The radical expansion of television broadcasting in the post-war years
and beyond both reflected and promoted a cultural revolution sweeping
across British society. Reaching out to a mass audience for the first
time, the new television industry made visible the transition from drab
austerity and seeming cultural consensus to the brash, heady glitz and
individualism of the new consumer age."Television and Consumer Culture"
explores television's institutional, technological and programming
developments during this period, revealing how genres as different as
action adventure series, serious dramas, situation comedies and quiz
and game shows simultaneously promoted both consumer culture and class
conflict. Drawing on historical analysis and sociological theory, and
looking at issues such as celebrity, scheduling, intimacy and
sociability, Turnock argues that television during this era established
and promoted itself as a culturally powerful force, a fact that has
implications for the way that media power is understood to operate
today.