY: HONG KONG POPULATION: (Millions) 6 TV SETS: 1.6 Mil. % FOREIGN PROGRAMS: 5% AVE. COST PER HOUR: $1,300 NETWORKS: 2 Private SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: Cable service for 1.5 million homes will begin in 1991, but many changes are expected when China takes over in 1997. COUNTRY: INDONESIA POPULATION: (Millions) 120 TV SETS: 10 Mil. % FOREIGN PROGRAMS: 10% AVE. COST PER HOUR: $1,000 NETWORKS: 2 Govt., 1 Private SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: Prohibits programs with excessive sex, violence, profanity. Banned U.S. shows 1985-88; limited fare now on 1 channel. COUNTRY: JAPAN POPULATION: (Millions) 125 TV SETS: 36 Mil. % FOREIGN PROGRAMS: 4% AVE. COST PER HOUR: $24,000 NETWORKS: 1 Govt.,5 Private SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: Japanese watch the most TV but it’s mostly domestic fare due to trade barriers and cultural differences. COUNTRY: LAOS POPULATION: (Millions) 4 TV SETS: 50,000 % FOREIGN PROGRAMS: Unknown AVE. COST PER HOUR: $100 NETWORKS: 1 Govt. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: A poor mountainous country with little contact with the outside world; Virtually invisible as a TV market. COUNTRY: MACAO POPULATION: (Millions) .6 TV SETS: 125,000 % FOREIGN PROGRAMS: 80% AVE. COST PER HOUR: $700 NETWORKS: 1 Semi-govt. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: Because of proximity to Canton and Hong Kong, many can pick up those programs. Conversely, Macao has a very weak signal. COUNTRY: MALAYSIA POPULATION: (Millions) 17 TV SETS: 2 Mil. % FOREIGN PROGRAMS: 15% AVE. COST PER HOUR: $850 NETWORKS: 2 Govt., 1 Private SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: Commercial TV is only 5 years old; officials are cautious with programming because of the country’s delicate racial balance. COUNTRY: NORTH KOREA POPULATION: (Millions) 23 TV SETS: Unknown % FOREIGN PROGRAMS: Unknown AVE. COST PER HOUR: None from the west NETWORKS: 1 Govt. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: A strictly controlled system dominated by government-produced fare. But South Korean programming can be tuned in. COUNTRY: PHILIPPINES POPULATION: (Millions) 67 TV SETS: 18 Mil. % FOREIGN PROGRAMS: 15% AVE. COST PER HOUR: $1,500 NETWORKS: 1 Govt., 4 Private SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: Much air time is turned over to middlemen, who program and sell advertising. Little U.S. fare with significant video piracy. COUNTRY: SINGAPORE POPULATION: (Millions) 3 TV SETS: 800,000 % FOREIGN PROGRAMS: 50% AVE. COST PER HOUR: $850 NETWORKS: 3 Govt., SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: No excessive sex, violence or profanity allowed. Also banned are programs that promote “unacceptable, harmful values.” COUNTRY: SOUTH KOREA POPULATION: (Millions) 44 TV SETS: 12 Mil. % FOREIGN PROGRAMS: 5% AVE. COST PER HOUR: $1,000 NETWORKS: 2 Govt., 1 Private SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: U.S. shows can be tuned in on U.S. Armed Forces Network. But stations feel audiences mostly want local programming. COUNTRY: TAIWAN POPULATION: (Millions) 21 TV SETS: 7 Mil. % FOREIGN PROGRAMS: 12% AVE. COST PER HOUR: $900 NETWORKS: 3 Private SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: By government rule, 80% of programming is domestically produced; 45% must be news, culture and education. COUNTRY: THAILAND POPULATION: (Millions) 57 TV SETS: 5 Mil. % FOREIGN PROGRAMS: 14% AVE. COST PER HOUR: $1,200 NETWORKS: 2 Govt., 2 Private SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: Although not banned from other time slots, U.S. shows air only after 11 p.m. All networks are off the air for two hours each evening, partially to promote “family relationships.” COUNTRY: VIETNAM POPULATION: (Millions) 70 TV SETS: 2 Mil. % FOREIGN PROGRAMS: UnknOwn AVE. COST PER HOUR: $200 NETWORKS: 2 Govt., SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: Non-commercial with little use for Western programming. Trades productions with the U.S.S.R. and Eastern Bloc. Sources: Industry analysts, Telco Report, World Radio-TV Handbook, International Video & TV Almanac, Television Broadcast Intl. COMPILED BY RICHARD MAHLER