This book offers a comprehensive introduction to the study of media audiences as well as new research on the emotional engagement viewers have with television texts. It offers readers:*a detailed introduction to the history of audience research and an overview of the various competing theories on audience*a discussion of current debates within television audience research*an examination of the concept of emotion in relation to different aspects of audience research, such as feminist approaches, issues related to genre, and aesthetics*a small scale research project on television and emotion*workshop exercises, film and television references, internet resources and additional materials to accompany lectures and seminars.The book is designed to be used as a primary text on courses within media and communication studies and is ideal for a module focusing on television and audience research in particular. Although primarily aimed at an undergraduate reader, the original research on audience and emotion will also be of interest to postgraduate students and researchers in the field.