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.
“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 BBC’s 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 Britain’s 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.
Table of contents:
Introduction Part 1: Histories From Start-up to Consolidation:
Institutions, Regions and Regulation in the History of ITV A
Prodigious Act of Memory: What Would an ITV Canon Look Like? And
the Rest is History: Lew Grade, the Creation Myth and Television
Historiography Part 2: Institutions The Transatlantic Adventures of
British Television in the 1950s: Funding, Production, Programmes,
Formats and the 'Official' History of ITV Mammon’s
Television? ITV in Wales, 1959-63 From Newsreels to a Theatre of
News: The Growth and Development of Independent Television News LWT
in the 1980s: Factual Programmes, Public Service Obligations,
Financial Incentives Part 3: Texts and Intertexts Channeling
Celebrity: ITV and the Construction of Television Fame Rooms Within
Rooms: Upstairs Downstairs and the Studio Costume Drama of the
1970s Who Wants to be a Fan of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
Television Criticism, “Popular Aesthetics” and the Question of
Fan/Academic Tastes Real People with Real Problems'?: Public
Service Broadcasting, Commercialism and Trisha Conclusion
Historical Timeline: The ITV Companies and the Broadcasting Acts
Index
Dr Catherine Johnson is Lecturer in Television History and Theory, Department of Media Arts, Royal Holloway, University of London. She has published on factual entertainment, US television drama, and early British television. She is also the author of Telefantasy (2005: BFI). Rob Turnock is Lecturer in Media Theory, Bournemouth Media School, Bournemouth University. He was formerly post-doctoral research fellow on the AHRB funded project Did ITV Revolutionise British Television?. He is author of Television and Consumer Culture: Britain and the Transformation of Modernity (forthcoming: I.B. Tauris), and of Interpreting Diana: Television Audiences and the Death of a Princess (2000: BFI).
Inhaltsangabe
Introduction Part 1: Histories From Start-up to Consolidation: Institutions, Regions and Regulation in the History of ITV A Prodigious Act of Memory: What Would an ITV Canon Look Like? And the Rest is History: Lew Grade, the Creation Myth and Television Historiography Part 2: Institutions The Transatlantic Adventures of British Television in the 1950s: Funding, Production, Programmes, Formats and the 'Official' History of ITV Mammons Television? ITV in Wales, 1959-63 From Newsreels to a Theatre of News: The Growth and Development of Independent Television News LWT in the 1980s: Factual Programmes, Public Service Obligations, Financial Incentives Part 3: Texts and Intertexts Channeling Celebrity: ITV and the Construction of Television Fame Rooms Within Rooms: Upstairs Downstairs and the Studio Costume Drama of the 1970s Who Wants to be a Fan of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Television Criticism, Popular Aesthetics and the Question of Fan/Academic Tastes Real People with Real Problems'?: Public Service Broadcasting, Commercialism and Trisha Conclusion Historical Timeline: The ITV Companies and the Broadcasting Acts Index
