APOLOGIES FOR CROSS-POSTING Proposals are invited for an edited collection on the history of ITV in Britain. ITV Culture: Fifty Years of Commercial Television, edited by Catherine Johnson and Rob Turnock As ITV fast approaches its 50th anniversary in September 2005, it is facing an increasingly uncertain future. Once comprised of a consortium of regional programme companies, ITV looks set to become a centrally owned television monolith in a highly competitive and fragmented television market place. As ITV stands at the crossroads of such change, it is time for a measured assessment of its role and impact in British television, culture and society, from its early days of competition to its continued survival in a highly volatile media sector today. While ITV has often been overlooked in histories of public service broadcasting, this edited collection aims to bring together new scholarship to reassess the importance of ITV to the history of British broadcasting. We are inviting proposals for consideration on a range of subjects including programming, company or production histories, and the construction of audiences through programming and scheduling. We are particularly interested in articles that explore ITV's complex position between commercial and public service imperatives in relation to any of the above. It is anticipated that this volume will include up to 12-14, 5-7,000 word chapters, divided under three main thematic headings. It is envisaged that each section will cover a range of topics that might include, but is not limited to: Programmes: This could include broad overviews of particular genres or focus on specific ITV programmes or texts: * The relationship between British and American programmes; * The development of serial television; * Filmed action/adventure series; * The development of television soap opera; * 'Quality' drama series (e.g. Poirot, Morse); * Light entertainment; * News, current affairs, documentary; * Advertising. Institutions/Companies/Producers: This would examine ITV from a commercial, regulatory and production perspective: * The changing structure of ITV; * The significance and history of specific ITV companies. * The relationship between ITV and BBC; * The impact of regulation e.g. the Pilkington Report etc; * The effect of the growth of satellite, cable and digital; * Co-production between the UK and US; * Programme/format sales; * The relationship between the film industry and the ITV channels. Audiences and Contexts: This would include a wider range of issues, ranging from programme address, target audiences, scheduling and discourses in circulation about ITV: * The changing audience profile of ITV; * Questions of quality and address; * Children's television; * Regional programming: * Television criticism; * Celebrities; * Audiences and fans for specific programmes; * Programme merchandising. In addition, each of the three sections will be accompanied by an introductory chapter written by the editors, which will draw together the range of analysis and offer a useful overview of the debates. The Editors: Dr Catherine Johnson is Lecturer in Television History and Theory, Department of Media Arts, Royal Holloway, University of London. She has published on factual entertainment and early British television. She is also the author of Telefantasy (forthcoming: BFI). Rob Turnock is Lecturer in Media Theory, Bournemouth Media School, Bournemouth University. He was post-doctoral research fellow on the AHRB funded project Did ITV Revolutionise British Television?. He is author of Television and Consumer Culture: Britain and the Transformation of Modernity (forthcoming: I.B. Tauris), and Interpreting Diana: Television Audiences and the Death of a Princess (2000: BFI). Proposals/abstracts of between 200-300 words should be sent to the editors by 15 December 2003. Successful applicants will be required to provide their full papers by September 2004. Proposals should be sent to: Dr Catherine Johnson: e-mail: [log in to unmask] Rob Turnock: e-mail: [log in to unmask] Dr Catherine Johnson Lecturer in Television History and Theory Department of Media Arts Royal Holloway, University of London Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX 01784 443471 ---- To sign off Screen-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF Screen-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]