The Televiewing Audience

by Abelman, Robert; Atkin, David J.

• ISBN13: 9781433110559
• ISBN10: 1433110555
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-12-01
• Publisher: Peter Lang Pub Inc

Summary

Now in its second edition, The Televiewing Audience provides a user's guide for the only household appliance that does not come with one. Watching television seems relatively effortless - it is afterall a major form of entertainment in the U.S. and overseas - yet the authors argue that there is nothing simple about watching television; it is a learned activity which is in a constant state of revision and upgrading. Now more than ever, televiewing requires the generation and application of critical thinking to guide program selection, inform appreciation, generate greater pleasure, and inspire dialogue after consumption. The book is about becoming a more thoughtful and informed consumer, designed to shatter the anonymity of the televiewer, and to create a sense of community, for we rarely think of ourselves as instrumental in the televiewing experience or think of the experience as a shared event. Designed for students taking courses related to broadcasting, media effects, media literacy, and audience studies, the book provides a comprehensive overview of the ways in which television influences the way we think about ourselves and our culture. It places us center-stage in the extremely complicated, competitive, creative and costly endeavor that is television.