This course offers an overall prospect of European Television, focusing on its evolution, its present panorama, and its perspectives for the future. It deals with general issues in Television Studies (genres, formats, audiences, scheduling, advertising, financing, laws and institutions, history, etc.), applying them to the European context, and focusing on Europe’s major producers of television: the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Holland and Belgium. The course also includes an overview of the television broadcasting system in the new member states of the European Union (mainly the Eastern ex-communist countries). The course places emphasis on the analysis of television programs from an audiovisual, industrial, and sociological point of view, and discusses the expectations and preferences of the various European national audiences. The course also examines the differences between American and European TV, the influence and presence of US television in the European Union, and the increasingly significant influence of European formats on American TV.
Attendance policy:
IES ATTENDANCE POLICY: Attendance is mandatory for all IES classes, including field studies. Any exams, tests, presentations, or other work missed due to student absences can only be rescheduled in cases of documented medical or family emergencies. If a student misses more than three classes in any course half a letter grade will be deducted from the final grade for every additional absence. Seven absences in any course will result in a failing grade.
Learning outcomes:
By the end of the course, students are able to identify the distinctive traits of European television as opposed to American television; they will have a clear idea of the television panorama in the main European countries, including broadcast channels and programming, and will be able to fully analyze a TV program belonging to any genre, taking into account, besides its inherent qualities, the particular context(s) of emission and reception. After taking this course, the students will also be able to understand any piece of news, in newspapers or other media, regarding the socio-political and economic aspects of any European television channel(s).
Method of presentation:
The course combines lectures, illustrated with class viewings of television shows, and group discussions in which the students will discover, by themselves, the main key points of European television trade and television programming. Class participation is very important, since the course is conceived as an active tool to let the students learn by themselves through observation, once the lectures have given them the necessary theoretical foundations. Readings are compulsory and students can be asked about their contents anytime, with no previous warning.
LANGUAGE OF PRESENTATION: English
Required work and form of assessment:
Midterm exam (20%); final exam (20%); research paper (20%); oral presentation (15%); class participation (15%); attendance (10%).
The final grade will be determined as follows:
Besides two exams (Midterm and Final), the students will have to write a research paper dealing with a topic related to the course’s contents, and deliver an oral presentation completed with a power point.
The midterm exam will include 10 to 12 questions on theoretical aspects of television studies and the
Public Broadcasting System in the UK. The final exam will include specific questions on television broadcasting in European countries. Both exams will include the analysis of a European show studied in
class. The final paper must be between 2000 and 2500 words long.
content:
Session 1:Introduction to Television Studies: What is television? The language of Television. A brief history. Sociological implications. The importance of understanding television.
Session 2: Genre and Television: Informing the viewer: genres and their formats. Hybrids: Cross-gender/Cross- format programs
Required Reading:
“Introduction: what is genre?” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The
Television Genre Book. London: BFI, 2001, pp. 3-7. Rose, Brian, “TV genres reviewed” in Journal of Popular Film and Television, Spring 2003.
Session 3: Formats and Genres: Entertaining and Informing the viewer.
Required Reading:
“Popular Entertainment” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The
Television Genre Book. London: BFI, 2001, pp. 76-81.
Session 4: Formats and Genres II: Other genres/formats. Drama and Police Series
Required Reading:
“Drama” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The Television Genre Book.
London: BFI, 2001., pp. 19-46.
Session 5: Formats and Genres II: Adult Animation.
Required Reading:
“Adult Animation” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The Television Genre Book. London: BFI, 2001, pp. 73-75. The 10 Most Controversial 'South Park' Episodes: http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=355548
Session 6: Case study: Reality TV
Required Reading:
“Reality TV” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The Television Genre
Book. London: BFI, 2001, pp. 134-137. Why People Watch Reality TV: http://nisonger.osu.edu/papers/Reisswiltz_2004.pdf
Session 7: Case study: “MTV”. Advertising as a TV genre.
Required reading:
“MTV” in Corner, J & Harvey, S. Television Times, London: Arnold, 2002, pp. 75-97.
