Television studies has come of age as the rapid expansion in media and
communications courses shows. The Television Studies Book is a
stimulating and challenging collection which analyses how the study of
television has developed and points to new approaches dealing with
rapidly changing technologies and formats. Chapters on the history and
methods of studying television reflect on such issues as the impact of
feminism and the development of ethnographic research while specific
case studies on topics as varied as US 'people shows', Brazilian
telenovelas and the varied use of video in the home give pointed and
vivid accounts of current practices. Specially commissioned chapters by
scholars such as Lynn Spigel, Jostein Gripsrud, Gillian Branston and
Laura Stempel Murnford provide accessible and concise accounts of the
main developments in television studies in a book which will become an
important resource for students in higher education who need to relate
broad overall accounts to more specialised interests being developed
through academic research.