A brilliantly researched and gripping history of the BBC, from its origins to the present day. 'The book could scarcely be better or better timed. It is elegantly written, closely argued, balanced, pulls no punches.' MELVYN BRAGG, GUARDIAN Charlotte Higgins, the Guardian's chief culture writer, steps behind the polished doors of Broadcasting House and investigates the BBC. Based on her hugely popular essay series, this personal journey answers the questions that rage around this vulnerable, maddening and uniquely British institution. Questions such as: what does the BBC mean to us now? What are the threats to its continued existence? Is it worth fighting for? Higgins traces its origins, celebrating the early pioneering spirit and unearthing forgotten characters whose imprint can still be seen on the BBC today. She explores how it forged ideas of Britishness both at home and abroad. She shows how controversy is in its DNA and brings us right up to date through interviews with grandees and loyalists, embattled press officers and high profile dissenters, and she sheds new light on recent feuds and scandals. This is a deeply researched, lyrically written, intriguing portrait of an institution at the heart of Britain. 'Engrossing.' EVENING STANDARD 'Beautifully written'. THE SPECTATOR 'Exactly observed and beautifully written.' MAIL ON SUNDAY 'A loving portrait . . . never creaks with excess.' FINANCIAL TIMES 'A pleasingly intricate jigsaw of biography, politics, and opinion.' INDEPENDENT 'Excellent and enthralling . . . informative, educational and entertaining.' GUARDIAN

This is a history of broadcasting, and of its impact on modern life in Britain, from its origins in the 1920s to the outbreak of the Second World War. At the opening of this period the BBC was a private business. By its close it was an integral part of national life, a source of information and entertainment for the bulk of the population. In the course of the 1920s and 1930s the BBC was shaped as a national service in the public interest, addressing all sectors of society in all parts of the country. How that role emerged is the central theme of this history.

In developing a programme service, the early broadcasters were constrained by many factors, not least the influence of Government and the political parties. Paddy Scannell's and David Cardiff's account of the major areas of factual broadcasting, of news, features, documentaries and talks, reveals how they responded to these pressures and how they searched for styles of presentation appropriate both to the subject and to the audience. This account of the complex relations of broadcasting, politics, culture and the people shows how, through the modern medium of radio, a society was represented to itself. As such it offers a unique perspective on the character of life in Britain, public and private, in the inter-war years.

Luister na die braste, wat kruisbeen oppie trap sit. Behalwe entertainment, kry ’n taste wat Afrikaaps is! Aitsa, sy boots het stars .. Aitsa, hy’s soe die star ... Aitsa, gloe dis waar .. Hy’s John Wayne in Afrikaans! Sy kop in die wolke ... en sy voete stewig op die aarde. Dit is HemelBesem. In hierdie boek nooi die gewilde kletsrymer jou om saam te stap op sy lewenspad. Hy gesels reguit oor die dinge wat hom gevorm het, die sake wat hom na aan die hart le ... en hy doen dit in die taal van sy hart. Afrikaans. Oor sy Afrikaans se hy: “Afrikaans is ’n groot deel van wie ek is. Dis die taal waarin ek my in oomblikke van woede kras uitgedruk het. Dis die taal waarin ek goed gese het terwyl ek baklei het, waaroor ek agterna spyt was. Dis die taal waarin ek liefkosing uitgedruk en ontvang het ... As Ma geskel het, of jy bang was ... dis alles momente, en alle momente vorm my bestaan.” Daarom nooi hy met hierdie boek lesers om ’n ander Afrikaans te leer ken. Elke hoofstuk het Afrikaanse uitdrukkings uit sy grootword- en leefwereld as vertrekpunt, en dit is vervleg met sy bekende kletsrym-lirieke waarmee hy vlymskerp kommentaar lewer op maatskaplike kwessies en dinge wat hom na aan die hart le.

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European Television in the Digital Age" traces the development of digital television and provides a clear, concise account of the dynamics and realities of the changing face of television in Europe. The book synthesizes an array of empirical research, summarizes arguments, and provides an up-to-date analysis of the European audio-visual landscape in the age of digital TV. It discusses the ways in which the Western European audio-visual scene has been formed by a set of common problems, and how these have been dealt with at a domestic level.

Papathanassopoulos considers the effects of the deregulation of European television, the dynamics of digital television, the economies of the new era, and the issue of consolidation in the media industries. He also examines the future of public broadcasters, the role of the European Union and the impact of television in political communication. Special emphasis is given to the emergence and the effect of thematic channels, particularly on news, sports, music and children's programming."

