Table Of ContentAn Introduction to
Television Studies
This comprehensive textbook, now substantially updated for its fourth edition,
provides students with a framework for understanding the key concepts and main
approaches to Television Studies, including audiences, representation, industry
and global television, as well as the analytical study of individual programmes.
This new edition reflects the significant changes the television industry is
undergoing in the streaming era with an explosion of new content and providers,
whilst also identifying how many existing practices have endured. The book
includes a glossary of key terms, with each chapter suggesting further reading.
New and updated material includes:
■ Chapters on style and form, narrative, industry, and representation and
identity
■ Case studies on Bon Appétit’s YouTube channel, Insecure, British youth
television, ABC and Disney+, fixed-rig observational documentary, streaming
platforms’ use of data to shape audience experience, Chewing Gum, Korean
drama and The Marvelous Mrs Maisel
■ Sections on medical drama, YouTube creators, Skam and scripted format
sales, the global spread of streaming platforms, prestige TV and period drama
With individual chapters addressing television style and form, narrative, histories,
industries, genres and formats, realities, production, audiences, representation
and identity, and quality, this book is essential reading for both students and
scholars of Television Studies.
Jonathan Bignell is Professor of Television and Film at the University of Reading,
UK. He authored three previous editions of An Introduction to Television Studies and
was co-author of The Television Handbook, second edition. His many other publica-
tions include co-editing the book A European Television History.
Faye Woods is Associate Professor of Film and Television at the University
of Reading, UK. She is the author of the books Period Drama and British Youth
Television.
Praise for the previous editions:
‘At a time when the question of what constitutes “television” is being ever
more keenly debated and as the medium continues to be reimagined, I
can think of no other book to so adroitly meet the needs of students new
to Television Studies. Engaging, accessible, and with a diverse series of
activities and case studies that capture both the history and dynamism
of this subject, Bignell’s invaluable new edition provides a comprehensive
entry into the most significant debates in the field.’ Dr Deborah Jermyn,
Reader in Film and Television, Roehampton University, UK
‘In covering key areas of Television Studies, ranging across history, aesthetics,
genre, production and reception, this book remains a key touchstone for
students entering and studying the field. Accessibly written and well-
illustrated with the addition of up-to-date examples, Bignell manages to
span the core concepts and concerns of the discipline in an engaging and
stimulating manner. At a time when the very idea of “television” as an object
of study is undergoing significant shifts, An Introduction to Television Studies
succeeds in taking us on a journey which maps out longstanding aspects of
television (and Television Studies), whilst embracing the “new” context of
television’s dispersed screens and digital culture.’ Su Holmes, Reader in
Television Studies, University of East Anglia, UK
An Introduction to
Television Studies
Fourth Edition
Jonathan Bignell and Faye Woods
Cover image: Getty Images / Hector Roqueta Rivero
Fourth edition published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Jonathan Bignell and Faye Woods
The right of Jonathan Bignell and Faye Woods to be identified as authors of this work has
been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 2004
Third edition published by Routledge 2012
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-138-66581-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-66582-8 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-61967-5 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781315619675
Typeset in Janson and Akzidenz Grotesk
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
Contents
List of illustrations ix
Acknowledgements xiii
Introduction 1
Using this book 1
Television Studies 2
The organisation of chapters 5
Bibliography 9
1 Studying Television 11
Introduction 12
Beyond broadcasting 13
Television nations 16
Studying programmes 17
Television and society 20
Television audiences 26
Case study: television past and present 29
Summary of key points 33
Bibliography 34
2 Television Style and Form 37
The language of television 38
Connotations and codes 40
Mise-en-scène 41
Image 49
Sound 53
Structure and editing 56
Case study: Bon Appétit’s Gourmet Makes 62
Summary of key points 68
Bibliography 68
3 Television Narrative 69
Introduction 70
Identification 71
Story/plot 73
Structure 75
vI C ontEnts
Narrative forms – serial 75
Narrative forms – series 76
Narrative forms – hybrid 77
Transmedia storytelling 78
Case study: Insecure 79
Summary of key points 84
Bibliography 85
4 Television Histories 87
Introduction 88
Collecting the evidence 89
Inventing television technologies 92
