The Television History Book Paperback – February 13, 2004

This book is a must have on the reading list for Cultural Studies theorists working in TV or related fields. It was a primary source in my dissertation.

This is TV history for both England and US......a little drier more scholarly (like a textbook) than I was expecting.

It's History

This book is interesting and fairly accessible, though a little academic. It's published in Britain, so a lot of the essays are about British television, but it does have sections especially about American TV as well.

Michele Hilmes is the greatest editor-writer on mass communications we have.

I currently work in the broadcast industry and bought this as a bit of background reading.The book is nicely divided into manageable sections and covers a broad range of subject areas from the beginnings of the first big broadcasters (BBC, ABC, CBS etc) through to an in depth analysis of the cultural impact of programming during the decades. Each area is also split into an analysis in the UK and then a corresponding look at the US so that you get a real understanding of the differences between the two. The individual sections are written in an essay style with references at the end which is great as you have suggestions for further reading right in front of you. In each section there is also a more specific case study which further illustrates the points that have been laid out.Although it doesn't delve deeply into the more recent impact of the Internet, the comprehensive wealth of information surrounding the beginnings of this industry far surpasses anything I have found anywhere else. If your studying television history, or just looking to gain a bit more of an insight I would highly recommend this book.

This book is very detailed - a bit dry - and is clearly meant for serious study of the subject