The Bettyer Way to Success

Bianca Lippert

With an average market share of over 50 per cent, Yo soy Betty, la fea (Im Betty, the Ugly One, RCN Televisin, 19992001), the story of an ugly duckling who becomes a swan, is one of the most successful telenovelas ever broadcast in its home territory of Colombia.1 But its success soon spread. It not only captivated Latin American audiences (an exception for Colombian productions), but it also reached millions of viewers in over 80 countries around the world. But the success did not stop there: over 15 country-specic adaptations have since been made,2 each of which display astonishing cultural diversity.3 Investigating the circulation of Yo soy Betty, la fea and its international counterparts this study offers insight into the global exchange of individual TV products and their formats. Firstly, it focuses on the Colombian original, to highlight the dening characteristics of this show. I distinguish Yo soy Betty, la fea from other telenovelas to offer some explanation for its worldwide appeal. I then investigate the successful translations of Yo soy Betty, la fea, its adaptations and spin-offs. Looking at how these different products interact, and how the networks schedule them, allows me to draw conclusions about the prospects for success. One countryspecic adaptation stands out above the rest in terms of its method of production, content and export rates: namely, the US version, Ugly Betty (Ventanarosa Productions/Reveille Productions/ABC, 2006-present). This article concentrates on some of the obstacles faced by Ugly Betty, for example in the homeland of the original telenovela and also, surprisingly, in Germany, where US imports are normally high-rated products. These developments raise the following questions: what happens in countries with local adaptations of their own? Are local products more highly prized than foreign imports? Do countries with no domestic adaptations nd the imported versions enriching, furthermore are those with their own adaptations enthusiastic about foreign imports? The reasons for success and failure are evaluated and further developments are presented in order to offer further thoughts on what is next for the telenovela.

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Once Upon A Time Prominent eyebrows, geeky shell-rimmed glasses and xed braces have become the worldwide trademark of Betty. Along with her distinct physical features her clumsiness, bad taste in fashion, intelligence and kind heart have, despite cultural variations, marked each production. Ugly may be sold to us as the new beautiful, but this story of the ugly duckling does not disturb cultural ideals of beauty. Instead what intrigues is how the series differs from the traditional telenovela. Being different contributed to its huge success in Colombia. Most telenovelas share a similar plotline: the story tells of the poor but beautiful girl who after several challenges nds the (rich) man of her dreams. Yo soy Betty, la fea hardly deviates from this narrative formula, except that the girl is not beautiful at the start. Furthermore, unlike the heroines of traditional telenovelas, Betty is not waiting for Prince Charming to rescue her, but is instead determined to climb the social ladder on her own. But the major difference is how Yo soy Betty, la fea uses humour as well as more realistic storylines, set as it is in a fashion company with the daily routines of ofce life dominating. The main protagonist is intelligent and hardworking Beatriz Aurora Betty Pinzn Solano (Ana Mara Orozco), who is not quite as attractive as her co-workers. Despite enduring continual taunts over her appearance, suffering humiliation and overcoming numerous obstacles, she wins the heart of her boss Armando Mendoza Senz (Jorge Enrique Abello). According to Joseph Straubhaar,4 telenovelas evolved from the US radio soap model, developed by Colgate-Palmolive, Procter and Gamble and Gessy-Lever, and targeting the female consumer. Since the mid-1950s, the telenovela has spread rapidly across Latin America.5 Generically it replicated the US formula with its roots in earlier melodramatic forms, but adapted them with localised themes such as class conict, social mobility and the escape from poverty. One of the reasons for Yo soy Betty, la feas average 50 per cent market share is that the target group changed and broadened over the course of the show.6 In an interview Fernando Gatan, writer of Yo soy Betty, la fea, explains: In the case of Betty, it was like putting the whole country into an ofce of a few square meters. No two characters are alike. There are the poor, the rich, the divorced, the ambitious, the successful and the ones who want to be successful.7 Suggested here is that the shows diverse characters offer a number of identication points for viewers, which, in turn, allows the show to reach the broadest possible constituency. Set in the public world of fashion and commerce stories deal with a range of topics that appeal to both men and women. Thus this particular telenovela extends classic narrative tropes, dealing primarily with family, to include other challenges such as nancial problems, hostile takeovers and unemployment. But at the same time it remains suitable for a family audience, as it is a novela blanca: meaning, a serial without violence.

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Ugliness Without Frontiers While the above-mentioned factors may have contributed to the enormous success of Yo soy Betty, la fea, it was the high exportability of the franchise that proved most astonishing (which was even more extraordinary given the fact that the Latin American majors such as Televisa, Globo TV and Venevision usually dominate the international export and sales of telenovelas).8 The virulent circulation of the Yo soy Betty, la fea franchise, through exportation, format selling and licensing, both of the original telenovela and its adaptations, make visible the multilayered processes involved in the international television market. Numerous local adaptations within diverse cultural contexts may testify to the universal attraction of the Yo soy Betty, la fea story, but how the ction has been traded is instructive. There are, for example, ofcial adaptations, including the Mexican one, La fea ms bella (The Most Beautiful Ugly, Televisa, 2006), for which Fernando Gatan wrote. La fea ms bella was a resounding success, and it was granted a second season in 2007. The US network, Univision, acquired the broadcasting rights for this Mexican version, and it instantly became the most viewed Spanish-language programme in America.9 Some countries have, on the other hand, produced unlicensed versions inspired by the Colombian original. These include the Venezuelan telenovela, Mi Gorda Bella (My Fat Beauty, RCTV, 20023) as well as the Mexican, El amor no es como lo pintan (Love is Not How it is Painted, TV Azteca, 20001), which preceded the ofcial adaptation. Local versions have often inspired spin-offs. The astonishing success of Yo soy Betty, la fea, for instance, led to EcoModa (a reference to the name of the fashion company in the Colombian original, RCTN, 2001) and Betty Toons (Conexin Creativa, 2001). In Germany Verliebt in Berlin (Falling in Love in Berlin, SAT.1, 20056) returned as Verliebt in Berlin II (SAT.1, 20067) with a new protagonist Bruno Lehmann (Tim Sander), the half brother of Elisabeth Lisa Plenske (Alexandra Neldel), the German Betty;10 and the popularity of the Russian serial Ne Rodis Krasivoy (Be Not Born Beautiful, STS, 2005-present) was followed by the cartoon serial UmaNetto on the Internet platform, ToonGuru (www.toongu.ru). Furthermore the exportation of dubbed adaptations proved internationally lucrative. For example, the German version has been sold to the Ukraine, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Latvia, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada and France;11 and the US version reaches at least 130 territories worldwide.12 As Straubhaar argues, and as the extraordinary success of the franchise illustrates, certain television products are simultaneously globalised, localised and hybridised, which, in turn, involves complex cultural and structural factors limiting, guiding and constraining media production and consumption: [. . .] as these forces move into a new country or cultural space, they hybridize, becoming part of the ongoing history of that country, interacting with previous forces, and becoming localized, enacted, and received by local people with their own identity, history and agendas.13

