How Did Television Influence Australian Popular Culture

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Television became a major force that influenced Australian popular culture. It contributed to many changes in the Australian way of life during the 1950s and 1960s and Australia has constantly kept evolving often due to the introduction of television. Popular culture is the mainstream of ideas, products, attitudes and perspectives preferred by the majority of society. Australia’s popular culture was heavily influenced by foreign nations, which led to a very globalised country with many of its ideas and values from other countries, in particular the U.S. and U.K.

Television was a major force that influenced Australian popular culture after its introduction in Australia in 1956. It became the leading form of entertainment within 3 years …show more content…

The majority of the content on television between 1956 and 1963 were sourced from overseas with 83% of content coming from America, as it was cheaper to import programs than produce them in Australia. Of the content that was produced in Australia most of it had strong American influences and weren’t truly Australian. Shows like I Love Lucy and The Flintstones were some of the most popular programs with the 10 most popular programs being American displaying American themes, issues and their way of life. With the lack of local content due to the infiltration of US television programs people wanted to be American. The exposure to American culture through television was larger than ever before. Most programs had “American families in American settings, dealing with American concerns and themes” and it was with these influences that people started identifying and copying the values, ideas and trends that were seen in the US programs. The television provided the direct path for values, humour and style from the US and UK to start influencing Australia. It transformed the way that information was received with ideas being spread to Australia faster than ever before, their interaction with the rest of the world and awareness and experience of other global events changed significantly. It exposed people to other cultures and worldviews, providing information that shaped popular public

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