European Television in the Digital Age" is an invaluable textbook for students on courses in media and communication, cultural theory, European studies and national policy studies. It will also be a useful source for researchers and professionals in the field.

* Are cultural identities socially constructed?
* How are race, nation, sex and gender constructed and represented on television?
* What is the impact of globalization on television and cultural identities?
This introductory text examines issues of television and cultural identities in the context of globalization. It is a wide-ranging volume, exploring many of the central cultural issues in contemporary cultural studies, such as media, globalization, language, gender, ethnicity, cultural politics and identity - perhaps the topic of cultural studies over the past decade. At the core of the book are two critical arguments - that television is a proliferating resource for the construction of cultural identity, and that cultural identity is not a fixed essential 'thing' but a contingent social construction to which language is central.
The book will be essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate courses on television and cultural identities in the fields of cultural studies, communications, media studies and sociology, with a wider appeal to those with an interest in the television industry. Key concepts are introduced and explained for those new to cultural studies, whilst debates are extended and enriched for those already familiar with them. The text is well structured, links the vocabularies of media studies and cultural studies, and is supported by original case study material.

Television Brandcasting examines U. S. television's utility as a medium for branded storytelling. It investigates the current and historical role that television content, promotion, and hybrids of the two have played in disseminating brand messaging and influencing consumer decision-making. Juxtaposing the current period of transition with that of the 1950s-1960s, Jennifer Gillan outlines how in each era new technologies unsettled entrenched business models, an emergent viewing platform threatened to undermine an established one, and content providers worried over the behavior of once-dependable audiences. The anxieties led to storytelling, promotion, and advertising experiments, including the Disneyland series, embedded rock music videos in Ozzie & Harriet, credit sequence brand integration, Modern Family's parent company promotion episodes, second screen initiatives, and social TV experiments. Offering contemporary and classic examples from the American Broadcasting Company, Disney Channel, ABC Family, and Showtime, alongside series such as Bewitched, Leave it to Beaver, Laverne & Shirley, and Pretty Little Liars, individual chapters focus on brandcasting at the level of the television series, network schedule, "Blu-ray/DVD/Digital" combo pack, the promotional short, the cause marketing campaign, and across social media. In this follow-up to her successful previous book, Television and New Media: Must-Click TV, Gillan provides vital insights into television's role in the expansion of a brand-centric U.S. culture.

This book describes the astonishing achievements of John Angus Mackay - a man whose intelligence, humanity, political nous, people skills, wit, steely resolve and courage, were such that, what lesser beings regarded as impossible, he made possible. Through his efforts in concert with a small group of others, a thousand year process of 'ethnic cleansing' of the Gaelic language and culture was challenged and new means created to rebuild that which the powers-that-be had long sought to destroy. These efforts were so successful that now, the Scottish Gaelic language and culture has turned the corner and the number of young Gaelic speakers is increasing. How this was achieved, against a sustained barrage of negativity, is described, but perhaps his most obvious achievement is his long, dogged and forensically focused campaign, against huge establishment resistance, to win a Gaelic television channel. That channel now provides a fascinating range of programming at times attracting viewership figures well in excess of the total number of Gaelic speakers in Scotland. But that is only part of the story. John Angus was also a gifted teacher, pivotal in developing community co-operatives in his native Lewis, in paving the way for the creation of the Crofters' Union and leading the development of the Gaelic Comunn na Gaidhlig, Bord na Gaidhlig, An Lanntair multi-arts venue, the University of the Highlands and Islands, and as its chairman, in turning round NHS Western Isles from crisis into a model small health board.

The ideal of a neutral, objective press has proven in recent years to be just that--an ideal. In "Governing with the News," Timothy E. Cook goes far beyond the single claim that the press is not impartial to argue that the news media are in fact a political institution integral to the day-to-day operations of our government. This updated edition includes a new afterword by the author, which pays close attention to two key developments in the twenty-first century: the accelerating fragmentation of the mass media and the continuing decline of Americans' confidence in the press.
"Provocative and often wise. . . . Cook, who has a complex understanding of the relationship between governing and the news, provides a fascinating account of the origins of this complicity."--James Bennet," Washington Monthly"
"["Governing with the News"] addresses central issues of media impact and power in fresh, illuminating ways. . . . Cook mines a wealth of historical and organizational literature to assert that the news media are a distinct political
institution in our democratic system."--Robert Schmuhl," Commonweal"