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As the circulation of the Colombian original, as well as other national adaptations shows, the concept of cultural proximity is crucial. Straubhaar contends that most audiences seem to prefer television programmes that are as close as possible in language, ethnic appearance, dress, style, humor, historical references, and shared topical knowledge.14 It is exactly this cultural-specic look and feel that particular national broadcasting contexts seek to create when adapting the original format; and this is precisely what happened to the Yo soy Betty, la fea franchise, as it was bought and adapted by diverse cultural markets, from Russia to India, from Turkey to Israel. Changes in the way the franchise looks and feels as it moves from one territory to another further conrms the concept of cultural proximity, where local audiences prefer locally produced cultural products to imported ones. Bettys Battle Nowhere can a better example be found concerning the complex handling of the Yo soy Betty, la fea franchise than in Spain, where four different versions were broadcast. Three were derived from the same geo-linguistic region conrming John Sinclairs argument that geo-linguistic regions have been the initial basis for media globalisation, precisely in relation to television programmes and services. Regions are not only dened by geographical borders, but also by commonalities of language and culture. This natural constituency, Sinclair argues, is one of the reasons that telenovelas are avidly consumed by Spanish-speaking nations.15 But he goes on to add that there is diversity and regional difference within each geolinguistic region. Meant here is that productions from the same geo-linguistic background have as good a chance as any to succeed. But what is more interesting is that as soon as another production with even closer ties to the cultural and linguistic characteristics of a particular region is transmitted, then that more localised product may be preferred; and this is certainly what happened with the Spanish adaptation of Betty. The Colombian original rst broadcast in 20012 on the private TV station Antena 3.16 Four years later, in 2006, and the private channel Telecinco adapted it with the title Yo soy Bea (I am Bea) for the Spanish market. To counter the threat posed by this local Spanish production, Antena 3 bought the Mexican adaptation, La fea ms bella. Already successful in other countries, this version, as previously mentioned, had become the most viewed Spanish-language programme in the United States.17 The channel scheduled La fea ms bella to start a couple weeks before the Spanish version was due to air on Telecinco.18 However, and despite intense promotion, the Mexican telenovela failed to nd an audience in its 4pm slot. Antena 3 rescheduled the show, repositioning it in the morning so as to avoid direct competition with the Spanish adaptation, which started on 10 July 2006.19 Yo soy Bea soon achieved huge ratings, to become Spains most viewed afternoon programme, with an average of 4 million viewers and a market share of up to 40 per cent.20 At the same time another private TV channel, Cuatro, acquired the rights for the US version, Ugly Betty, as early as 2006; but Telecinco blocked its

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transmission until spring 2008. As owner of the rights to the Colombian original, which allowed them to produce the Spanish version, Telecinco also managed to obtain the monopoly rights for transmission. This effectively meant that while Yo soy Bea was on air no other version, Colombian or otherwise, could be shown on Spanish screens. Antena 3, in turn, acquired the rights for the Mexican version before Telecinco signed the contract for the Colombian original. Nonetheless it will be interesting to see how Cuatro decides to handle the transmission of Ugly Betty, especially given that Telecinco only has the monopoly rights until the end of April 2008, and that Yo soy Bea will presumably continue until June.21 As scheduling strategies and the strict licensing rights policy in Spain illustrate, producers and programme specialists are keenly aware of the risks and problems involved in competing versions of the same TV product. Foreign imports, which have already proved successful in another broadcasting territory, are expected to nd domestic audiences, especially if they belong to the same geo-linguistic context. More fascinating still is that the presence of the US version, in competition with other national adaptations, is judged as stimulating rather than dominating the European telenovela market. I think having Disneys show in the mix will actually heighten the interest in telenovelas over here says Naomi Joseph, executive vicepresident of worldwide drama for FremantleMedia.22 Their involvement in producing the German, Dutch, Belgian and Greek versions may explain Josephs magnanimous attitude. With different products on the market, daily versus weekly productions, FremantleMedia are not in direct competition but offering different kinds of products to suit a diverse marketplace. Thus an awareness of powerful local productions obviously leads to strategies that avoid direct competition. As the example of FreemantleMedia shows, internationally orientated production companies are keenly aware of the concept of proximity. Instead of producing, for example, a European-wide version of Betty, they opted instead to produce different national versions. The optimistic estimation of the US-version in the European market may also reect that it is completely different from the local versions. Straubhaar contends,This tendency toward guiding cultural choices based on cultural proximity seems strong, but most members of a society are also interested in some amount of diversity and difference as well.23 To this end, the US Betty seems to have found a kind of global niche aimed to attract a worldwide audience through its difference from classic telenovela. The American Way of Betty 16.1 million people watched the debut of Ugly Betty on 28 September 2006; it was ABCs largest audience for a scripted series for its time slot since Matlock (Dean Hargrove Productions/Fred Silverman Company/The Matlock Company/Viacom Productions, 198695) in 1995, according to Nielsen Media Research.24 Like the Colombian original, Ugly Betty tells of the intelligent, big-hearted, but klutzy and not-so attractive Betty who works in the big city. She is an assistant to a fashion

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magazine editor, who she periodically bails out in his private and professional life. But this is where the similarities end. In contrast to the other country-specic adaptations, Ugly Betty is not a telenovela. It is a weekly produced serial, broadcast from season to season, and dependent on the commercial vicissitudes of a US network. Here we see the hybridisation of different cultural backgrounds starting to emerge. Marwan Kraidy interprets hybridity, or the cultural logic of globalisation, as about localised adaptations of global patterns.25 In the case of Ugly Betty, it has been transformed from a telenovela into an episodic network serial with highproduction values. For example, the nancial capital available to the US networks enables programme-makers to spend money in ways that others working in different national contexts cannot. As producer of the US version Ben Silverman explains, the high-end look of Ugly Betty, making visible the glamorous, haute couture world of the New York magazine scene, could never have been achieved on a traditional budget for telenovelas.26 There is another issue related to audience expectations. Silvermans statement exemplies what Joseph Straubhaar understands by feedback processes linking the expectations of audience and producers. With reference to Paul Ricoeurs model of narrative and how individual narrative patterns may become part of a larger culture,27 Straubhaar speaks of a general pool of cultural knowledge, from which individuals draw a personal repertoire of symbols and interpretative understandings: This pregures or shapes the work of writers, producers, actors, and others in the production process. It provides boundaries and rules, as well as resources for the moment of creation. As producers create, they structure not only their work but also pregure the viewing experience of the audience.28 Bearing in mind the commercial patterns of US broadcasting and the expectations for weekly network series in primetime, Silverman knows that American audiences are more used to watching weekly network serials with high-production values than a daily massproduced serial like a telenovela. The result is a hybridisation of the genre, which Jason Mittell denes as not only a set of textual parameters, but also cultural products constituted in and through a range of media practices, such as production techniques, audience habits and critical discourses, which are, in turn, subject to ongoing change and redenition.29 The Colombian original has changed from Bogot to Hollywood, from a telenovela to a Latin-American style primetime dramedy. Bettys Beat So far the US version has proved a hit in nearly every foreign territory where it has been sold, including the geo-linguistic countries of the United Kingdom,30 Australia31 and New Zealand.32 But scheduling has been crucial to that success. For example, programme managers for the New Zealand network TV2, which aired Ugly Betty, feared competition from another international format Dancing with the Stars (with a local cast), scheduled to appear on its sister channel TV1. Ugly Betty

