A new guide to Spain's most popular and dynamic medium, which celebrates its fiftieth anniversary in 2006. Any follower of Spanish cinema who turns to television finds that the locally produced programs most appreciated by both audiences and critics are as creative and original as any feature film. This book, the first of its kind, gives close readings of TV programmes broadcast from the 1970s to the present day. They embrace drama, comedy, and talk/reality shows and are currently available on DVD. It also treats the obsessive theme of television in Almodovar, Spain's most celebrated film director, arguing for a re-reading of his work in the light of TV studies. In addition to analysing particular programmes, this book examines TV channels, production companies, governments, and the role of the press, academy, and audience. PAUL JULIAN SMITH is Professor of Spanish at the University of Cambridge.

What television viewers around the world watch often depends less on popularity or government policies than on the personal relationships between buyers and sellers in the international programme market. A few thousand acquisitions and distribution professionals decide what programmes the earth's inhabitants can watch, and who can watch them. This book provides an inside look at the cultural assumptions and business practices of these television merchants. It argues that the market in television programs responds principally to institutional needs, rather than to the wishes of the viewing public or the skills of television's creative artists. Leaving aside conventional questions about the production contexts, textual strategies, or popular reception of entertainment television worldwide, this project trains its focus on the business practices of global television sales in order to provide a lucid overview of the diversity of firms, business practices, and programming genres present in international television. Consequently, this volume provides the first comprehensive portrait of the operations of the international television business, the people who work in the business, and the ideas that circulate among these businesspeople. Such a portrait is crucial to any theoretical treatment of television globalisation, since international television executives determine global television flows in the first instance, based on their own understandings of the economics of the business and the preferences of their primary audiences.

While not a production study, this book attempts to provide an insight into the inner workings of the television industry. As such its central concern is with processes, not texts or techniques or histories. "Television Industries" focuses on the essential elements of the industry: the policy and regulatory frameworks, the swiftly changing world of video production technology, all of which provides the backdrops against which broadcasters shape and sell their products. The book also examines the working practices of scheduling, budgeting, selling advertising air-time and so forth. Where issues may be familiar to readers (for example debates around public service broadcasting) the entries aim to be explanatory and fresh. Of course, it's not possible to cover every aspect of what is a complex and ever changing industry. Nonetheless, the aim is to provide a starting point for students and new scholars as they start to research into the nature of the broadcasting industry. Hence, this volume is extensively cross-referenced, to guide the reader as they tease out for themselves some of the complexity of this industry. There are several other elements that are distinctive about this volume. Perhaps the most striking of these is its blend of contributions from the UK and US. This book will raise as many questions as it provides answers. It aims to make a contribution to the on-going debates in the now well-established world of television studies with fresh perspectives on some familiar, and some not so familiar, landscapes. Fully illustrated, "Television Industries" is intended as an authoritative and accessible guide to the inner workings of the television industry.

The federal government's approach to regulating the spectrum remains largely administrative, causing major inefficiency and waste. Ironically, just as the FCC has begun to use market mechanisms, some people are pushing to treat spectrum as a common resource open to all entrants. Commons proponents maintain that with new, interference-avoiding technology, licensing is becoming unnecessary and impractical. In this brief study, noted economist William J. Baumol evaluates two options for spectrum governance -a tradable license (market) approach and a commons approach. He compares the practicality of each in terms of six key issues: interference, adequacy of investment in innovation, monopoly power, preservation of diversity, service to rural areas, and the tension between vested interests and the need for adaptable arrangements. Baumol demonstrates that, while neither approach is ideal, a commons regime has severe shortcomings. Above all, he emphasizes the importance of impermanence in the granting of licenses to preserve the flexibility to adapt to unforeseen technological and other developments.