There have been many well-publicized cases of invasive species of plants and animals, often introduced unintentionally but sometimes on purpose, causing widespread ecological havoc. Examples of such alien invasions include pernicious weeds such as Japanese knotweed, an introduced garden ornamental which can grow through concrete, the water hyacinth which has choked tropical waterways, and many introduced animals which have out-competed and displaced local fauna. This book addresses the broader context of invasive and exotic species, in terms of the perceived threats and environmental concerns which surround alien species and ecological invasions. As a result of unprecedented scales of environmental change, combined with rapid globalisation, the mixing of cultures and diversity, and fears over biosecurity and bioterrorism, the known impacts of particular invasions have been catastrophic. However, as several chapters show, reactions to some exotic species, and the justifications for interventions in certain situations, including biological control by introduced natural enemies, rest uncomfortably with social reactions to ethnic cleansing and persecution perpetrated across the globe. The role of democracy in deciding and determining environmental policy is another emerging issue. In an increasingly multicultural society this raises huge questions of ethics and choice. At the same time, in order to redress major ecological losses, the science of reintroduction of native species has also come to the fore, and is widely accepted by many in nature conservation. However, with questions of where and when, and with what species or even species analogues, reintroductions are acceptable, the topic is hotly debated. Again, it is shown that many decisions are based on values and perceptions rather than objective science. Including a wide range of case studies from around the world, his book raises critical issues to stimulate a much wider debate.

There have been many well-publicized cases of invasive species of plants and animals, often introduced unintentionally but sometimes on purpose, causing widespread ecological havoc. Examples of such alien invasions include pernicious weeds such as Japanese knotweed, an introduced garden ornamental which can grow through concrete, the water hyacinth which has choked tropical waterways, and many introduced animals which have out-competed and displaced local fauna. This book addresses the broader context of invasive and exotic species, in terms of the perceived threats and environmental concerns which surround alien species and ecological invasions. As a result of unprecedented scales of environmental change, combined with rapid globalisation, the mixing of cultures and diversity, and fears over biosecurity and bioterrorism, the known impacts of particular invasions have been catastrophic. However, as several chapters show, reactions to some exotic species, and the justifications for interventions in certain situations, including biological control by introduced natural enemies, rest uncomfortably with social reactions to ethnic cleansing and persecution perpetrated across the globe. The role of democracy in deciding and determining environmental policy is another emerging issue. In an increasingly multicultural society this raises huge questions of ethics and choice. At the same time, in order to redress major ecological losses, the science of reintroduction of native species has also come to the fore, and is widely accepted by many in nature conservation. However, with questions of where and when, and with what species or even species analogues, reintroductions are acceptable, the topic is hotly debated. Again, it is shown that many decisions are based on values and perceptions rather than objective science. Including a wide range of case studies from around the world, his book raises critical issues to stimulate a much wider debate.

The concentration of private power over media has been the subject of intense public debate around the world. Critics have long feared waves of mergers creating a handful of large media firms that would hold sway over public opinion and endanger democracy and innovation. But others believe with equal fervor that the Internet and deregulation have opened the media landscape significantly. How concentrated has the American information sector really become? What are the facts about American media ownership? In this contentious environment, Eli Noam provides a comprehensive and balanced survey of media concentration with a methodical, scientific approach. He assembles a wealth of data from the last 25 years about mass media such as radio, television, film, music, and print publishing, as well as the Internet, telecommunications, and media-related information technology. After examining 100 separate media and network industries in detail, Noam provides a powerful summary and analysis of concentration trends across industries and major media sectors. He also looks at local media power, vertical concentration, and the changing nature of media ownership through financial institutions and private equity. The results reveal a reality much more complex than the one painted by advocates on either side of the debate. They show a dynamic system that fluctuates around long-term concentration trends driven by changing economics and technology. Media Ownership and Concentration in America will be essential reading and a trove of information for scholars and students in media, telecommunications, IT, economics, and the history of business, as well as media industry professionals, business researchers, and policy makers around the world. Critics and defenders of media trends alike will find much that confirms and refutes their world view. But the next round of their debate will be shaped by the facts presented in this book.

