A Companion to Television is a magisterial collection of 31original essays that charter the field of television studies overthe past century* Explores a diverse range of topics and theories that have ledto television's current incarnation, and predict its likelyfuture* Covers technology and aesthetics, television'srelationship to the state, televisual commerce; texts,representation, genre, internationalism, and audience reception andeffects* Essays are by an international group of first-ratescholarsFor information, news, and content from Blackwell's referencepublishing program please visitblackwellpublishing.com/reference/

List of Figures viiiNotes on Contributors ixIntroduction 1Janet WaskoPart I Theoretical Overviews1 The Development of Television Studies 15Horace Newcomb2 Critical Perspectives on Television from the Frankfurt School to Postmodernism 29Doug KellnerPart II Television/History3 Television and History 51Paddy Scannell4 Our TV Heritage: Television, the Archive, and the Reasons for Preservation 67Lynn SpigelPart III Television/Aesthetics and Production5 Television as a Moving Aesthetic: In Search of the Ultimate Aesthetic - The Self 103Julianne H. Newton6 Locating the Televisual in Golden Age Television 126Caren Deming7 Television Production: Who Makes American TV? 142Jane M. ShattucPart IV Television/The State and Policy8 Who Rules TV? States, Markets, and the Public Interest 157Sylvia Harvey9 Public Broadcasting and Democratic Culture: Consumers, Citizens, and Communards 174Graham Murdock10 Culture, Services, Knowledge: Television between Policy Regimes 199Stuart CunninghamPart V Television/Commerce11 Television Advertising as Textual and Economic Systems 217Matthew P. McAllister12 Watching Television: A Political Economic Approach 238Eileen R. Meehan13 Keeping "Abreast" of MTV and Viacom: The Growing Power of a Media Conglomerate 256Jack Banks14 The Trade in Television News 270Andrew CalabresePart VI Television/Programming, Content, and Genre15 Configurations of the New Television Landscape 291Albert Moran16 The Study of Soap Opera 308Christine Geraghty17 The Shifting Terrain of American Talk Shows 324Jane M. Shattuc18 Television and Sports 337Michael R. Real19 "Where the Past Comes Alive": Television, History, and Collective Memory 361Gary R. Edgerton20 "How Will You Make it on Your Own?": Television and Feminism Since 1970 379Bonnie J. Dow21 Television and Race 395Sasha TorresPart VII Television/The Public and Audiences22 Television, Public Spheres, and Civic Cultures 411Peter Dahlgren23 Television and Public Opinion 433Justin Lewis24 Reality TV: Performance, Authenticity, and Television Audiences 449Annette Hill25 A Special Audience? Children and Television 468David BuckinghamPart VIII Television/Alternative Challenges26 Local Community Channels: Alternatives to Corporate Media Dominance 489DeeDee HalleckPart IX International Television/Case Studies27 Latin American Commercial Television: "Primitive Capitalism" 503John Sinclair28 Television in China: History, Political Economy, and Ideology 521Yuezhi Zhao and Zhenzhi Guo29 Japanese Television: Early Development and Research 540Shunya Yoshimi30 Change and Transformation in South African Television 558Ruth Teer-Tomaselli31 Television in the Arab East 580Nabil H. DajaniIndex 602