The secret recipe of local television: A study into the audience perception of multiple adaptations of the Bake Off format

As a result of globalization, people are more connected than ever before. Flows of media products reach far beyond their firstly intended local audience. Moreover, local audiences are increasingly exposed to globalized and dominant cultures. Exposure to those globalized media products may lead to new media consumption practices. To see to what extent audiences still chose television according to their local identity, this research looks into the perception of multiple format adaptations. Furthermore, the study aims to clarify if engagement with foreign content has become such a natural practice to local audiences, that the consumption of foreign television feels as no different to them rather than watching local television. To study the differences in the reception of local and foreign television, formats are an eminently suitable tool. The reason for this is that the formats appear as an almost similar television product, only localized to meet the request and preference of the local audiences. Specifically, this research examines the British version of the format - The Great British Bake Off, the Flemish version - Bake Off Vlaanderen, and the Dutch version - Heel Holland Bakt. And so, the main research question of this study is “how does the Dutch audience perceive foreign versions of the Bake Off format in comparison with the Dutch adaptation?”. This study focuses on an existing gap in academic research on format studies by taking an audience perspective approach. A qualitative approach has been chosen for this research since this study is interested in the experiences and perspectives of the respondents. More specifically, qualitative interviews were performed as a data gathering tool. Overall, 11 respondents aged 20 to 30 years were interviewed. The analysis of the interviews has resulted in the following conclusion: this research shows that Dutch audiences still perceive their local version as most relevant. Moreover, it has become clear that the relatability of characters, such as the show hosts and jury, are key factors in determining the overall perception of a version. The research findings contribute to the existing relevance of the cultural proximity theory and make the cosmopolitanization of the audience in the case of this specific study less distinct. Moreover, this suggests that the cultural proximity theory is still an important theory for local television producers to determine a production policy.