This book provides an in-depth introduction to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radio Regulations (RR) and the policies that govern them. Established in 1906, these regulations define the allocation of different frequency bands to different radio services, the mandatory technical parameters to be observed by radio stations, especially transmitters, and the procedures for spectrum use coordination at the international level. The book analyzes the interactions between different national policies and the ITU RR, noting how these interactions influence spectrum policy on the national level, setting up a comparative framework within which to view these regulations and their effects. Beginning with an overview of the history of the origins ITU RR, the book takes a deep dive into the components of spectrum management including radio communication service allocation, wireless technology selection, radio usage rights, and spectrum rights assignment, placing each analysis within the context of the push and pull between national and international regulations. The book concludes with chapters discussing issues affecting the future of spectrum policy, including spectrum policy reform in developing countries, the WRC-19, and IMT-2020. Shedding light on the longest-running treaty documents in the history of modern telecommunications and arguing for reforms that allow it to address the needs of all nations, this book is useful to scholars and students of telecom policy, digital policy, ICT, governance, and development as well as telecom industry practitioners and regulators.

What today’s TV engineers need to know about working with digital systems

This book helps systems engineers, designers, and managers in TV broadcasting make a smooth transition from analog to digital technologies. With an emphasis on RF transmission rather than baseband signal processing, it offers in a single resource a complete discussion of the digital TV signal, from the input to the transmitter to the output of the receiving antenna.

Industry expert Gerald Collins provides clear, up-to-date explanations that build upon experience engineers already have with analog technology, including comparisons between analog and digital systems, factors affecting the performance of VHF and UHF stations, and down-to-earth discussions of modern high-power RF filters. Plus, he provides over 150 high-quality illustrations and tables as well as extensive references for readers wishing to pursue the subject more in depth. The discussion includes:

• Major digital TV transmission standards
• Key performance parameters of interest to RF engineers
• The theory of operation and practical implementation of major system components
• Factors affecting propagation of digital TV signals
• Results of field testing of DTV systems
• Performance data on the American ATSC, the European DVB, and the Japanese ISDB-T systems

The DTV waveform shown on the cover was photographed by Bob Plonka of Harris Corporation and is used with permission.

This compelling account of a turbulent period in the history of the BBC opens at a time of national decline under the Labour governments of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan, and ends during Margaret Thatcher's iconoclastic Conservative premiership. The intervening years saw mass unemployment, trade union strikes and war in Northern Ireland and the Falklands - as well as legendary BBC programmes such as Live Aid, Fawlty Towers and Dad's Army, The Singing Detective and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and David Attenborough's Life on Earth. Comprehensively revised and expanded for this new edition, Jean Seaton's perceptive study presents an absorbing analysis of an institution that both reflects Britain and has helped to define it.

Sports streaming services offer consumers the ability to watch live sports events on a variety of devices such as a TV, laptop, tablet or smartphone. Compared to movie streaming services (e.g. Netflix), streaming sports events is very different as the time aspect plays a very important role. As soon as the respective live sporting event has taken place and has been broadcast live, the interest in this event drops rapidly. This book deals with the analysis of digital technologies and streaming technology on sports broadcasting. The focus is on the German sports broadcasting industry. The main objective is to identify and analyse the different parameters that have changed due to the disruptive innovation of streaming and other technological innovations.

Drawing on a wealth of academic research, statistics and interviews with key Australian media people including present and former Australian Broadcasting Corporation staffers, this book explores the transitions of the ABC under various types of organisational re-strategising, governance and political shifts. The book provides the reader with an authoritative narrative as to how the ABC has lost its iconic status in Australian society, and unfolds how the ABC has strayed from its respected public charter which endowed the ABC with a distinctive and important role in informing, educating and entertaining the Australian public. Successive federal government funding cuts have shrunk staffing levels and services while it has pursued a corporatist model that mimics the trappings and practices of commercial media. In that process it has become politicised and trivialised, thereby threatening its demise. The book is a unique and timely contribution at a time of dwindling interest for the funding of public assets everywhere. There is no other book in the market that addresses the decline of the organisation (the ABC) and analyses the reasons for its demise within an organisational theoretical framework. The book is written for an educated general audience, with academics and media practitioners specifically in mind, and has everyday applications for business organisations operating in the public sector by bringing together important findings of public funding, budgets, management and organisational strategies and evolution.