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may have been the second highest rating show in New Zealand among 1849-yearolds, after Desperate Housewives (Cherry Alley Productions/ Touchstone Television/Cherry Productions, 2004-present).33 But it was still interrupted for eight weeks while Dancing With The Stars aired because the network judged the audience for both programmes as being too similar. The network was justiably cautious given what had happened in Australia. Ugly Betty haemorrhaged its audience when the nale was scheduled up against the start of the international format Idol, in this case Australian Idol (with a local cast). Ugly Betty suffered its lowest ratings since it started broadcasting as a consequence of this scheduling clash.34 Illustrated here is that programming context and adequate scheduling are vital to broadcasting success. John Ellis views scheduling strategies as
[. . .] the locus of power in television, the mechanism whereby demographic speculations are turned into a viewing experience. And it is more than that as well, for any schedule contains distillation of the past history of a channel, of national broadcasting as a whole and of the particular habits of national life.35

Timothy Havens goes even further by identifying the importance of scheduling strategies as he underlines the hybrid character of international television ows; both local and imported forms of knowledge about viewers behaviours and preferences constitute scheduling practices, he argues.36 Referencing Ellis, Havens stresses that cultural forces are largely domestic and play a role in resisting globalising tendencies. None the less he illustrates how scheduling practices across much of the world increasingly derive from both uniquely local conditions as well as imported ideas.37 The examples of Australia and New Zealand not only conrm these scheduling strategies, but also seem to follow the concept of proximity; that is, as long as an international show has no direct local competition, it can potentially have enormous success. Local programming, as in the case of Australia and New Zealand, is obviously genre-independent (serial vs. casting show) but can also be based on an international format (as long as the cast is local). Unlike Australia and New Zealand, where the local trumped the international, in the Netherlands the US version was successfully broadcast alongside the local version. The domestic production Lotte was a daily serial, promoted as a telenovela and scheduled at 6.30 pm, Monday to Friday, on the private channel Tien. During broadcasting from February 2006 until April 2007 the show attracted on average 200,000 viewers,38 peaking at over 300,000 for the nale.39 In August 2007, the weekly US version debuted with an staggering 578,000 viewers during primetime (8.30 pm) on the private channel Net 5,40 but this number dwindled in the next episodes to around 340,000.41 The appearance of actress Rebecca Romijn (who plays Alexis Meade in Ugly Betty) who has Dutch roots (her father is Dutchborn and her American mother is of Dutch descent) gave the show a boost and audience gures climbed to approximately 473,000.42 In this case, the international product was even more successful than the local version. Important here is how

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both versions were scheduled and did not impede on the success of the other, especially given that the local one, Lotte, had already nished its run by the time Ugly Betty began. In marked contrast to the Australian and New Zealand experience, another localised international show Hollands Next Top Model (RTL Nederland), although running in direct competition, did not hamper the success of Ugly Betty. Both productions enjoyed equally high ratings when the reality TV show started in September 2006.43 Perhaps the international casting of Ugly Betty may offer us another clue as to its success abroad. Several of the actors are clearly chosen for their appeal to local audiences when the serial is sold abroad. For example, Romijn with her Dutch roots strengthens viewer loyalty in the Netherlands. The same could be said of New Zealand-born Alan Dale and his appeal to New Zealand audiences; and as one of the original cast members of the hit Australian soap Neighbours (Grundy Television Australia, 1985-present) he also had a reputation with international audiences including those from Australia and the UK. Scottish actress Ashley Jensen, who had recently won national fame playing Maggie Jacobs opposite Ricky Gervais in Extras (BBC/HBO, 20057), would have been familiar enough with the same demographic that watch Ugly Betty in the UK; and certainly when Ugly Betty reached the UK she was marketed as part of the appeal. Then there is, of course, America Ferrera who plays Betty Suarez. As a child of Honduran parents born and raised in Los Angeles, Ferrera ethnically bridges Hispanic and White America, alluding to the issues associated with an immigrant background and racial identity. And this is to say nothing of the involvement of Salma Hayek who acquired and adapted (along with Ben Silverman) the Colombian rights, but also had cameo roles: rstly as a star of the telenovela watched in the Suarez household (thus bringing that television tradition right into the very heart of Ugly Betty); and secondly as Soa Reyes, a magazine editor. Hayek may bring a local Latino audience to the US version but she also brings international Hollywood glamour that extends beyond the US borders. Identication processes are a crucial part of a shows success. Given that exporting abroad is a vital part of the US business plan when producing television, producers are mindful to address different cultures with its multinational cast. We are giving more and more recognition that our content is built for the globe [. . .] and you see inside that content more and more foreign actors. We have three English actors in the lead of four of our new dramas. We have Japanese actors, we have Indian actors, we have French actors, and I think you can see more and more content that is built for a global market, said Silverman, who is now co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and NBC Universal Studios, at the international audiovisual content market MIPCOM in Cannes 2007.44 Taking into account the growing recognition to meet global demands, as executives like Silverman do, the new trend might be described as the diversication of the cultural. Meant here is that more and more actors of a different cultural background are being contracted, are speaking with distinct national/regional accents (sometimes with subtitles), act in

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different cultural locations and exhibit culturally specic behaviours, in terms of dress codes and eating habits. This diversication of the cultural is nothing new, as Roland Robertson described at the beginning of the 1990s. For example, Hollywood attempts to employ mixed,multinational casts of actors and a variety of local settings when it is particularly concerned, as it increasingly is, to get a global audience.45 Robertson highlights the academic discourse on the relationship between the local and the global, and emphasises that globalisation is not equivalent with homogenisation. Instead, he maintains that globalisation involves the creation and the incorporation of locality, thus leading in many cases to a hybridisation on a global scale.46 The casting of Ugly Betty goes one step further than just broadening the cultural background of the show. For example, in the second season, Korean American actor John Cho playing Kenny, a co-worker of Henry (Christopher Gorham), uses slang expressions borrowed from rap and hip-hop. At rst glance this cultural crossover supports the humorous approach of the show, but it also invites us to think about what Jan Nederveen Pieterse called global mlange as it questions the politics of hybridity namely, the terms and conditions of mixing.47 Homeward Journey But can America Ferrera, the gurehead of the Hispanic girl living the American Dream, convince Hispanics living in Latin America? As Sibylla Brodzinsky and Glenn Garvin in their article for McClatchy newspaper say, Colombians are not sure if they like the idea of Ugly Betty returning.48 Brodzinsky and Garvin quote Fabian Sanabria, an anthropologist at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, who compares watching Ugly Betty to reading Cien anos de soledad (100 Years of Solitude) by Gabriel Garca Mrques in English, and for him it makes no sense. Sanabria refers to the fact that the Spanish book can never be translated into English without losing its distinct cultural and national characteristics. Brodzinsky and Garvin also quote Carolina Padula, chief programmer at Sony Entertainment Television (SET), which operates a Latin American cable channel reaching 17.7 million viewers. Padula is more optimistic about the success of Ugly Betty in Latin America, believing that the US version brings a different approach to the well-known story of Yo soy Betty la fea. Sensing that Ugly Betty will nd an audience, SET is ghting for the right to broadcast the US version in Mexico, where its competitor TV Azteca is also bidding for transmission rights as it anticipates high ratings.49 So too does Televisa, which has obtained the rights for the country-specic adaptation La fea ms bella.50 It seems Bettys battle continues even at the executive level of TV companies with an equivalent standing. Although moves to acquire rights are a sign that some believe the US version could nd a home in Latin America, not everybody seems convinced. This series could be a moderate success around the rest of Latin America, or it could even be as successful as The Sopranos [Chase Films/HBO, 19992007] or 24 [Imagine Entertainment/20th Century Fox Television/Real Time Productions, 2001-present]. But in Colombia, no one will watch it, says Omar Rincon, a TV critic at Bogotas El