Examines the role of the church in the moral development of radio. ""Radio, Morality, and Culture: Britain, Canada, and the United States, 1919-1945"" examines the moral controversies surrounding radio's development during its formative years. In comparing the fledgling medium in Great Britain, Canada, and the United States, Robert S Fortner documents how the church failed to participate in radio's moral development and instead engaged in internecine warfare over issues of legitimacy and orthodoxy. The church was arguing about theological turf and dealing with internal disputes while radio policy was being developed and communications history was being written. Fortner reveals how the church, doomed to play little more than a bit part in the future of radio, eventually lost its voice altogether in the continuing development of electronic media. Fortner effectively synthesizes cultural history and theory, communication studies, and the role religious organizations played in shaping the content and character of early radio. Geared to scholars of history, communications, and theology, ""Radio, Morality, and Culture"" provides a useful resource for research, scholarship, and public policy.

Original essays exploring important developments in radio and television broadcasting.

The essays included in this collection represent some of the best cultural and historical research on broadcasting in the U. S. today. Each one concentrates on a particular event in broadcast history--beginning with Marconi's introduction of wireless technology in 1899.

Michael Brown examines newspaper reporting in America of Marconi's belief in Martians, stories that effectively rendered Marconi inconsequential to the further development of radio. The widespread installation of radios in automobiles in the 1950s, Matthew Killmeier argues, paralleled the development of television and ubiquitous middle-class suburbia in America. Heather Hundley analyzes depictions of male and female promiscuity as presented in the sitcom "Cheers" at a time concurrent with media coverage of the AIDS crisis. Fritz Messere examines the Federal Radio Act of 1927 and the clash of competing ideas about what role radio should play in American life. Chad Dell recounts the high-brow programming strategy NBC adopted in 1945 to distinguish itself from other networks. And George Plasketes studies the critical reactions to "Cop Rock, " an ill-fated combination of police drama and musical, as an example of society's resistance to genre-mixing or departures from formulaic programming.

The result is a collection that represents some of the most recent and innovative scholarship, cultural and historical, on the intersections of broadcasting and American cultural, political, and economic life.

This exciting book goes to the heart of a creative commercial. and public service culture - it shows why ITV matters and how. it was made to work so well. A tremendous contribution.
. Professor Jean Seaton, University of Westminster

. This is a valuable addition to studies of ITV's history and. programming...
. Tom O'Malley, Professor of Media Studies, University of Wales, Aberyswyth, and Co-Editor of "Media History,." . . Since breaking the BBCs monopoly in 1955, ITV has been at the. centre of the British television landscape. To coincide with the. fiftieth anniversary of the first ITV broadcast, this accessible book. offers a range of perspectives on the complex and multifaceted history of. Britains first commercial broadcaster.

. The book explores key tensions and conflicts which have influenced the. ITV service. Chapters focus on particular institutions, including. London Weekend Television and ITN, and programme forms, including. "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, Upstairs Downstairs "and "Trisha,." The contributors show that ITV has had to tread an uneasy line between. public service and commercial imperatives, between a pluralistic regional. structure and a national network, and between popular appeal and. quality programming. A timeline of key events in the history of ITV is also. included.

. "ITV Cultures" provides a timely intervention in debates on broadcasting. and cultural history for academics and researchers, and a lively. introduction to the history of ITV for students and general readers.. . .

." Contributors: Rod Allen, City University; Jonathan Bignell, University of Reading; John Ellis, Royal Holloway, University of London; Jackie Harrison, Universityof Sheffield; Jamie Medhurst, University of Wales, Aberystwyth; Matt Hills, Cardiff University; Steve Neale, University of Exeter; Helen Wheatley, University of Reading; Sherryl Wilson, Bournemouth University..

