Television Industries

While not a production study, this book attempts to provide an insight into the inner workings of the television industry. As such its central concern is with processes, not texts or techniques or histories. 'Television Industries' focuses on the essential elements of the industry: the policy and regulatory frameworks, the swiftly changing world of video production technology, all of which provides the backdrops against which broadcasters shape and sell their products. The book also examines the working practices of scheduling, budgeting, selling advertising air-time and so forth. Where issues may be familiar to readers (for example debates around public service broadcasting) the entries aim to be explanatory and fresh. Of course, it's not possible to cover every aspect of what is a complex and ever changing industry. Nonetheless, the aim is to provide a starting point for students and new scholars as they start to research into the nature of the broadcasting industry. Hence, this volume is extensively cross-referenced, to guide the reader as they tease out for themselves some of the complexity of this industry. There are several other elements that are distinctive about this volume. Perhaps the most striking of these is its blend of contributions from the UK and US. This book will raise as many questions as it provides answers. It aims to make a contribution to the on-going debates in the now well-established world of television studies with fresh perspectives on some familiar, and some not so familiar, landscapes. Fully illustrated, 'Television Industries' is intended as an authoritative and accessible guide to the inner workings of the television industry.

Douglas Gomery is resident Scholar, Library of American Broadcasting and Film, University of Maryland. Luke Hockley is a member of the Centre for Research in Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Sunderland.