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Tiempo newspaper.51 But Colombians are not strongly opposed to every foreign adaptation, as the response to the Mexican La fea ms bella proves. Perhaps this version is more acceptable because of the involvement of Gatan. Allowing for generalisations a cursory look at bulletin boards seems to suggest that young people remain open-minded to the US adaptation, as this shortened entry suggests:
I am from Colombia and watched Yo soy Betty, la fea. It was very funny but very specic to our culture and traditions. It was intended to make fun and somehow expose the inuence that social classes have in our country. I have also watched some episodes of Ugly Betty and I can see its value and its contribution to bringing attention to important issues such as immigration and cultural differences. [. . .] Ugly Betty gives humor to elements that cause conict in this country the same way that Yo soy Betty, la fea gave humor to elements that cause conict in mine. At the end, it is easier to face and deal with something if we talk or even laugh about it. So I say lets make more Ugly Betties and expose all the things that separate us and divide us. Maybe with a smile on our faces we will be more willing to open up and embrace each other. As it is meant to be!!52

This example and its remark on differences in culture and tradition hint at what Straubhaar calls the cultural discount of a foreign audience against imported productions. The discount could be provoked through that with which audiences are unfamiliar, such as jokes requiring cultural context to unlock precise meaning or visual environments which audiences may nd confusing.53 In the case of Ugly Betty, the producers tried to minimise this discount through the diversication of the cultural, and the export rates of the US serial seem to support the point. Interestingly, Fernando Gatan views the success of Ugly Betty on US television as an achievement for his country. He even takes delight over it winning a Golden Globe in January 2007, quoted as he is in El Tiempo saying that Half the Globe is mine.54 For journalist Mara Antonia Garca, it seems a shame that the only way Colombia can stand out in the United States is through a telenovela;55 whereas Felix Guitierrez, professor of Journalism and Communication in the University of Southern Californias Annenberg School for Communication, reads the enormous success of Yo soy Betty la fea as a reversal of U.S. cultural imperialism.56 Such debate is reminiscent of the furore created by the global popularity of US soap opera Dallas (Lorimar Television/CBS, 197891). At the beginning of the 1980s this TV show exported across the world, as much criticised as it was watched. The French Minister for Culture, during a conference in Paris 1983, even proclaimed Dallas as the symbol of American cultural imperialism.57 Tamar Liebes and Elihu Katz, in their study of cross-cultural readings of Dallas, examined the decoding strategies of overseas audiences, and found that this show resulted in reexive talk about self and society.58 Such research exemplies that viewers critically consume imported programmes as well as responding to the topics presented on screen in terms of cultural relevancy. It would be interesting to chart how this debate continues, bearing in mind that the worldwide success of Yo soy Betty, la fea was initially claimed as the reversal of cultural imperialism but now strikes back in the form of the US remake in its home

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country Colombia. We will have to wait and see for the full reaction of the TV audience; and hopefully, as with Dallas, the show will be successful despite the discussion. But the opportunity to watch different countrys adaptations, whether or not they suit personal tastes, provides a rare opportunity to compare different cultural approaches to the same story. Made in Germany The chance to watch different country-specic versions bypassed Germany, at least in the rst run. It seems that the market for telenovelas in Germany is limited. Looking at the past fate of this format, it is striking that although Latin American productions were broadcast in the 1980s, they only met with moderate success. The trend was recently reversed with the rst German production Bianca Wege zum Glck (Bianca: The Ways to Happiness, ZDF, 20045). But it was Verliebt in Berlin, the German remake of the Colombian, Yo soy Betty, la fea, which was to become one of the most successful telenovelas ever broadcast in Germany. Rainer Wemcken, CEO of Grundy UFA, the German production company responsible for Verliebt in Berlin, identies the secret of its success: if a telenovela wants to achieve high ratings in the country, it has to be made in Germany.59 This is more than the concept of proximity suggests, for cultural characteristics are not enough, at least for a daily television show in Germany. As Michael Esser, scriptwriter for Verliebt in Berlin, explains: the main adaptive changes involved softening the hilarious original and introducing a more realistic touch so that German audiences could closely relate to the characters.60 Jens Richter, also involved in the adaptation, comments that by setting the story in Berlin, not only allowed the German but also a wider European audience to identify with the modern metropolis that affords glimpses of local cultural habits and aesthetic values.61 It could therefore be argued that this European setting is also a reason for the dubbed Verliebt in Berlins successful export to other European countries such as France, Hungary and Bulgaria.62 With Alexandra Neldel playing the German Betty, Verliebt in Berlin attracted an average of 3.95 million viewers (16.1 per cent of the market share, which translates to 22.8 per cent of the relevant target group) during the period from 28 February 2006 to 1 September 2007. The last episode, a 90-minute special with a huge preand after-show celebration of the marriage of Lisa and David Seidel (Mathis Knzler), attracted an overwhelming 7.35 million viewers.63 Of course, SAT.1 wanted to run with the success for as long as possible, and thus launched a sequel with a new, this time male, protagonist Bruno, the half brother of Lisa. Most of the original cast remained, but Bruno was not able to conquer the hearts of Lisa fans. Therefore, in April 2007, the ugly duckling, a.k.a. Lisa Plenske, now in the form of a beautiful swan, was called on to return to the show for a short comeback. Of course, the reason was to lure back former fans and it worked. During this period ratings rose, although not as high as expected.64 At the same time, the US version started to air on the same channel SAT.1, once a week in a Friday primetime slot. It is not clear if Ugly Betty suffered from Lisas brief return, but ratings for the US series

