Economic and Cultural Forces in the Netherlands as Contributors to the Success of Dutch TV Format Business

The Netherlands is described as “the great European incubator of TV formats” (Moran, 2009a, p.13). Given the remarkable development in Dutch TV format industry, it is necessary to systematically analyse the reasons, or in other words, the forces behind its success. Therefore, this research examines how is it that the Netherlands as a small Western European country has nurtured the prosperity of the TV format production and distribution? Based on existing theory, this research examined internal and external forces in Dutch TV format market and cultural forces in the Netherlands that contributed to the industrial development. Ten expert-interviews among a variety of Dutch media experts in the field were conducted. Results indicated market existence (dynamic supply and demand relationship, healthy market structure, competitive media landscape with diverse channels and beneficial media system, pioneering history and tradition in format business, individual leadership and contribution, etc.) and cultural heritage (openness and tolerance, weak national identity and less strong culture presence, trading instinct and proficient language skills) are the two significant variables in the Dutch TV ecosystem that contribute directly to format industry development in the Netherlands. Moreover, economic conditions, regulation, technology, access to labour and globalisation are mediating variables that indirectly contribute to Dutch format industry development, where economic conditions and regulations had more obvious impact than technology, access to labour and globalisation.