Bignell, J. (2013) An Introduction to Television Studies, London: Routledge.
Crisell, A. (2002) An Introductory History of British Broadcasting, London: Routledge.
Creeber, G. (ed) (2014) The Television Genre Book, London: Palgrave Macmillan/BFI.
Dubber, A. (2013) Radio in the Digital Age, Cambridge: Polity.
Starkey, G. (2013) Radio in Context, London: Palgrave Macmillan.

See module handbook for a full listing of reading texts.

There will be a series of weekly lectures and follow-up workshops to explore the introduced theoretical concepts of how television and radio communicate with their audiences. The emphasis will be around the deconstruction of a range of broadcast examples and the reading of some introductory texts on media communication. This module offers a foundation for the critical examination of radio/TV and considers their practical application which links in with production based skills. The workshops will offer a series of non-assessed pieces of work which form the basis for the final essay and the module's key concepts.

Key Information Set Data:
24% scheduled L&T activities
76% guided independent learning

Blackboard, Library and online resources, TV/DVD/Audio playback facilities.
The Blackboard virtual learning environment will be available to support this module. Details will be supplied in the module handbook.

A CW1 ESSAY length 2000 WORDS weighted at 50%. Learning Outcomes 1-4.

A CR1 CRIT. ANALYSIS length 2000 WORDS weighted at 50%. Learning Outcomes 1-5.

Key Information Set Data:
100% Coursework

This module explores the ongoing development of television and radio and how these broadcast media continue to communicate with audiences. It offers an introduction to the origins, institutions and creative practices in broadcasting and what we mean in the 21st Century by 'television' and 'radio'. There will be an introduction to the key television and radio theoretical concepts that explain the ways in which these broadcast media communicate. The module also introduces a range of popular broadcast programme forms and styles, and begins to examine their development, significance, modes of address and construction/reception. The development will be identified through the ways in which the production of texts have been affected by their institutional, political, social and cultural contexts. The forms for analysis will include case studies on: documentary, drama, comedy and light entertainment. The development of popular forms will be considered through their contemporary focus, as well as offering an insight into their historical significance and future developments.