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remained poor. If ratings for the rst Friday were bad (0.78 million viewers in the relevant target group), then those for the second were even worse (0.58 million viewers). So much so that SAT.1 decided to immediately cancel Ugly Betty.65 No Bettymania in Germany Given that the US serial performed well in other countries, even those with localised versions of the Colombian original (as in the Netherlands), and given that US serials/series normally do well in Germany, why did Ugly Betty fail? Taking a close look at promotion, scheduling, ratings and audience feedback a complex picture begins to emerge. Initially the US import was promoted as having the same origins as Verliebt in Berlin: namely, that both were based on the Colombian telenovela.66 SAT.1 may have sold Ugly Betty as inspired by the US blockbuster, The Devil Wears Prada (David Frankel, 2006), but its press release did not do enough to distinguish the US version from the German.67 It gave a short synopsis of the pilot episode, emphasising its similarity to, rather than difference from, the German adaptation. This contradictory message did not help and audiences were not convinced that the US show offered anything new. If, as previously mentioned, scheduling plays such an important role in the success of any programme,68 then what happened in the case of Ugly Betty proves instructive. SAT.1 failed to nd an appropriate timeslot for its newest US import. It is questionable whether the Friday primetime slot was the most appropriate one for its target 1849-year-old demographic. But it does beg the question why did SAT.1 not even consider a different time slot? (For example, US hit Greys Anatomy [The Mark Gordon Company/Touchstone Television/ShondaLand, 2005-present] failed to make an impression when it was initially broadcast on SAT.1s sister channel ProSieben.69 But the channel adjusted the time slot, ratings picked up and the serial has gone from strength to strength, with the third season topping the ratings.70) Despite SAT.1 cancelling the serial, it seems that if comments on the various bulletin boards are to be believed, ratings might have improved if the channel waited a little longer for the audience to nd the show. Analysing ratings for the German and US versions it is noticeable that the Verliebt in Berlin community were never interested in Ugly Betty. Only a few got a taste for it, and, despite having mixed opinions, were prepared to discuss the US serial on the Verliebt in Berlin fan bulletin board.71 But many longed for the romance of Verliebt in Berlin, as this abbreviated entry demonstrates:
What I miss about Betty are the feelings. These are expressed in gestures, words and special moments. They transform seconds into something special, moments that directly lead to my heart magic moments.72

Others disliked the scene in the pilot when Betty is humiliated during a photoshoot; similar situations occurred in the German version, but not as overtly as in

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Ugly Betty. At the same time, there were viewers who may have given the US version a chance, confessing that they just needed more time to get used to the different approach. Some Verliebt in Berlin fans, in fact, liked the comedic elements and the exaggerated characters of the US version. One user summarised the paradoxical attitude many German viewers had toward the US adaptation, suggesting that on one hand, Verliebt in Berlin fans found Ugly Betty to be too ostentatious or were not interested in seeing the same story again, even if told differently. On the other, the user made the point that there were those who disliked telenovelas in general, and Verliebt in Berlin in particular, and so never tuned into the US version. No doubt another reason why audiences favoured the German version over the US one was because of the immense popularity and appeal of the character Lisa Plenske. This at least is suggested by an online opinion poll conducted in 2005 with 6,455 fans.73 85 per cent voted the ugly protagonist the most popular character on the show, in particular citing her cooperativeness and intelligence as part of her appeal. The audience also liked the actress Alexandra Neldel for her portrayal of the character and for not being afraid to perform ugly. Senta Krasser, media commentator for Sddeutsche Zeitung, located the main difference in how the US and German productions approached the same plot: If the country bumpkin Lisa Plenske was dreaming of her Mr. Right, Bettys goal is to climb the social ladder by means of her own efforts. Social criticism is totally absent in ViB and romanticism in Ugly Betty.74 This main difference was never made clear by the private channel SAT.1 when it was initially promoting the US version. SAT.1 failed to reach the potential target group: neither did it appeal to those who watched Verliebt in Berlin or other telenovelas; nor did it capitalise on nding existing audiences who enjoyed other US serials. The sister channel Pro Sieben, known for broadcasting successful US serials, is scheduled to give Ugly Betty a second chance in late summer 2008; but this time clearly promoting the US version as different, a satiric dramedy and highlighting the shows high production values.75 That said, Ugly Betty is not scheduled for the 2008 autumn line-up; and when I approached Pro Sieben they said that the release date could not be conrmed. Act Glocally Borrowing the slogan from Friends of the Earth founder David Brower, think locally, act globally,76 Roland Robertson uses it to describe the strategies that television production companies and networks follow when blending the foreign with the local.77 Glocalization is an approach that combines the principles of mass production with the possibilities of offering customised local products. To this end, it becomes clear why buying a format instead of developing in-house shows is productive. A production company adapting a programme can rely on the experience of the original creator. At the same time, it benets from the exibility of making adjustments to the cast, the content and the environment to suit local requirements. Furthermore, the adaptation can prot from the recognition associated with the original show, even if that means the spin-off suffers from high audience

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expectations, especially if it is adapted badly (in whatever sense). All in all, the advantages outweigh the risks. Ultimately, variety is the key. Adapting shows should not be the only strategy that production companies and networks follow. The import and export of dubbed productions remains a basic pillar of the television business.78 Interestingly, the sales of formats and the export of dubbed productions overlap in a glocalized world. As described earlier, Verliebt in Berlin was also successfully exported to other countries as a dubbed production. Considering local needs for a broader region in this case, Europe the format of Yo soy Betty, la fea was adapted to attract not only German viewers, but also other European audiences. This is especially interesting, as the European broadcasting market is considered a largely territory-based affair. As Petros Iosidis, Jeanette Steemers and Mark Wheeler point out, previous efforts to create a pan-European satellite television were singularly disappointing and American-owned thematic channels like MTV have been compelled to localise their programmes.79 Iosdis, Steemers and Wheeler contend: The historical origins of broadcasting as a national concern, and the enormous cultural and linguistic diversity within Europe, have meant that the vast majority of television is still produced for and targeted at distinct national audiences.80 Localised telenovelas taking a European approach like Verliebt in Berlin may be a good starting point to cross the inner European borders. As an alternative to buying dubbed productions or formats, there is always the possibility of producing local serials to sell as a dubbed product or even as a format. In fact, the rst German telenovela, Bianca Wege zum Glck, a local German story, was sold as a format to the US network, Lifetime. It was adapted for a US audience in cooperation with FremantleMedia as a weekly episodic primetime novela running for 20 weeks.81 Even while this example might be an exception to the rule, a reverse ow against the mainstream of US imports into Europe, it nonetheless shows the complex processes involved in global trade, a story often neglected when focusing only on the dominant global ows. Whats Next? Format sales of telenovelas are nothing new, at least in the Latin American world. Adapting successful telenovelas within Hispanic communities is common practice.82 But the Bettycation phenomenon challenges everything that has gone before. Colombian telenovela Yo soy Betty, la fea and its country-specic versions have travelled beyond their geo-linguistic borders, to enter territories never before hooked by telenovelas until Betty and her culturally specic alter egos.Before, for example, we had never sold in India, Holland or Germany. An important factor was that it appealed to markets looking for a comedic telenovela, rather than the more traditional ones, comments RCN international sales director Maria Lucia Hernandez.83 Fernando Gatan, Bettys literary father, has been surprised by the international response. He concludes that Bettys worldwide success is a sign that female vanity is universal.84 To briey summarise the successful formula: take one universal human