“Advertising” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The Television Genre
Book. London: BFI, 2001, pp. 94-95
Session 8: Audiences: Models and Methodology
Required Reading:
Branston, G. and Stafford, R. The Media Student’s Book.
London: Routledge, 2003. (chapter 6: “Audiences”).
“Soap Operas and their Audiences” in Creeber, Glen (ed.).
The Television Genre Book. London: BFI, 2001, pp. 55-57
Session 10: Television in Europe. Influence of American TV on European TV.
Required reading: “US Television Abroad: Exporting Culture", and "US Television in the Multichannel Age”, both in Hilmes, Michele (ed.) The Television History Book. BFI, 2003.
Session 11: Conclusion debate
Session 12: Midterm exam
Session 13: Institutions: Regulations and laws. Discussion on the PBS in UK.
Required reading:
“Public television: the historical and political context” in Corner, J & Harvey, S. Television Times, London: Arnold, 2002, pp. 211-220.
Corner & Harvey: Television Times, London: Arnold 2002 (section V: Industry Documents)
“Channel 4 television: from Annan to Grade” in Corner, J & Harvey, S. Television Times, London: Arnold, 2002, pp. 201-210.
Session 16: Television across Europe: general overview
Required reading:
Audiovisual and media policies of the EU: http://europa.eu/pol/av/index_en.htm
Session 22: Television in Italy: History. Current structure and channels. Trends and influences
Required reading:
Hibberd, M. “The Reform of Public Service Broadcasting in
Italy” in Media, Culture & Society Vol 23, 2001 (pp. 233-252)
Session 23: Television in Spain: History, Structure and Channels. Programming and Programs.
Required reading:
Spanish Public Broadcasting. Defining traits and future challenges following analogue television switch-off. http://www.portalcomunicacio.com/opc/download/obs_pdf.pdf
“Adult Animation” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The Television Genre Book. London: BFI, 2001, pp. 73-75.
“Advertising” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The Television Genre Book. London: BFI, 2001, pp. 94-95
“Channel 4 television: from Annan to Grade” in Corner, J & Harvey, S. Television Times, London: Arnold, 2002, pp. 201-210.
“Drama” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The Television Genre Book. London: BFI, 2001., pp. 19-46.
“Introduction: what is genre?” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The Television Genre Book. London: BFI, 2001, pp. 3-7.
“MTV” in Corner, J & Harvey, S. Television Times, London: Arnold, 2002, pp. 75-97.
“Popular Entertainment” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The Television Genre Book. London: BFI, 2001, pp. 76-81.
“Public television: the historical and political context” in Corner, J & Harvey, S. Television Times, London: Arnold, 2002, pp. 211-220.
“Reality TV” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The Television Genre Book. London: BFI, 2001, pp. 134-137.
“Soap Operas and their Audiences” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The Television Genre Book. London: BFI, 2001, pp. 55-57
“US Television Abroad: Exporting Culture", and "US Television in the Multichannel Age”, both in Hilmes, Michele (ed.) The Television History Book. BFI, 2003.
Bonner, Frances. (2003) Ordinary Television London / California : Routledge
Blumenthal, Howard J./ Goodenough, Oliver R. (1998) This Business of Television . New York: Billboard,
Fiske, John. (1987) Television Culture. London: Routledge
Geraghty, C. and Lusted, D. (eds) (1997) The Television Studies Book Hodder Arnold.
Gittlin, Todd (1994) Inside Prime Time. London: Routledge
Hayward, Jennifer Poole (1997) Consuming Pleasures: Active audiences and Serial Fictions from Dickens to Soap Opera. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky
Lacey, Nick (2002) Media Institutions and Audiencies, Key Concepts in Media Studies, New York: Palgrave
McQueen, David. (1998) Television: A Media Student’s Guide. London: Arnold Mumford, Laura Stempel (1995) Love and Ideology in the Afternoon: Soap Opera, women, and Television Genre. Bloomington: Indiana University Press
Newcomb, Horace (ed). (1994) Television: The Critical View. New York: Oxford University Press.
