What is television? And what is television today?

This module introduces students to a range of critical approaches for analysing contemporary television. Looking at television from the US and the UK from the last 30 years, students will consider the state of television today: How has television developed? What connections can be made between today’s television and the television of previous decades? What are the key critical ways in which we must consider contemporary television?

Students will gain an understanding of contemporary television by investigating and interrogating television texts through key theoretical and conceptual frameworks. The module will consider television through key issues in production, distribution, consumption, reception and representation.