Blackness has always played a central role in the American imagination. Therefore, it should not be surprising that popular television--a medium that grew up with the Civil Rights Movement--has featured blackness as both a foil and a key narrative theme throughout its sixty-year existence. Ironically, in modern "colorblind" times, we are faced with a unique turn of events--blackness is actually overrepresented in television sitcoms and dramas.
Channeling Blackness: Studies on Television and Race in America presents fifteen classic and contemporary studies of the shifting, complex relationship between popular television and blackness. Using a variety of methodological and theoretical approaches, these essays examine four key issues that have framed popular and scholarly inquiries into the nature of race on television:
* The black-white binary * The power of media * Distinguishing between "negative" and "positive" images * The relative importance of markets versus racial motives in television
Firmly establishing popular television as a central cultural forum in our society, Channeling Blackness looks at how television has profoundly shaped and been shaped by America's ambivalent relationship with blackness. It provides numerous examples of how our current interaction with television distinguishes the lived experiences of today from those of the past. The book also shows how the entertainment function of television often masks its ideological purpose, particularly its role in reflecting and reproducing America's racial order. A useful supplement in any number of courses on race and society, Channeling Blackness is an ideal text for advanced undergraduate and graduate courseson race and media, media and society, television studies, television criticism, communication studies, and African American and ethnic studies.

Dozens of books currently available address some aspect of digital television, yet almost all of these texts deal exclusively with engineering and production issues associated with implementing new hardware and software. "Digital Television: DTV and the Consumer" offers a pragmatic, more socially oriented basis for understanding digital television. Beginning with a basic summary of how digital television works and how it evolved into its present state in the different television viewing environments (over-the-air, cable and satellite), author and researcher Book then offers the reader a more practical understanding of how digital television is currently being consumed in the household. Additionally, the text presents a summary of what consumers are saying regarding their digital television experience and what this data suggests for the future development of digital television business models.

Unique to this volume are numerous "Innovator Essays" by some of the industry's digital television pioneers. These insightful essays - from significant DTV innovators such as Jim Goodmon, president and CEO of Capitol Broadcasting, home of the first commercial digital television broadcast - give brief snapshots of critical moments in the transition and rollout of DTV, while focusing on what the future holds for consumers and the broadcast and electronics industries.

The latest entry in Blackwell Publishing's "Media and Technology" series, "Digital Television: DTV and the Consumer" provides media students, scholars, and professionals a compelling perspective of the social and cultural presence of this emerging technological phenomenon.

Public radio stands as a valued national institution, one whose fans and listeners actively support it with their time and their money. In this new history of this important aspect of American culture, author Jack W. Mitchell looks at the dreams that inspired those who created it, the all too human realities that grew out of those dreams, and the criticism they incurred from both sides of the political spectrum. As National Public Radio's very first employee, and the first producer of its legendary "All Things Considered," Mitchell tells the story of public radio from the point of view of an insider, a participant, and a thoughtful observer. He traces its origins in the progressive movement of the 20th century, and analyzes the people, institutions, ideas, political forces, and economic realities that helped it evolve into what we know as public radio today. NPR and its local affiliates have earned their reputation for thoughtful commentary and excellent journalism, and their work is especially notable in light of the unique struggles they have faced over the decades. More than any other book published on the subject, Mitchell's provides an accurate guide to public radio's development, offering a balanced analysis of how it has fulfilled much of its promise but has sometimes fallen short. This comprehensive overview of their mission will fascinate listeners whose enjoyment and support of public radio has made it possible, and made it great.

Public radio stands as a valued national institution, one whose fans and listeners actively support it with their time and their money. In this new history of this important aspect of American culture, author Jack W. Mitchell looks at the dreams that inspired those who created it, the all too human realities that grew out of those dreams, and the criticism they incurred from both sides of the political spectrum. As National Public Radio's very first employee, and the first producer of its legendary "All Things Considered," Mitchell tells the story of public radio from the point of view of an insider, a participant, and a thoughtful observer. He traces its origins in the progressive movement of the 20th century, and analyzes the people, institutions, ideas, political forces, and economic realities that helped it evolve into what we know as public radio today. NPR and its local affiliates have earned their reputation for thoughtful commentary and excellent journalism, and their work is especially notable in light of the unique struggles they have faced over the decades. More than any other book published on the subject, Mitchell's provides an accurate guide to public radio's development, offering a balanced analysis of how it has fulfilled much of its promise but has sometimes fallen short. This comprehensive overview of their mission will fascinate listeners whose enjoyment and support of public radio has made it possible, and made it great.

