Combining institutional textual and audience analysis, this book introduces students to the factors which have shaped television's development in contemporary Europe, and invites them to assess the issues that are at stake in its future.

Divided into three parts, the book moves from the European broadcasting environment, through current patterns and trends in programming and programme making, to TV genres and issue-specific broadcasting.

Incorporating a range of pedagogical devices: boxes of key facts, activities and notes for further reading, Television across Europe offers an essential introductory guide to television in Western Europe.

Preface - Jan Wieten, Graham Murdock and Peter Dahlgren
PART ONE: TELEVISION ENVIRONMENTS: TRADITIONS AND TRANSITIONS
Introduction - Peter Dahlgren
The Status of TV Broadcasting in Europe - Kees Brants and Els De Bens
Key Trends in European Television - Peter Dahlgren
Digital Futures - Graham Murdock
European Television in the Age of Convergence
PART TWO: TELEVISION TRENDS: ORGANIZATION AND REPRESENTATION
Introduction - Graham Murdock
Programming and Channel Competition in European Television - Taisto Hujanen
Popular Drama - Albert Moran
Travelling Templates and National Fictions
Programme Making across Borders - Aur[ac]elie Laborde and Michel Perrot
The Eurosud News Magazine
Television Audiences - Winfried Schulz
PART THREE: TELEVISION GENRES: BORDERS AND FLOWS
Introduction - Jan Wieten
Music Television - Keith Roe and Gust De Meyer
MTV-Europe
Arts Television - Marit Bakke
Questions of Culture
Breakfast TV - Jan Wieten
Infotainers at Daybreak
Talk Shows - Graham Murdock
Democratic Debates and Tabloid Tales
Television Current Affairs - Greg McLaughlin
The Case of Northern Ireland
Television News - Sari N[um]asi
The Case if the French Road Blockades