Noam, Eli. (1991) Television in Europe , Oxford. Oxford University Press.
Papathanassopoulos, S. (2002) European Television in the Digital Age. Cambridge: Polity Press
Selby, K. & Cowdery, R. (1995) How to Study Television. London: MacMillan
Simpson, Paul, ed. (2002) The Rough Guide to Cult TV. London: Penguin Books.
Smith, Anthony ed. (1998) Television. An Internacional History New York : Oxford University Press, 1998.
Timberg, Bernard M. (2002) Television Talk . Austin: University of Texas Press
Vane, E and Gross, L. (1994) Programming for TV, Radio and Cable. Focal Press.
Wieten, Murdock and Dahlgren (ed.) (2000) Television Across Europe. London: Sage
This course offers an overall prospect of European Television, focusing on its evolution, its present panorama, and its perspectives for the future. It deals with general issues in Television Studies (genres, formats, audiences, scheduling, advertising, financing, laws and institutions, history, etc.), applying them to the European context, and focusing on Europe’s major producers of television: the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Holland and Belgium. The course also includes an overview of the television broadcasting system in the new member states of the European Union (mainly the Eastern ex-communist countries). The course places emphasis on the analysis of television programs from an audiovisual, industrial, and sociological point of view, and discusses the expectations and preferences of the various European national audiences. The course also examines the differences between American and European TV, the influence and presence of US television in the European Union, and the increasingly significant influence of European formats on American TV.
IES ATTENDANCE POLICY: Attendance is mandatory for all IES classes, including field studies. Any exams, tests, presentations, or other work missed due to student absences can only be rescheduled in cases of documented medical or family emergencies. If a student misses more than three classes in any course half a letter grade will be deducted from the final grade for every additional absence. Seven absences in any course will result in a failing grade.
By the end of the course, students are able to identify the distinctive traits of European television as opposed to American television; they will have a clear idea of the television panorama in the main European countries, including broadcast channels and programming, and will be able to fully analyze a TV program belonging to any genre, taking into account, besides its inherent qualities, the particular context(s) of emission and reception. After taking this course, the students will also be able to understand any piece of news, in newspapers or other media, regarding the socio-political and economic aspects of any European television channel(s).
The course combines lectures, illustrated with class viewings of television shows, and group discussions in which the students will discover, by themselves, the main key points of European television trade and television programming. Class participation is very important, since the course is conceived as an active tool to let the students learn by themselves through observation, once the lectures have given them the necessary theoretical foundations. Readings are compulsory and students can be asked about their contents anytime, with no previous warning.
LANGUAGE OF PRESENTATION: English
Midterm exam (20%); final exam (20%); research paper (20%); oral presentation (15%); class participation (15%); attendance (10%).
The final grade will be determined as follows:
Besides two exams (Midterm and Final), the students will have to write a research paper dealing with a topic related to the course’s contents, and deliver an oral presentation completed with a power point.
The midterm exam will include 10 to 12 questions on theoretical aspects of television studies and the
Public Broadcasting System in the UK. The final exam will include specific questions on television broadcasting in European countries. Both exams will include the analysis of a European show studied in
class. The final paper must be between 2000 and 2500 words long.
Session 1:Introduction to Television Studies: What is television? The language of Television. A brief history. Sociological implications. The importance of understanding television.
Session 2: Genre and Television: Informing the viewer: genres and their formats. Hybrids: Cross-gender/Cross- format programs
Required Reading:
“Introduction: what is genre?” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The
Television Genre Book. London: BFI, 2001, pp. 3-7. Rose, Brian, “TV genres reviewed” in Journal of Popular Film and Television, Spring 2003.
Session 3: Formats and Genres: Entertaining and Informing the viewer.
Required Reading:
“Popular Entertainment” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The
Television Genre Book. London: BFI, 2001, pp. 76-81.
