Same building blocks, different show: analyzing television program's using the concept 'format'

This article substantiates the usefulness of the concept 'format' for studying television journalism. Formats contain the different elements of form, content, production and programming, which provides the possibility of analyzing all of these aspects individually, while also studying their mutual connection and impact. Formats are more specific and detailed than genres or subgenres, which makes it possible to analyze and compare specific elements of the shows in an (inter)national context. Using examples of a case study on two Dutch talk shows, this article unravels the building blocks of journalistic television formats and provides a systematic approach to analyze them. With this definition and analysis of television formats, this article sheds light on the different elements out of which formats are constructed, bringing together research of form and content of journalistic television programs