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18. Globalization, identity, and televisionnetworks: community mediation andglobal responses in multiculturalIndiaAnshu ChatterjeeThe widespread adoption of reform in the media sector has permitted thedevelopment of global communication networks that are organized aroundcultural communities. These networks encompass community enterprisesoperating at a global level in addition to transnational enterprises whose use oflocal culture and resources extends beyond expected operations in a secondarymarket. Several public enterprises also continue to operate in this media space,targeting national communities residing both within and outside their nationalterritories to deliver messages shaped by their national objectives. The aggregationof these various enterprises operating at different levels provides animpression of localization, which, as several observers indicate, constitutes acrucial element of the post-industrial processes (Giddens, 1990; see also Hall,1997).What causes the commercially oriented transnational enterprises to functionin this manner, especially in locations where commercial television iscomparatively underdeveloped? The answer to this is of considerable significanceto communication theories of cultural and economic domination thatpoint to problems associated with the dissemination of externally developedprogramming to less-developed countries. The consequences, these theoriesindicate, include the delivery of out-of-context messages that impress uponcommunity culture and local aspirations as well as bringing extraneous agendasinto the public sphere reserved for domestic discussions (Herman andMcChesney, 1997: 3).A comparative study of the expansion of commercial television amongdifferent language communities in India illustrates the contextualizedoutcomes of widespread restructuring of the media space. Here we examinethe reorganizing of competitive structures in a developing country with ahistory of state-controlled television. The rapid appearance of several communityenterprises prompted unexpected strategies among transnational media402