Despite this doubt about whether formats enjoyed copyright protection, the past ten years have seen an explosion in global traffic in TV program formats. One main reason for such an increase lies in the worldwide expansion of television channels thanks to deregulation, new technology and the advance of laissez-faire economic policies. Faced with an ever more desperate struggle for ratings success, TV producers and broadcasters frequently prefer to adapt an already successful program format, rather than take a chance on an original, untried format.

     This increase in the volume of format adaptation has been accompanied by a determined attempt to ensure that players stick to a set of rules. Several elements are at work here. First, the fact that format trade now occurs at such industry conventions as MIPCOM rather than by overseas producers, surreptitiously recording off-air in L.A. hotel rooms, means that at least some parts of the trade are controlled. In addition, producers continue to believe that formats do carry legal protection. Paying according to rules helps maintain business reputations. Further, format licensing fees tend to be relatively modest, being partly determined by the kind of asking price that might be set for the broadcasting of an imported version of the same program. Additionally, to dissuade producers from plagiarizing a format off-air, an owner also usually makes available a series of important ancillary elements as part of the format licensing package. These can include: titles and other software; set designs, production schedules, and so on; scripts; videotapes of on-air episodes; confidential ratings and demographic information; and consultancy services. Finally, there is always the threat of legal action such as, for instance, occurred in 1999 when the U.K. producer of the reality program Survivor undertook a lawsuit against Endemol, producer of Big Brother, alleging format infringement.

     One further sign of an attempted regularization of exchange in television program formats has been the organization of a trade association. In 2000, the For­ mat Recognition and Protection Association (FRAPA) was established in London. FRAPA's functions are threefold. First, it has established a system of dispute arbitration between members to avoid legal action, which is often unpredictable, costly, and usually slow. Second, it acts as an information clearinghouse. Third, it hopes to lobby sympathetic national governments to enact format protection legislation. Not surprisingly, FRAPA has succeeded in signing up the major agencies in the international field of format trade, including Endemol, Pearson, Columbia TriStar, King World, Distraction, Mentom International, Action Time, Hat Trick Productions, Celador, and Expand Images.

     Harry de Winter, head of Dutch IDtv, believes that the international TV program format business will ultimately end up in the hands of two or three giants with smaller independent companies being the ones that actually generate the ideas. The U.K.'s FremantleMedia (formerly Pearson Television) and Endemol from The Netherlands are likely to be the central agencies in the format trade of the near future.

     Pearson Television was an arm of the U.K.-based Pearson media group. Already owner of Thames Production, the company set out to acquire an extensive program format catalog in the early 1990s. In 1995 it took over Grundy Worldwide, thereby acquiring a library in the areas of game shows and drama. The 1997 acquisition of All American Fremantle International gave it control of the Mark Goodson library of game shows including such classics as The Price Is Right, Family Feud, and Card Sharks. Successful Grundy drama formats were already on the air in Australia, The Netherlands, and Germany with new adaptations of formats such as Sons and Daughters and Prisoner appearing more recently in Sweden, Finland, Germany, and Greece. In tum, Pearson also acquired additional formats through the takeover of a string of small production companies in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and South Africa. To concentrate on Spanish markets in the United States and in Latin America, it established a production company in Mi­ami in 1999.

     With an extensive format catalog at its disposal, it was inevitable that Pearson would see strategic market advantage in joining a vertically integrated media group. From 1997, Pearson was part of the U.K. Channel 5 broadcasting consortium and in 2000 merged with the German based CTL-UF to form the RTL Group. The company changed its name to Fremantle­ Media in 2001. By that point, the company had over 160 programs in production in 35 different territories with particular production strengths in the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, the United States, and Australia.

     Endemol was created in 1993 with the merger of two independent Dutch companies, Joop van den Ende Productions and John de Mol Productions. It was floated as a public company on the Amsterdam stock exchange in 1996 and the capital inflow this has created has led to an aggressive expansion. Endemol now has companies in 17 different territories in Western and Eastern Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, the United States, and Argentina. In 2000, it linked with the Telefonia group, the largest supplier of telecommunications and Internet services in the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking worlds. It now provides content for broadcasting companies as well as for Internet, third-generation cellular telephones, and other distribution platforms. The basis of Endemol's remarkable expansion has been its catalog of TV formats, which now numbers over 400 titles. These include not only some of the older pre-1993 formats such as Forgive Me and All You Need Is Love but also more recently originated ones, especially Big Brother. Indeed, the latter format has provided the basis for a comprehensive franchising operation involving the systematic exploitation of rights in relation to new distribution platforms that may be a significant clue to future directions in the format business.

     Finally, it is important to note that, despite FRAPA's efforts, many producers outside the United States and Western Europe refuse to accept any rules. This is particularly the case in the People's Republic of China, where the state does not support the notion of intellectual property. Even in other parts of the world where rules are in play, it is still often difficult to distinguish between a format infringement and general generic imitation.