>> >> >> >> >> The American Television Industry >> Michael Curtin and Jane Shattuc >> >> In an age of proliferating choices, television nevertheless remains >> the most popular medium in the United States. Americans spend more >> time with TV than ever before, and many 'new media' forms, such as >> blu-ray movies, Hulu videos, and Internet widgets, are produced and >> delivered by the world's most lucrative and powerful television >> industry. Yet that industry has undergone profound changes since >> the 1980s, moving from a three-network oligopoly to a sprawling >> range of channels and services dominated by a handful of major >> conglomerates. Viewers can now access hundreds of channels at all >> hours of the day and can search and select from hundreds of >> thousands of individual programs on video and Internet services. >> This diversity has fragmented the size of television audiences and >> transformed relationships between viewers and television companies. >> Unlike the first fifty years of television, today's industry >> leaders can no longer rely on mass audiences and steady revenue >> flows from big-budget advertisers, and this in turn affects their >> programming and production strategies. >> >> The American Television Industry offers a concise and accessible >> introduction to TV production, programming, advertising and >> distribution. Michael Curtin and Jane Shattuc outline how programs >> are made and marketed, and provide an insightful overview of key >> players, practices and future trends. Although star-driven dramas >> and comedies continue to attract a great deal of critical praise >> and audience attention, television is increasingly characterized by >> niche programming services that, with modest production budgets, >> compete for audience attention. In this environment, reality TV >> genres have emerged as attractive programming alternatives for >> cable services such as the History Channel and the Food Network. >> Moreover, programming is increasingly delivered on an a la carte, >> on-demand basis to a diverse array of viewing devices, such as >> iPods and cell phones. >> >> The book analyses the corporate strategies, technological >> innovations and cultural transformations that have driven changes >> in industry strategy, discourse and practice. Making reference to >> numerous case examples, the authors identify definitive trends and >> describe key players in industry and government. These are indeed >> vibrant but unstable times for the American television industry and >> this volume explains the major forces that will shape the future of >> the medium in North America and around the world. >> >> MICHAEL CURTIN is the Mellichamp Professor of Global Media in the >> Department of Film and Media Studies at University of California, >> Santa Barbara The author of Redeeming the Wasteland: Television >> Documentary and Cold War Politics (Rutgers, 1996) and Playing to >> the World's Largest Audience: The Globalization of Chinese Film and >> TV (University of California Press, 2008), he is also Director of >> Global Studies and Associate Director of the UW International >> Institute. >> >> JANE SHATTUC is Professor of Visual and Media Arts at Emerson >> College in Boston. She has written primarily about American and >> European television industries and how their aesthetic and >> industrial forms relate to class and gender. Her books include: >> Television, Tabloids, Tears: Fassbinder and Popular Culture >> (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1995) and The Talking >> Cure: TV Talk Shows and Women (New York: Routledge, 1997). She co- >> edited Hop on Pop: the Politics and Pleasures of Popular Culture >> (Durham: Duke University Press, 2002) with Henry Jenkins and Tara >> McPherson. >> >> >> ---- Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu