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The Television Studies Reader » (1st Edition)

Book cover image of The Television Studies Reader by Robert C. Allen

Authors: Robert C. Allen, Annette Hill, Robert C. Allen (Editor), Annette Hill
ISBN-13: 9780415283243, ISBN-10: 0415283248
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Taylor & Francis, Inc.
Date Published: December 2003
Edition: 1st Edition

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Author Biography: Robert C. Allen

Book Synopsis

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 cutting-edge 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.

Table of Contents

Notes on Contributors
Acknowledgements
Frequently Asked Questions: A General Introduction to the Reader1
Pt. 1Institutions of Television
Introduction to part one27
1'Ises' and 'Oughts': Public Service Broadcasting in Europe33
2Moving Beyond the "Vast Wasteland": Cultural Policy and Television in the United States52
3Protecting the Citizen, Protecting Society66
4Australia's Television Culture79
5Telefeminism: How Lifetime Got its Groove, 1984-199792
Pt. 2Spaces of Television
Introduction to part two105
6Hollywood Planet: Global Media and the Competitive Advantage of Narrative Transparency111
7Geolinguistic Region as Global Space: the Case of Latin America130
8The Global, the Local and the Public Sphere139
9Popular Media as Public 'Sphericules' for Diasporic Communities151
Pt. 3Modes of Television
Introduction to part three163
10A Cultural Approach to Television Genre Theory171
11Live Television Is Still Alive: On Television as an Unfulfilled182
12Codes and Conventions of Dramadoc and Docudrama196
13News as Performance: The Image as Event209
14Adworlds226
15Making Sense of Soaps242
16The Pie and the Crust: Television Program Formats258
Pt. 4Making Television
Introduction to part four267
17Television Production275
18Modes of Production: The Televisual Apparatus293
19Big Brother Australia: Performing the 'Real' Twenty-Four-Seven311
20Studio Discussions322
21Media Pilgrims: On the Set of Coronation Street332
22Public Access/Private Confession: Home Video as (Queer) Community Television343
23Hausa Dramas and the Rise of Video Culture in Nigeria354
Pt. 5Social Representation on Television
Introduction to part five367
24Television, Representation and Gender373
25Primetime TV in the Gay Nineties: Network Television, Quality Audiences and Gay Politics389
26Welcome Home?: CBS, PAX-TV, and "Heartland" Values in a Neo-Network Era404
27Broadcasting and the Construction of the National Family418
28'The Biggest Show in the World': Race and the Global Popularity of The Cosby Show442
Pt. 6Watching Television
Introduction to part six457
29Qualitative Audience Research461
30In the Worst Possible Taste: Children, Television and Cultural Value479
31Television While You Wait494
32Defining Cult-TV: Texts, Inter-texts and Fan Audiences509
33Democratainment524
Pt. 7Transforming Television
Introduction to part seven535
34Reality TV in the Digital Era: A Paradox in Visual Culture?543
35Camcorder Cults557
36Living on Dawson's Creek: Teen Viewers, Cultural Convergence and Television Overflow569
37Postmodern Virtualities581
38Social Relationships and Identity Online and Offline596
Suggestions for Further Reading615
Index625

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