[ecrea] CFP: What is Quality Television? International Conference 12-14 September 2012, Paris

International conference : 12 - September 14, 2012 in Paris.

Organized by the CEISME (Media Images and Sounds Study Center), Sorbonne 
Nouvelle- Paris3, with the support of the Laboratoire d’Excellence ICCA 
(Laboratory of Excellence for Cultural Industry and Artistic Creations) 
and Inathèque de France.

What is quality television?

When it comes to television, we talk a lot about the audience, as if 
quantification was the only measurement unit for programs. However, 
public satisfaction is not correlated numerical results. TV channels 
know this and, since 1975, the French public service is trying to 
develop "indicators" of quality.

The question of evaluation has thus returned to all areas. It has been 
revived by the recent developments of formats - both in the United 
States, where the success of TV series has led to the concept of 
"Quality TV", as well as in South America and Europe, as the 2011 
Obitel study on "calidad de la ficcíon televisiva" has demonstrated. 
Moreover, public service reforms in France and Portugal have engendered 
a whole new body of thought.

Of course defining the criteria for characterizing the quality of a 
program engenders difficulties - especially since producers, 
broadcasters, authors, but also the audience, do not necessarily share 
the same. Several points should be examined:

• quality and style: is the quality of a program defined by its 
stylistic requirements, such as for example, the conclusions made by 
researchers and critics of the U.S. series may lead us to believe? What 
role does originality play? The topic? The audiovisual treatment? Are 
there “quality formats”?

• quality and type of program: judgment of quality is often connected to 
stock footage programs such as fiction and documentaries. How do we 
define quality in “light entertainment”? How do we define quality in 
relation to genre? What is a good sports program? shows? And, more 
generally, what do we call “a good program”? What are the criteria used 
by the critics? Do they converge with those of viewers? In contrast, how 
can we define "trash TV"?

• quality and technique : what role does technique play when judging the 
quality of a program? Do the new possibilities of watching programs such 
as screen sizes (from very small to very large) impose new standards? 
Many images, such as amateur programs, do not adhere to "broadcast" 
standards anymore. Does this entail an abandonment of these criteria? 
What does Internet on TV change ?

• quality and the public: in some countries, it seems that quality is 
rated by the public who is reached by a certain chain or programs. Thus, 
stations like TV Brazil or PBS in the United States try to appeal to the 
diversity within a community that shares common values. How can we 
establish a link between quality and social background?

• quality and the audience: how can we connect quality and a possible 
audience? Are quality programs aimed at small audiences or are only time 
slots taken into consideration?

• quality, programming, TV stations: does quality lie within programs or 
within programming?

• quality and televisual culture: can we imagine that certain programs 
of the past be part of a directory with the same workings as the one for 
movies?

• quality and ethics : what place should the ethical evaluation of a 
program have in their broadcasting ?

All of these questions, which are not intended to exhaust the issue of 
quality, must be addressed from different points of view, comparing the 
different players in televisual communication. All methods are welcome: 
historical, semiological, sociological, etc. The originality of this 
conference will be to exchange ideas between scientists and 
professionals, established researchers and young researchers on common 
subjects.

Authors are invited to submit the proposal in French or English, in 3000 
signs (500 words) maximum, at the address (colloquetvqualite /at/ ceisme.fr), 
until February 20 2012. Each proposition will be evaluated anonymously 
by at least two scientific committee members. The selected authors will 
be informed at the end of March 2012.

Conference languages : French, English

CEISME Organizing Committee:

François Jost (Professor, Sorbonne Nouvelle), Marie-France 
Chambat-Houillon (Professor, Sorbonne Nouvelle), Bernard Papin 
(Associate Professor, Paris XI), Bruno Henocque (Associate Professor, Le 
Havre), Philippe Lavat (CEISME ).

Scientific Committee:

Director : François Jost (Professor, Sorbonne Nouvelle). Marie-France 
Chambat-Houillon (Professor, Sorbonne Nouvelle), Gilles Delavaud 
(Professor, Paris 8), Bernard Papin (Associate Professor, Paris XI), 
Bruno Henocque (Associate Professor, Le Havre), Laurent Jullier 
(University Nancy 2), Philippe Lavat (CEISME), Daniel Psenny 
(Journalist, Le Monde), Jean-Michel Rodes (Director Inathèque de 
France), Myriam Tsikounas (Professor University of Paris I).

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