Focusing on the growing power of transnational media corporations in an increasingly globalized environment for distribution of television content, and on the effects of mergers and acquisitions involving local and independent television production companies, this book examines how current and recent re-structurings in ownership across the television industry reflect changing business models, how they affect creativity and diversity of television output, and to what extent they call for new approaches to regulation and policy. Based on a major study of the UK production sector as a case study, it offers a unique analysis of wider transformations in ownership affecting the television production industry worldwide and of their economic, socio-cultural and policy implications.

This book discusses various aspects of radio spectrum management. The radio spectrum is a natural resource vital in everyday life and for the economic well-being of society. Most chapters in the book concentrate on the mathematical and computational issues related to radio channel assignment and network design, with the first two chapters providing background in terms of the role of regulation and the history of spectrum management.

Precisely how and why radio developed as it did is a fascinating story, told with authority in this book. Of interest to both the specialist and the general reader, this history concentrates on the years between 1920 and 1930 in the United States when radio was rapidly growing and changing. It covers all important areas in the development of the radio industry: business, programming, regulation, finance, the manufacturing of radio sets and equipment, the development of technology, the rise of networks, and the flowering of radio as a medium of entertainment and news.

Inside the BBC and CNN provides a unique insight into two of the world's best-known media organisations, during a period of great change and new challenges. The BBC and CNN have very different histories, remits and identities, but both must now compete to provide news in a media environment being reshaped by increasing competition, globalisation, digitisation and convergence.
Drawing on intensive research carried out among senior managers in both organisations, Lucy Küng-Shankleman's study explores the beliefs and attitudes that shape management priorities and broadcasting policy. More controversially, it examines how each organisation's distinct cultural beliefs - about broadcasting's fundamental purpose, about the nature of competition, and about the relationship between competition and quality - have laid the foundations for their current and past success, but could now threaten to limit their ability to respond to the unprecedented changes underway in the world's media landscape.

Latin American Television makes English speakers aware of the dimensions, operation, and significance of the globalization of television in the Spanish-speaking world. Second only in scale to the market for English-language programming, the Spanish-language market embraces not just most nations of South and Central America but also Spain, and even the United States-the sixth largest Spanish-speaking country in the world. This intercontinental space is connected physically by satellite communication, and culturally by a common language and heritage which binds it as both a `geolinguistic region' and an `imagined community' which certain media corporations, Latin American and North American, seek to exploit. A similar phenomenon with regard to Brazil and the Portuguese-speaking world is also examined, with special attention to its comparable features and points of exchange with the Spanish-speaking world. The book chronicles and analyses the development and structure of the globalization of these markets as a `Latin world'.

The rise of right-wing broadcasting during the Cold War has been mostly forgotten today. But in the 1950s and '60s you could turn on your radio any time of the day and listen to diatribes against communism, civil rights, the United Nations, fluoridation, federal income tax, Social Security, or JFK, as well as hosannas praising Barry Goldwater and Jesus Christ. Half a century before the rise of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, these broadcasters bucked the FCC's public interest mandate and created an alternate universe of right-wing political coverage, anticommunist sermons, and pro-business bluster. A lively look back at this formative era, "What's Fair on the Air? "charts the rise and fall of four of the most prominent right-wing broadcasters: H. L. Hunt, Dan Smoot, Carl McIntire, and Billy James Hargis. By the 1970s, all four had been hamstrung by the Internal Revenue Service, the FCC's Fairness Doctrine, and the rise of a more effective conservative movement. But before losing their battle for the airwaves, Heather Hendershot reveals, they purveyed ideological notions that would eventually triumph, creating a potent brew of religion, politics, and dedication to free-market economics that paved the way for the rise of Ronald Reagan, the Moral Majority, Fox News, and the Tea Party.

This book presents a compelling case for a paradigmatic shift in the analysis of television drama production that recentres questions of power, control and sustainability. Television drama production has become an increasingly lucrative global export business as drama as a form enjoys increased prestige. However, this book argues that the growing emphasis on international markets and global players such as Netflix and Amazon Prime neglects the realities of commissioning and making television drama in specific national and regional contexts. Drawing on extensive empirical research, Producing British Television Drama demonstrates the centrality of public service broadcasters in serving audiences and sustaining the commercial independent sector in a digital age. It attends closely to three elements-the role of place in the production of content; the experiences of those working in the sector; and the interventions from cultural intermediaries in articulating and ascribing value to television drama. With chapters examining the evolution of British TV drama, as well as what might be in store in its future, this book offers invaluable insights into the UK as a major supplier of and market for television drama.