The Television Studies Reader

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Edited by Robert C. Allen and Annette Hill

Routledge

Due/Published December 2003, 504 pages, paper

ISBN 0415283248

The Television Studies Reader brings together key writings in the growing field of television studies, providing an invaluable overview of the development of the field, and addressing issues of industry, genre, audiences, production and ownership, and representation.

The Reader charts the ways in which television and television studies are being redefined to include new and alternative forms and technologies such as cable television, direct satellite/digital broadcasting, home video, video art, video/digital applications on the internet, interactive TV, video surveillance, and converging media. It explores the recent boom in reality TV and includes discussions of television programs and practices from around the world. The Reader comprises 44 foundational and new articles from an international cast of contributors, situating the study of television in relation both to its global reach and to the many and varied local contexts of its production and reception, and laying out a wide array of approaches to the study of the changing phenomenon of television around the world. The essays are organized in seven themed sections: Institutions of Television, Spaces of Television, Modes of Television, Making Television, Social Representation on Television, Watching Television, Transforming Television. Key features include a comprehensive bibliography and a list of further reading.

Contributors: Robert C. Allen, Richard Collins, Laurie Ouelette, David Hutchinson, Tom O'Regan, Eileen R. Meehan, Jackie Byars, Scott Robert Olson, John Sinclair, Colin Sparks, Stuart Cunningham, Jason Mittell, Jerome Bourbon, Derek Paget, Margaret Morse, John Corner, Albert Moran, Justin Lewis, Dona Kolar-Panov, John Ellis, John Caldwell, Jane Roscoe, Sonia Livingstone, Peter Lunt, Nick Couldry, Eric Freedman, Brian Larkin, Julie D'Acci, David Morley, Ron Becker, Timothy Havens, Ellen Seiter, Hannah Davies, David Buckingham, Peter Kelley, Anna McCarthy, Ron Warren, Kirk Johnson, Matt Hills, John Hartley, Arild Fetveit, Jon Dovey, Will Brooker, Mark Poster, Don Slater

Contents

FAQ: A General Introduction to the Reader: Robert C. Allen

Institutions of Television
Introduction
Ises and Oughts: Public Service Broadcasting in Europe: Richard Collins
Moving Beyond the Vast Wasteland: Cultural Policy and Television in the United States: Laurie Ouellette and Justin Lewis
Protecting the Citizen, Protecting Society: David Hutchison
Australian's Television Culture: Tom O'Regan
Telefeminism: How Lifetime Got its Groove 1984-1997: Eileen Meehan and Jackie Byars

Spaces of Television
Introduction
Hollywood Planet: Global Media and the Competitive Advantage of Narrative Transparency: Scott Olson
Geolinguistic Region as Global Space: the Case of Latin America: John Sinclair
The Global, the Local and the Public Sphere: Colin Sparks
Popular Media as Public 'Sphericules' for Diasporic Communities: Stuart Cunningham

Modes of Television
Introduction
A Cultural Approach to Television Genre Theory: Jason Mittell
Live Television Is Still Alive: On Television as an Unfulfilled: Jérôme Bourdon
Codes and Conventions of Drama/Doc and Docu/drama: Derek Paget
News as Performance: The Image as Event: Margaret Morse
Adworlds: John Corner
Making Sense of Soaps: Robert C Allen
The Pie and the Crust: Television Program Formats: Albert Moran

Making Television
Introduction
Television Production: John Ellis
Modes of Production: John T Caldwell
Big Brother Australia: Performing the Real Twenty-Four-Seven: Jane Roscoe
Studio Discussions: Social Spaces and Postmodernity: Sonia Livingstone and Peter Lunt
Media Pilgrims: On the Set of Coronation Street: Nick Couldry
Public Access/Private Confession: Home Video as (Queer) Community Television: Eric Freedman
Hausa Dramas and the Rise of Video Culture in Nigeria: Brian Larkin

Social Representation on Television
Introduction
Television, Representation and Gender: Julie D'Acci
Primetime TV in the Gay Nineties: Network Television, Quality Audiences and Gay Politics: Ron Becker
Welcome Home?: CBS, PAX-TV, and Heartland Values in a Neo-Network Era: Victoria Johnson
 Broadcasting and the Construction of the National Family: David Morley
'The Biggest Show in the World': Race and the Global Popularity of The Cosby Show: Timothy Havens

Watching Television
Introduction
Qualitative Audience Research: Ellen Seiter
In the Worst Possible Taste: Children, Television and Cultural Value: Hannah Davies, David Buckingham, and Peter Kelley
Television While You Wait: Anna McCarthy
Defining Cult TV: Texts, Inter-texts and Fan Audiences: Matt Hills
Democratainment and DIY Citizenship: John Hartley

Transforming Television
Introduction
Reality TV in the Digital Era: A Paradox in Visual Culture?: Arild Fetveit
Camcorder Cults: Jon Dovey
Living on Dawson's Creek: Teen Viewers, Cultural Convergence and Television Overflow: Will Brooker
Postmodern Virtualities: Mark Poster
Social Relationships and Identity Online and Offline: Don Slater

Suggestions for Further Reading
Compiled by Caroline Dover