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33

trait, mix it with a pinch of humour and season it with local avour, et voil, a global hit is served. Of course, audience taste may vary and the recipe adjusted. Let us sneak a peak at the menu of diverse chefs de cuisine in the television market, and see if it is really as easy to satisfy the audience as the recipe implies. MyNetworkTV (MNT) tried different adaptations of telenovelas for the US market, including Fashion House (20th Century Fox Television/Gone Fission/ Stu Segall Productions, 2006) and Wicked Wicked Game (Gone Fission/Twentieth Television, 2006).85 Colombian distributor Caracol Television International, the original scriptwriters of another MNT adaptation called Desire (original title: Mesa para tres/Table for Three, MyNetwork TV, 2006-present), supervised the US version to ensure the original story was protected.86 Unfortunately, none of these productions could hook an audience, which is perhaps more used tohaute cuisine (high-production episodic network serials) than fast food (cheaply produced mass serials). Or perhaps US gourmets simply do not want to eat the same thing every day, as Greg Meidel, president of MNT, implies: Trying to get people to watch serialized dramas every night on MyNetworkTV was asking the impossible.87 Despite this failure, executives at ABC, CBS and NBC continue to believe in the potential of this format.88 Although Betty fever, which started in 1999, seems far from over, producers have started looking for the next power ingredient to brew another success formula and seem to have found it: Caf. Apparently Colombia, famous for its coffee exportation and as the birthplace of Yo soy Betty la fea, bodes well. Based on the motto never change a winning team, Fernando Gatans Caf con aroma de mujer (Women-avoured coffee, RCN Televisin, 1994) is one of the selected telenovelas hoping to replicate the success of Yo soy Betty, la fea. The same production companies involved with Bettymania have acquired the rights for Caf con aroma de mujer: Reveille for the US market and FremantleMedia for pan-American versions.89 Two Mexican adaptations of Caf already exist. One from TV Azteca entitled Cuando seas mia (When Will You Be Mine) aired in 20012 and is similar to the original except for the ending90. The other from Televisa called Destilando amor (Distilling Love, 2007) changed its recipe for success from the ingredient coffee to tequila. Instead of working in a coffee plantation, the Mexican heroine harvests the cactus that produces tequila. This change yielded good results. The nale of Destilando amor aired on 3 December 2007 on the HispanicAmerican network Univision, and with 27.7 million viewers was the most watched show, beating channels like ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX.91 According to Variety, the US version may be set in a wine vineyard.92 Let us wait and see if a German version hits the market, changing the ingredient for success to beer with its plot revolving around the cultivation of hops as cultural proximity rules. Another aspiring Betty successor is the telenovela Sin tetas no hay paraso (Without Breasts There is No Paradise), by coincidence or not, from Colombia. The story is based on the homonymous novel by Gustavo Bolvar, and was produced for television by Canal Caracol since 2006. The successful, and at the same time controversial, story is about a poor young girl, who works as a prostitute to earn money for breast augmentation, which she thinks will help her climb the social ladder.93 Although using different approaches, both Yo soy Betty, la fea and Sin tetas

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Critical Studies in Television 3/2

no hay paraso offer social critique. Ben Silverman also believes in the success of the Colombian serial, and has acquired the rights for Sin tetas no hay paraso, this time in his position as co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and NBC Universal Television Studio.94 Yet, NBCs Spanish language broadcasting unit, Telemundo, is also planning its own version, which will air in the United States. Based on its positive experience with its Bettys Spain has also jumped on the bandwagon and reserved the rights for a local adaptation of Sin tetas no hay paraso.95 These examples indicate that the trend of geo-linguistic proximity is no longer the only factor in success. Global players like NBC have already diversied its company structures (in this case with Telemundo) to deliver as many localised products as possible. As Hollywood branches out into the telenovela genre, the Latin American majors like Televisa must adjust to strong competitors with huge budgets and high reputations. This leads to strategies that diversify classical telenovelas. As Timothy Havens illustrates, Televisa has already developed different telenovela sub-genres incorporating animation, music videos and reality shows.96 The technological developments in recent decades have burst the constraints of geographical and national borders, and red the imagination of universally accessible media communities. However, theoretical possibilities have not yet been implemented in practical everyday media consumption. Kai Hafez rightly scrutinises the emergence of a global public sphere and emphasises the importance of regionalisation in televisual landscapes.97 But, as Havens notes, common sense suggests that the largest hurdle faced by global television merchants is cultural difference, which impedes the ow of both programming and prots. Then again, his research has shown how cultural difference also forms the basis of global television sales, as buyers and sellers strive to distinguish themselves from their competitors based upon genre, nationality, ethnicity and the like98 and thus creating diversity. No greater example than this is Bettys itinerary in all its countryspecic varieties, hybridising local avours with transnational patterns. Notes
1 Betty, la nuestra, Semana, 8 July 2000, 2429. 2 The following countries have adapted the Colombian telenovela, Yo soy Betty, la fea, or, according to Canal RCN and Tony Lagarto, are in process of developing it: China (in development, in co-operation with Televisa and its local adaptation, La fea ms bella), Belgium, Brazil (Rede Record in partnership with Televisa), Czech Republic, Croatia, Germany, Greece, India, Israel, Italy (Grundy Italy is in advanced negotiation with Rai ction), Mexico, Netherlands, The Philippines (since September 2008), Poland (October 2008), Russia, Spain, Turkey, United States, Vietnam (in development). Ugly is the New Beautiful. An International Bettybase http://sirlizard.prohosts.org// internacional.html mytop. accessed 15 October 2008. 3 Fernando Gatan, Interviewed by Bianca Lippert, Bogot, 31 March 2008; and Lina Mara Waked, Interviewed by Bianca Lippert, Bogot, 3 April 2008. 4 Joseph D. Straubhaar, World Television: From Global to Local, Sage Publications, 2007, pp. 15253.

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5 For an overview of the development of the telenovela in Latin America: Jos Ignacio Cabrujas, Y latinoamrica invent la telenovela, Alfa Grupo Editorial, 2002, pp. 16782. 6 Betty, la nuestra, Semana, 2000. 7 In the original Spanish: En el caso de Betty, era como meter a todo el pas en una ocina de unos pocos metros cuadrados. No haba una lnea de personajes unicas. Estn los pobres, los ricos, las seperadas, las casadas, el ambicioso, el hombre de xito o el aspirante a serlo. Translated by author. Lorenzo Vilches, Betty, la fea, entre Telenovela y Sitcom (I), Guionactualidad, 20 March 2007, http://antalya.uab.es/guionactualidad/ spip.php?article981, accessed 18 December 2007. 8 Another exception is the telenovela, Caf con aroma de mujer (Woman-avoured coffee, RCN Televisin, 1994), written by Fernando Gatan, which proved an international hit; Gatan, Interviewed by Bianca Lippert, Bogot, 31 March 2008. 9 Toni Fitzgerald, The One Show Idol Cant Stop: Bella, Media Life Magazine, 2 January 2008, http://www.medialifemagazine.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=418& num=9856, accessed 31 January 2008. 10 Manuel Weis, Quotencheck: Verliebt in Berlin 2, Quotenmeter.de, 19 December 2006, http://quotenmeter.de/print.php?newsid=17938, accessed 6 January 2008. 11 SevenOne International verkauft Verliebt in Berlin an ukrainischen TV-Sender ICTV, Presseportal, 26 November 2007, http://www.presseportal.de/print.htx?nr=1091207. htm, accessed 1 January 2008. 12 Ugly Betty Licensed to 130 Territories Worldwide, WorldScreen.com, 21 May 2007, http://www.worldscreen.com/print.php?lename=disney052107.htm, accessed 1 January 2008. 13 Straubhaar, World Television, p. 3. 14 Ibid., p. 26. 15 John Sinclair, Latin American Television: A Global View, Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 12. 16 Javier Cid, Antena 3 descubre la gallina de los huevos de oro con Yo soy Betty, la fea, Elmundo.es., 16 April 2002, http://www.elmundo.es/2002/04/16/comunicacion/ 1131512.html, accessed 2 January 2008. 17 Fitzgerald, The One Show Idol Cant Stop: Bella, 2 January 2008. 18 Ana Porto, Antena 3 estrena La fea ms bella y Telecinco ultima Yo soy Bea, Elmundo.es, 26 June 2006, http://www.elmundo.es/2002/04/16/comunicacion/1131512.html, accessed 2 January 2008. 19 Antena 3 traslada La fea ms bella a las mananas y ampla Rebelde en las tardes, FormulaTV.com, 7 July 2006, http://www.formulatv.com/1,20060707,2439,1.html, accessed 11 December 2007. 20 Yo soy Bea cumple este lunes 300 captulos en Telecinco, FormulaTV.com, 28 September 2007, http://www.formulatv.com/1,20070928,5595,1.html, accessed 11 December 2007. 21 Telecinco bloquea el estreno de Ugly Betty en Cuatro, Vertele.com, 17 December 2007, http://www.vertele.com/noticias/detail.php?id=17371, accessed 2 January 2008. 22 Elizabeth Guider, Bettys Do Battle. Skein Competition Could Get Ugly, Variety.com, 9 October 2006, http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=print_story&articleid=VR1 117951583&categoryid=19, accessed 2 January 2006. 23 Straubhaar, World Television, p. 27. 24 Associated Press, Ugly BettyTops Ratings Among New Series So Far, FOXnews.com, 29 September 2006, http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,216715,00. html, accessed 8 January 2008.

