Because Seal Team features strong American ideals of patriotism, it caused a problem with selling the show overseas. In a Hollywood Reporter article, Scott Roxborough noted that the increase in political programing can be referred back to the election of President Donald Trump and his increase in military rhetoric. This created a ripple effect because now networks decided to create more military themed shows due to the popularity of President Trump.

However, the increase in military themed shows creates a problem with overseas distribution. One of the main issues is foreign audiences have trouble relating to the breast-beating and flag-flying found in patriotic television shows. These military dramas are not popular overseas because it does not provide the escapism that foreign audiences are looking for. According to the Hollywood Reporter article, the overseas audience doesn’t “go for complicated, long-arc storytelling,” they prefer “the comfort food of case-of-the-week series like USA’s Suits, Fox’s Lethal Weapon and CBS’ MacGyver reboot, which continue to sell and perform globally.”

While Seal Team is currently listed on CBS’ international page, information cannot be found if it made it to a foreign market.

Sources:

Hollywood Reporter Article: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/how-falls-patriotic-tv-may-lose-global-war-viewers-1038264

CBS International Homepage: https://www.home.cbssi.com