Frequency Assignment and Network Planning for Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting Systems focuses on Digital Audio Broadcasting and Digital Video Broadcasting. The author provides a concise introduction to the subject and presents principles, concepts and commonly accepted methods used in the planning process.
The frequency assignment material focuses on allotment planning while network planning is dealt with mainly from a network optimization perspective. All methods introduced and mathematical tools presented are fully explained. General concepts are illustrated with the help of several planning scenarios both for frequency assignment and network planning.
Frequency assignment and network planning are vital issues throughout most of Europe and North America as a direct consequence of the increasing demand for digital communication systems.

On 8 September 2003 the Federal Communications Commission approved the merger of Univision Communications, Inc., the dominant Spanish language media company in the US (which owns the leading Spanish language broadcast television network, cable television network, television station group, music recording and publishing company, and Internet site) and Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation (HBC), the largest Spanish language radio operator in the US. The Commission explicitly rejected the argument that there is something unique about the needs of the Spanish speaking population in the US or about the financing, production, or distribution of Spanish language programming for US household, that requires a distinction to be made between Spanish language media outlet and other media outlets. The Hispanic community is the largest minority community in the US, but it is not linguistically homogeneous. Although most Hispanics speak English well, almost 8 million Hispanics speak English either 'not at all' or 'not well'. Survey data indicate that Latino household tend to watch television as a family, rather than as individuals; when family members have varying levels of English proficiency, the family is likely to watch Spanish language programming -- particularly for news -- to accommodate those with limited understanding of English. As a result, more than half of all bilingual (Spanish-English) Latino adults prefer to watch primarily Spanish-language news programming on television. This book provides detailed tables of demographic, viewing, and market information on the Spanish-speaking population as well as detailed analysis of public policy issues.

During the second half of the 20th century, the developments in television broadcasting exerted an immeasurable influence over our social, cultural and economic practices. This volume presents an overview, written by leading media scholars, which traces the history of broadcasting in two major centres of television development and export: Great Britain and the USA. to make connections between events and tendencies that both unite and differentiate these national broadcasting traditions. From the origins of the public service and commercial systems of broadcasting to the contemporary period of technological and economic convergence, this book provides an accessible overview of the history of television technology, institutions, policies, programmes and audiences.

In Britain, America, and many other countries, television audiences and advertising revenues are declining. At the same time digital television and new models are emerging. This book looks at the reinvention of television, and answers many essential questions about the future of this fickle industry.

Success out of near disaster, finances taken to the edge of bankruptcy, resignations - this volume tells the dramatic stories of the major new commercial television developments in Britain between 1981-92. This is an authoritative account, from the people involved and from official documents, of the launches and first ten years of Channel 4 and TV-am, the expansion of cable television and early difficulties of satellite broadcasting.

The United States is vitally dependent upon the use of the radio spectrum to carry out national policies and achieve national goals. Use of the spectrum is vital to the security and welfare of the Nation and to the conduct of its foreign affairs. This use exerts a powerful influence upon our everyday lives, in countless ways, annually contributing significantly to the Nation's growth and economy. The radio spectrum is a limited natural resource which is accessible to all nations. It is imperative that we develop and administer our use of this resource wisely so as to maintain a free democratic society and to stimulate the healthy growth of the Nation, while ensuring its availability to serve future requirements in the best interest of the Nation. Therefore, consistent with our international treaty obligations and with due regard for the rights of other nations, the national objectives for the use of the radio spectrum are to make effective, efficient, and prudent use of the spectrum in the best interest of the Nation, with care to conserve it for uses where other means of communication are not available or feasible. This revised NIA report details the policies and plans geared towards government oversight of the national radio spectrum, an asset we cannot afford to overlook.