Session 4: Formats and Genres II: Other genres/formats. Drama and Police Series
Required Reading:
“Drama” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The Television Genre Book.
London: BFI, 2001., pp. 19-46.
Session 5: Formats and Genres II: Adult Animation.
Required Reading:
“Adult Animation” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The Television Genre Book. London: BFI, 2001, pp. 73-75. The 10 Most Controversial 'South Park' Episodes:
http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=355548
Session 6: Case study: Reality TV
Required Reading:
“Reality TV” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The Television Genre
Book. London: BFI, 2001, pp. 134-137. Why People Watch Reality TV:
http://nisonger.osu.edu/papers/Reisswiltz_2004.pdf
Session 7: Case study: “MTV”. Advertising as a TV genre.
Required reading:
“MTV” in Corner, J & Harvey, S. Television Times, London: Arnold, 2002, pp. 75-97.
“Advertising” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The Television Genre
Book. London: BFI, 2001, pp. 94-95
Session 8: Audiences: Models and Methodology
Required Reading:
Branston, G. and Stafford, R. The Media Student’s Book.
London: Routledge, 2003. (chapter 6: “Audiences”).
“Soap Operas and their Audiences” in Creeber, Glen (ed.).
The Television Genre Book. London: BFI, 2001, pp. 55-57
Session 9: Film viewing “Il corpo delle donne”
Required reading: http://www.ilcorpodelledonne.net/?page_id=91&phpMyAdmin=595846a40da9831019754081d0468c18
Session 10: Television in Europe. Influence of American TV on European TV.
Required reading: “US Television Abroad: Exporting Culture", and "US Television in the Multichannel Age”, both in Hilmes, Michele (ed.) The Television History Book. BFI, 2003.
Session 11: Conclusion debate
Session 12: Midterm exam
Session 13: Institutions: Regulations and laws. Discussion on the PBS in UK.
Required reading:
“Public television: the historical and political context” in Corner, J & Harvey, S. Television Times, London: Arnold, 2002, pp. 211-220.
Corner & Harvey: Television Times, London: Arnold 2002 (section V: Industry Documents)
“Channel 4 television: from Annan to Grade” in Corner, J & Harvey, S. Television Times, London: Arnold, 2002, pp. 201-210.
Session 14: Public television in UK: the BBC
Required reading: http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc
Session 15: Conclusion DEBATE
Session 16: Television across Europe: general overview
Required reading:
Audiovisual and media policies of the EU:
http://europa.eu/pol/av/index_en.htm
Session 17: European Television: Television without fronteers Directive
Required reading:
http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/audiovisual_and_media/am0005_en.htm
Session 18: European Television: MEDIA programmes
Required reading:
http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/audiovisual_and_media/l24224a_en.htm
Session 19: European Television and Media Literacy: the future challenge
Required reading:
http://ec.europa.eu/culture/media/literacy/index_en.htm
Session 20: Oral presentation
Session 21: Oral presentation
Session 22: Television in Italy: History. Current structure and channels. Trends and influences
Required reading:
Hibberd, M. “The Reform of Public Service Broadcasting in
Italy” in Media, Culture & Society Vol 23, 2001 (pp. 233-252)
Session 23: Television in Spain: History, Structure and Channels. Programming and Programs.
Required reading:
Spanish Public Broadcasting. Defining traits and future challenges following analogue television switch-off.
http://www.portalcomunicacio.com/opc/download/obs_pdf.pdf
Session 24: Television in Catalonia: TV as constructor of identity
Required reading:
http://www.raco.cat/index.php/Catalonia/article/view/105698/160510 http://www.umass.edu/digitalcenter/research/pdfs/JF_NetworkSociety.pdf#page=282
Final Exam
“Adult Animation” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The Television Genre Book. London: BFI, 2001, pp. 73-75.
“Advertising” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The Television Genre Book. London: BFI, 2001, pp. 94-95
“Channel 4 television: from Annan to Grade” in Corner, J & Harvey, S. Television Times, London: Arnold, 2002, pp. 201-210.