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25 Marwin M. Kraidy, Hybridity, Or The Cultural Logic of Globalization, Temple University Press, 2005. 26 Bill Carter, American Telenovelas Have Lost Their Allure, New York Times, 8 January 2007. 27 Paul Ricoeur, Time and Narrative, Volume 1, University of Chicago Press, 1984. 28 Straubhaar, World Television, p. 147. 29 Jason Mittell, Genre and Television: From Cop Shows to Cartoons in American Culture, Routledge: 2004. 30 Jason Deans, Ugly Betty Attracts 4.5m, MediaGuardian, 8 January 2007, http://www. guardian.co.uk/media/2007/jan/08/overnights/print, accessed 4 January 2008. 31 Seven Daily Ratings Report, Ebroadcast.com, 19 February 2007, http://www. ebroadcast.com.au/enews/Daily_Ratings_Report_190207.html, accessed 4 January 2008. 32 Vicki Rothrock,Ugly Betty Gets Big Kiwi Welcome. Premiere Tops Ratings in New Zealand, Variety.com, 22 January 2007, http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117957 907.html?categoryid=14&cs=1&nid=2562, accessed 4 January 2008. 33 Save The Last Dance For Ugly Betty, NZherald.co.nz, 5 April 2007, http://www. nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10432781, accessed 4 January 2008. 34 TEN Daily Ratings Report, Ebroadcast.com, 6 August 2007, http://www.ebroadcast.com.au/enews/ten-tv-ratings-060807.html, accessed 4 January 2008. 35 John Ellis, Scheduling: The Last Creative Act in Television? Media, Culture, Society, 22, 2000, 26. 36 Timothy Havens, Global Television Marketplace, b Publishing, 2006. 37 Ibid., p. 123. 38 Lotte tot mei iedere werkdag bij Tien, Mediacourant.nl, 11 December 2006, http:// www.ebroadcast.com.au/enews/ten-tv-ratings-060807.html, accessed 4 January 2008. 39 311.000 kijkers voor Lotte, Mediacourant.nl, 9 April 2007, http://www.mediacourant. nl/?p=2978, accessed 7 January 2008. 40 NET 5 blij met succesvolle start Ugly Betty, Mediacourant.nl, 21 August 2007, http://www.mediacourant.nl/?p=3793, accessed 4 January 2008. 41 1 miljoen kijkers voor Pauw en Witteman, Mediacourant.nl, 5 November 2007, http://www.mediacourant.nl/?p=4288, accessed 4 January 2008. 42 562.000 kijkers voor Nova/Den Haag Vandaag, Mediacourant.nl, 19 November 2007, http://www.mediacourant.nl/?p=4353 accessed 4 January 2008. 43 422.000 kijkers voor Hollands Next Top Model, Mediacourant.nl, 15 October 2007, http://www.mediacourant.nl/?p=4148, accessed 4 January 2008. 44 Ben Silverman, Interview with Ross Westgate, MIPCOM Meets Hollywood: Keynote Ben Silverman, Video-Stream. Cannes, 9 October 2007, http://www.mipcom.com/App/ homepage.cfm?appname=100495&moduleid=411&campaignid=11612&iUserCamp aignID=43822922, accessed 25 March 2008. 45 Roland Robertson, Glocalistion: Time-Space and Homogeneity-Heterogeneity, in Mike Featherstone, Scott Lash and Roland Robertson, eds, Global Modernities, Sage Publications, 1995, p. 38. 46 Ibid., pp. 3244. 47 Jan Nederveen Pieterse, Globalization as Hybridization, in Featherstone, Lash and Robertson, eds, Global Modernities, pp. 5368. 48 Sibylla Brodzinsky and Glenn Garvin, In Colombia, Ugly Betty Not a Pretty Sight, The