Radio Man tells the story of C.O. Stanley, the unconventional Irishman who acquired Pye Radio at the beginning of the broadcasting age. Although he started with little experience and even less money, he was to make Pye a major player in the British electronics industry - only to crash it spectacularly forty years later. From the romance of early radio to the birth of the mobile, Stanley and Pye were players in some of the key moments of twentieth century Britain. His obsession with the infant medium of television allowed Pye to provide the equipment that put radar into planes in time for the Battle of Britain. His energy also drove Pye's pioneering work on the proximity fuse - work that would revolutionise antiaircraft warfare - and the company's manufacture of the war's most successful army radios. In the 1950s Stanley led the offensive against the BBC's monopoly of television in a battle that split the British establishment. When his son, John, took Pye into mobile radio Stanley fought and defeated the bureaucrats who then controlled Britain's airwaves. Stanley's loss of Pye in 1966 illustrated British industry's inability to withstand foreign competition. It also brought tragedy. Stanley himself escaped with honour more or less intact, but left his son to face public humiliation on his own. This revealing and meticulously researched text is written within the broad context of the political, technological and business changes of the time, and shows how a very ambitious businessman was brought down by the qualities that made him so successful.

A unique and definitive study of freedom of expression rights in electronic media from the 1920s through the mid-1930s, Louise M. Benjamin's "Freedom of the Air and the Public Interest: First Amendment Rights in Broadcasting to 1935 "examines the evolution of free speech rights in early radio. Drawing on primary resources from sixteen archives plus contemporary secondary sources, Benjamin analyzes interactions among the players involved and argues that First Amendment rights in radio evolved in the 1920s and 1930s through the interaction of many entities having social, political, or economic interests in radio. She shows how free speech and First Amendment rights were defined and perceived up to 1935. Focusing on the evolution of various electronic media rights, Benjamin looks at censorship, speakers' rights of access to the medium, broadcasters' rights to use radio as they desired, and listeners' rights to receive information via the airwaves. With many interested parties involved, conflict was inevitable, resulting in the establishment of industry policies and government legislation--particularly the Radio Act of 1927. Further debate led to the Communications Act of 1934, which has provided the regulatory framework for broadcasting for over sixty years. Controversies caused by new technology today continue to rage over virtually the same rights and issues that Benjamin deals with.

Television had, until recently, a social and cultural purpose. In Britain, the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, were committed to develop and maintain these purposes. With the enlargement of the range of choices for viewers by digital television and the provision of access to cable and satellite TV and the Internet, the role of the terrestrial television channels is being diluted. The authors examine these effects and consider what can be done to maintain the standards and quality of television at a time of unlimited competition.

Broadcasting is an indicator of a society's political, economical, social, cultural and geographical context. While currently at a crossroads, European broadcasting remains diverse due to the fragmentation of national policies. The book introduces the reader to the topic by providing and explaining facts, figures and techniques of analysis. The contributions to the first section examines the general theoretical framework. The articles in the second section map out European media cases. The book's twofold approach is reflected in the accompanying CD-ROM, which also contains examples and hyperlinks.

A collection of essays by leading media professionals and academics, which debates the past, present and future of British television drama. Writers, producers and television executives reflect on the changing face of TV drama, and academics present case studies on critical approaches, general topics and specific programmes.

Throughout the world, television has become an important part of the way in which political candidates and parties present their messages to voters during election campaigns. This is particularly true in campaigns at the national level where voters have little personal contact with candidates and must rely on experiencing candidates through the media. Despite the importance of the media for voter-government interaction, however, many new reform governments in the post-communist era in Eastern European countries failed to appreciate the demands of creating workable new media systems.

This continuation of the history of shortwave broadcasting takes up the story at the end of the Cold War, exploring the many developments in the context of an era of wide political change. Propaganda, religious and other areas of broadcasting are examined in different cultural settings.