It's Not TV

Since going on the air in 1972, HBO has continually attempted to redefine television as we know it. Today, pay television (and HBO in particular) is positioned as an alternative to network offerings, consistently regarded as the premier site for what has come to be called "quality television," hailed critically as well as by audiences. This book argues that HBO, as part of the leading edge of television, is at the center of television studies' interests in market positioning, style, content, technology, and political economy. Each essay focuses on a specific key term in television studies, drawing on a particular aspect of the "HBO effect" to explore new avenues by which we can write and think about what is happening in the current television climate from radical changes in broadcasting technology to shifts in viewing habits in the wake of DVR, on-demand digital cable services, and DVDs, for example. By taking a number of approaches and focusing on a number of key critical terms, this book will enable students to familiarize themselves with the vocabulary of a burgeoning field, while at once seeing these approaches put into practice via the case studies of popular programs including The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, and Sex and the City. By identifying HBO not simply as a channel, rather examining it as a phenomenon within the larger televisual context - at the height of its popularity and success - this collection is taking the pulse of contemporary culture in order to consider how television is created and consumed in the information age. It's Not TV gives readers a space wherein they will find sustained investigations and varied responses to one of the most important sites of cultural production today. This collection brings together scholars from fields such as media studies, journalism, popular culture, communication studies, urban studies, political science, visual studies, and women's studies who have examined the phenomenon of HBO in one way or another from within their specific disciplines. Additionally, the collection is international in both focus and contribution with authors from the United States, Great Britain, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, and Australia.Buckley-Ott, Cara L. is the author of 'It's Not TV', published 2007 under ISBN 9780415960373 and ISBN 0415960371.