Television institutions 94
Reception contexts 97
British approaches to commercial television 99
Professional cultures in a ‘Golden Age’ 101
Programmes and forms 103
The ten most popular programmes in March 1958 104
The ten most popular programmes in September 1964 104
The ten most popular programmes in November 1974 105
The ten most popular programmes in November 1984 105
Case study: a history of British youth television 107
Summary of key points 110
Bibliography 110
5 Television Industries 113
Introduction 114
The funding structures of television 114
Public service broadcasting in the British market 115
Television regulation in the UK 117
The structure of television industries 119
Channel brands in digital and cable 121
Streaming platforms 123
British public service streaming: BBC iPlayer 126
Case study: ABC and Disney 128
Summary of key points 132
Bibliography 132
6 Television Genres and Formats 135
Introduction 136
Identifying genre and format 138
The generic space of soap opera 140
The medical drama 142
Sitcom and the problem of humour 144
Genre hybridity and reality TV 147
Case study: adult animated series 150
C ontEnts vII
Summary of key points 155
Bibliography 155
7 Television Realities 157
Introduction 158
Factual television 158
Realism and television technologies 160
British soap opera and realism 162
Realism and ideology 165
News and liveness 166
The documentary mode 169
Case study: docudrama 174
Summary of key points 177
Bibliography 177
8 Television Production 181
Introduction 182
Development 183
Pre-production 185
Production 191
Post-production 196
YouTube, user-generated content and the amateur-professional creator 198
Case study: ‘fixed rig’ observational documentary 201
Summary of key points 204
Bibliography 205
9 Television Audiences 207
Introduction 208
The economics of watching television 209
Ratings: measuring audiences 211
Targeting audiences 213
‘Protecting’ audiences 213
Active audiences 214
Attention and involvement 215
Qualitative audience research 217
Fan audiences 220
Case study: data, algorithms and interfaces – shaping streaming
audiences 224
Summary of key points 228
Bibliography 229
10 Television Representation and Identity 231
Introduction 232
Intersectionality and othering 233
Representation and stereotype 235
vIII C ontEnts
Meaningful diversity and plastic representation 237
Ideology 239
Television as cultural forum 241
Reality television and identity 242
Who makes TV? 244
Diversity as brand management 246
Case study: Chewing Gum 249
Summary of key points 251
Bibliography 252
11 Television Cultures and Globalisation 255
Introduction 256
Global television 257
National television in global contexts 260
International unscripted format sales 262
The scripted format trade and localisation 265
Global power and streaming platforms 267
The global and local interrelationship 269
Case study: Hallyu and Korean drama 272
Summary of key points 276
Bibliography 276
12 Television and Quality 279
Introduction 280
Identifying ‘quality’ 282
Channels and brands in American television drama 285
Television and authorship 288
The ‘cinematic’, legitimating television and complex serial drama 291
Visual style and the Doctor Who brand 293
Period drama as prestige genre 296
Case study: The Marvelous Mrs Maisel 298
Summary of key points 300
Bibliography 301
Glossary of key terms 303
Index 315
Illustrations
Figures
1.1 the wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle, 19 May 2018 21
1.2 Famous, Rich and Homeless 22
1.3 A political debate during the 2019 General Election 22
1.4 television rehearsals at Alexandra Palace, 1946. Photograph
courtesy of the Daily Herald Archive/science Museum Group 31
2.1 Krishnan Guru-Murthy delivers the Channel 4 news 40
2.2 the brothers’ cramped apartment in It’s Okay to Not Be Okay 42
2.3 Moon-young’s large family mansion 43
2.4 ItV news reporting from outside the Us senate on 6 January 2021 44
2.5 Costume and colour signifying women’s social categories in
The Handmaid’s Tale 44
2.6 Conventional late night chat show presenting on Late Night
With Seth Myers 45
2.7 Laid back presenting style on Desus & Mero 46
2.8 Lighting in The Great British Bake Off allows contestants to be
evenly lit as they bake 47
2.9 Low-key lighting in Peaky Blinders provides high contrast
between light and dark 47
2.10 Unbalanced lighting of a Black actor in Stranger Things 48
2.11 Insecure’s use of reflected light in night scenes to accentuate
Black skin 48
2.12 Establishing shot in Happy Valley 49
2.13 Long shot framing and blocking express emotional distance in
Master of None 50
2.14 Close-up and shallow focus in Normal People 51
2.15 Low angle communicating Arabella’s emotional state in I May
Destroy You 51
2.16 High angle and unbalance framing communicated Issa’s
unsureness in Insecure 52
2.17 A point of view shot in Peep Show 52
2.18 A conversation between three characters in Starstruck 57
2.19 A conversation between three characters in Starstruck 57
2.20 A conversation between three characters in Starstruck 58
2.21 A conversation between three characters in Starstruck 58
2.22 Editing maintains the 180-degree rule in Ru Paul’s Drag Race 59