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49 50

51 52

53 54

55 56

57 58 59 60

61

62

63 64

65

66 67 68

Providence Journal, 26 December 2007, http://www.projo.com/lifebeat/content/lbuglybett_122607_AN7VSB0_v13.ef5523.html, accessed 2 January 2008. Alex Madrigal, Quiere con Ugly Betty, El Universal, 2 January 2007, http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/espectaculos/73734.html, accessed 5 January 2008. Mala noticia Ugly Betty no se ver en Mxico, Univision.com, Online posting, 9 October 2007, http://foro.univision.com/univision/board/message?board.id=salmahayek&message.id=17090, accessed 5 January 2008. Quoted in Brodzinsky and Garvin, In Colombia, Ugly Betty Not a Pretty Sight, 26 December 2007. Ugly Betty: An Outcast Among Her Own People, AfterEllen.com, Online posting, 12 December 2007, http://www.afterellen.com/blog/thelinster/ugly-betty-an-outcast-incolombia, accessed14 January 2008. Straubhaar, World Television, p. 147. Medio Golden Globe es mo; Mara Antonia Garca,La suerte de la fea, El Tiempo.com, 23 January 2007, http://www.eltiempo.com/opinion/columnistas/otroscolumnistas/ ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-3410631.html accessed 24 January 2007. Ibid. Bet[t]y la fea es un icon, Univision.com, Online posting. 13 October 2006, http://foro. univision.com/univision/board/message?board.id=univision&message.id=29425, accessed 5 January 2008. Ien Ang, Watching Dallas: Soap Opera and the Melodramatic Imagination, Routledge, 1996, p. 2. Elihu Katz and Tamar Liebes, Interacting with Dallas: Cross Cultural Readings of American TV, Canadian Journal of Communications, 15, 1, 1990, 4566, 58ff. Sigrid Eck, Umstrittene Liebe mit Happy End, Werben und Verkaufen, 11 May 2006, 567. Estrategia: Producir para apostar por los mercados europeos, TVMASmagazine.com, August 2005, http://www.tvmasmagazine.com/agosto2005/telenovelas1.php, accessed 7 January 2008. Alemania: Celebra los altos ratings y el share de la telenovela, TVMASmagazine.com, August 2005, http://www.tvmasmagazine.com/agosto2005/telenovelas.php, accessed 7 January 2008. SevenOne International verkauft Verliebt in Berlin an ukrainischen TV-Sender ICTV, Presseportal, 26 November 2007, http://www.presseportal.de/print.htx?nr=1091207. htm, accessed 1 January 2008. Manuel Weis, Quotencheck: Verliebt in Berlin, Quotenmeter.de. 9 September 2006, http://www.quotenmeter.de/index.php?newsid=16405, accessed 6 January 2008. Uwe Mantel, Verliebt in Berlin: Lisa-Effekt lie schnell nach, DVDL.de Das Medienmagazin, 8 May 2007, http://www.dwdl.de/article/news_10802,00.html, accessed 6 January 2008. Julian Beck, Fehlstart fr Alles Betty Miese Quoten bei RTL, TVblogger.de, 28 April 2007, http://www.tvblogger.de/fehlstart-fur-alles-betty-gute-quoten-bei-rtl/, accessed 5 January 2008. Ab heute ist im Fernsehen Alles Betty, ProSiebenSat.1.com. 27 April 2007, http://www. prosiebensat1.com/pressezentrum/sat1/2007/04/x02568/, accessed 7 January 2008. Ibid. Havens, Global Television Marketplace, 2006; Ellis, Scheduling: The Last Creative Act in Television?, 2538

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69 Alexander Krei, Nach miesem Start: Greys Anatomy rutscht ab, Quotenmeter.de. 22 March 2006, http://www.quotenmeter.de/index.php?newsid=13773, accessed 8 January 2008. 70 Torben Gebhardt, Quotencheck: Greys Anatomy, Quotenmeter.de, 29 November 2007, http://www.quotenmeter.de/index.php?newsid=23748, accessed 8 January 2008. 71 Alles Betty Online posting. Community.SAT.1.de, 9 May 2007, http://community. sat1.de/php-bin/sat1/index.php?page=Board.PopupPrint&subject=R , accessed 9 May 2007. 72 Original bulletin board entry in German: Was mir bei Betty fehlt sind die Gefhle. Die sich in Gesten, Worte und Augenblicke ausdrcken. Und damit Sekunden zu etwas besondern macht. Die Momente die auf direktem Weg in mein Herz steuern Der Zauber, die Magie. Alles Betty. . . Online posting. Community.SAT.1.de, 9 May 2007, http://community.sat1.de/phpbin/sat1/index.php?page=Board.PopupPrint&subject=R , accessed 9 May 2007. 73 Mut zur Hsslichkeit, sozioland.de, September 2005, http://www.sozioland.de/rp/vib/, accesssed 15 January 2008. 74 Original quote in German:Trumte das Muschen Lisa Plenske von Rettung durch den Prinzen, so ist Bettys Ziel der soziale Aufstieg aus eigener Kraft. Das Sozialkritische geht ViB vllig ab und Ugly Betty dafr die Romantik, Senta Krasser, Betty und ihre Schwestern, Sddeutsche Zeitung, 16 April 2007, 1F2 15. 75 Bernd Michael Krannisch, Pro7: 24 und Ugly Betty kommen im Sommer, 8 March 2008, http://www.serienjunkies.de/news/pro7-laquo24raquo-17548.html, accessed 20 March 2008. 76 Ralph Keyes, The Quote Verier, Simon & Schuster, 2006. 77 Robertson, Glocalization: Time-Space and Homogeneity-Heterogeneity, in Featherstone, Lash and Robertson, eds, Global Modernities, pp. 2444. 78 Havens, Global Television Marketplace, 2006. 79 Petros Iosidis, Jeanette Steemers and Mark Wheeler, European Television Industries, b Publishing, 2005. 80 Ibid., p. 132. 81 Bianca Goes Primetime With Lifetime in the US, Televisionpoint.com, 6 June 2006, http://www.televisionpoint.com/news2006/newsfullstory.php?id=1149583488, accessed 15 January 2008. 82 Gatan, Interviewed by Bianca Lippert, Bogot, 31 March 2008. 83 Quoted in John Hecht, Telenovela Market, Hollywoodreporter.com, 26 Sepember 2006, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/international/features/e3iCA Gp1f%2FrC6qEU8LDUEO2lg%3D%3D, accessed 2 January 2008. 84 Anna Marie de la Fuente, Ugly Betty Grows Into Swan Around Globe. Telenovela Takes Off in Many Territories, Variety.com. 5 February 2006, http://www.variety.com/ article/VR1117937365.html?categoryid=14&cs=1, 2 January 2008. 85 Bill Carter, American Telenovelas Have Lost Their Allure, 2007. 86 Guillermo Chavez, Passion Travels, Worldscreen.com, April 2007, http://www.worldscreen.com/featurescurrent.php?lename=novelas0407.htm, accessed 10 January 2008. 87 John Dempsey, Soaps Not Sudsy For MyNetwork TV. Network Revamps Its Schedule, Variety.com, 1 February 2007, http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117958532.html? categoryid=14&cs=1, accessed 10 January 2008.

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88 Bill Carter, American Telenovelas Have Lost Their Allure, 2007. 89 Anna Marie de la Fuente, Beating the Telenovela Bushes For Another Betty. Caf May Be Headed For the U.S, Variety.com, 19 November 2006, http://www.variety.com/ article/VR1117954163.html?categoryid=14&cs=1&query=ugly+betty+TV+azteca, accessed 5 January 2008. 90 Cuando seas ma (TV Azteca 2001), Todotnv.com, 24 Sept. 2006, http://www.todotnv. com/cuando-seas-mia-tv-azteca-2001.html, accessed 11 January 2008. 91 El nal ms visto en EU, Esmas.com, 6 December 2007, http://www.esmas.com/destilandoamor/noticias/684452.html, accessed 11 January 2008. 92 de la Fuente, Beating the Telenovela Bushes For Another Betty. Caf May Be Headed For the U.S, http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117954163.html?categoryid=14&cs= 1&query=ugly+betty+TV+azteca, accessed 5 January 2008. 93 Sinopsis. Sin tetas no hay paraso, Canal Caracol, 2006, http://www.canalcaracol.com/ plant_contenido.asp?hid_id_menu=206, accessed 11 January 2008. 94 Marta Alonso, Sin tetas no hay paraso tendr tambin version norteamericana, Vaya tele. 15 June 2007, http://www.vayatele.com/2007/06/15-sin-tetas-no-hay-paraisotendra-tambien-version-norteamericana, accessed 15 January 2008. 95 Ibid. 96 Havens, Global Television Marketplace, p. 56. 97 Kai Hafez, The Myth of Media Globalization, trans. Alex Skinner, Polity Press, 2007, p. 69ff. 98 Havens, Global Television Marketplace, p. 157.