In this book Chris Barker situates television as a cultural phenomenon in the context of global modernity. Barker offers the first introductory multidimensional and multiperspectival approach to the understanding of television. In so doing, Barker connects with a number of significant current debates in both media and cultural studies, providing useful summaries of these debates and offering reflections of his own. A particular strength of this book is the way in which Barker ranges across both cultural and media studies literature. The book describes the major contemporary economic, technological and cultural developments in global television placing them within the wider context of global modernity. It provides readers with useful summaries and evaluations of key arguments relating to the development of television as an industry across the globe and its potential cultural impact.