“Drama” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The Television Genre Book. London: BFI, 2001., pp. 19-46.
“Introduction: what is genre?” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The Television Genre Book. London: BFI, 2001, pp. 3-7.
“MTV” in Corner, J & Harvey, S. Television Times, London: Arnold, 2002, pp. 75-97.
“Popular Entertainment” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The Television Genre Book. London: BFI, 2001, pp. 76-81.
“Public television: the historical and political context” in Corner, J & Harvey, S. Television Times, London: Arnold, 2002, pp. 211-220.
“Reality TV” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The Television Genre Book. London: BFI, 2001, pp. 134-137.
“Soap Operas and their Audiences” in Creeber, Glen (ed.). The Television Genre Book. London: BFI, 2001, pp. 55-57
“US Television Abroad: Exporting Culture", and "US Television in the Multichannel Age”, both in Hilmes, Michele (ed.) The Television History Book. BFI, 2003.
Audiovisual and media policies of the EU: http://europa.eu/pol/av/index_en.htm
Branston, G. and Stafford, R. The Media Student’s Book. London: Routledge, 2003. (chapter 6: “Audiences”).
Corner & Harvey: Television Times, London: Arnold 2002 (section V: Industry Documents)
Hibberd, M. “The Reform of Public Service Broadcasting in Italy” in Media, Culture & Society Vol 23, 2001 (pp. 233-252)
Rose, Brian, “TV genres reviewed” in Journal of Popular Film and Television, Spring 2003.
The 10 Most Controversial 'South Park' Episodes: http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=355548
Why People Watch Reality TV: http://nisonger.osu.edu/papers/Reisswiltz_2004.pdf
http://ec.europa.eu/culture/media/literacy/index_en.htm
http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/audiovisual_and_media/am0005_en.htm
http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/audiovisual_and_media/l24224a_en.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/
http://www.ilcorpodelledonne.net/?page_id=91&phpMyAdmin=595846a40da9831019754081d0468c18
http://www.portalcomunicacio.com/opc/download/obs_pdf.pdf
http://www.raco.cat/index.php/Catalonia/article/view/105698/160510
http://www.umass.edu/digitalcenter/research/pdfs/JF_NetworkSociety.pdf#page=282
Bonner, Frances. (2003) Ordinary Television London / California : Routledge
Blumenthal, Howard J./ Goodenough, Oliver R. (1998) This Business of Television . New York: Billboard,
Fiske, John. (1987) Television Culture. London: Routledge
Geraghty, C. and Lusted, D. (eds) (1997) The Television Studies Book Hodder Arnold.
Gittlin, Todd (1994) Inside Prime Time. London: Routledge
Hayward, Jennifer Poole (1997) Consuming Pleasures: Active audiences and Serial Fictions from Dickens to Soap Opera. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky
Lacey, Nick (2002) Media Institutions and Audiencies, Key Concepts in Media Studies, New York: Palgrave
McQueen, David. (1998) Television: A Media Student’s Guide. London: Arnold Mumford, Laura Stempel (1995) Love and Ideology in the Afternoon: Soap Opera, women, and Television Genre. Bloomington: Indiana University Press
Newcomb, Horace (ed). (1994) Television: The Critical View. New York: Oxford University Press.
Noam, Eli. (1991) Television in Europe , Oxford. Oxford University Press.
Papathanassopoulos, S. (2002) European Television in the Digital Age. Cambridge: Polity Press
Selby, K. & Cowdery, R. (1995) How to Study Television. London: MacMillan
Simpson, Paul, ed. (2002) The Rough Guide to Cult TV. London: Penguin Books.
Smith, Anthony ed. (1998) Television. An Internacional History New York : Oxford University Press, 1998.
Timberg, Bernard M. (2002) Television Talk . Austin: University of Texas Press
Vane, E and Gross, L. (1994) Programming for TV, Radio and Cable. Focal Press.
Wieten, Murdock and Dahlgren (ed.) (2000) Television Across Europe. London: Sage