[ecrea] New Publication: A Future for Public Service Television

*A Future for Public Service Television*
Edited by Des Freedman and Vana Goblot
(Goldsmiths Press 
<https://www.gold.ac.uk/goldsmiths-press/publications/a-future-for-public-service-television/>; 
distributed by MIT Press 
<https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/future-public-service-television>)

Television is on the verge of both decline and rebirth. Vast 
technological change has brought about financial uncertainty as well as 
new creative possibilities for producers, distributors and viewers. This 
volume examines not only the unexpected resilience of TV as cultural 
pastime and aesthetic practice but also the prospects for public 
service television in a digital, multichannel ecology.

The proliferation of platforms from Amazon and Netflix to YouTube and 
the vlogosphere means intense competition for audiences traditionally 
dominated by legacy broadcasters. Public service broadcasters – whether 
the BBC, the German ARD, or the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation – are 
particularly vulnerable to this volatility. Born in the more stable 
political and cultural conditions of the twentieth century, they face a 
range of pressures on their revenue, their remits and indeed their very 
futures.

This book summarises and expands on A Future for Public Service 
Television Inquiry <http://www.futureoftv.org.uk> chaired by Lord 
Puttnam and features 46 chapters, including fresh contributions from 
leading broadcasters and academics including Mark Thompson, Amanda Lotz, 
Paddy Barwise, Sarita Malik, David Hendy, Jennifer Holt, Trine 
Syvertsen, Gunn Enli and James Bennett. With resonance for students, 
professionals and consumers with a stake in British media, it serves 
both as historical record and as a look at the future of television 
in an on-demand age.

In the news:
Lord Puttnam: ‘PSBs are more vital than ever’, Broadcast, 18 April 2018 
<https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/broadcasters/psbs-are-more-vital-than-ever/5128373.article>

Testimonials:

/This is an ideal text for those who wish to drill down into the 
diversity issues that beset our media./
/
/Lenny Henry, actor and comedian

/Anyone who cares about democracy, and about the vital place of media in 
it, should read this fantastic book. It provides a vividly engaged and 
engaging account of the principles, practices and problems of public 
service television./
/
/Professor John Street, University of East Anglia

/The public service project is more, not less, essential in the digital 
twenty-first century, and this collection begins to undertake the work 
necessary for a renewing and re-imagining of its possibilities and 
resources./
/
/Professor Charlotte Brunsdon, University of Warwick

/If you want to know what is at stake for the future of television, this 
is the absolute go-to book. With chapters from an incredible line-up of 
commentators, it is highly engaging and challenging. It asks us to think 
in many different ways about what it means to be a public, to be a 
citizen, to live in an informed democracy. If we do not see television 
as a public good rather than a consumer choice, what are we left with?/

Professor Bev Skeggs, LSE

/Read this book to understand the value of public service television and 
why we should care about it. More than the usual pessimistic account of 
the 'challenges' facing its future, these illuminating voices around the 
Puttnam Inquiry dispense passionate please as well as concrete and 
brilliant ideas./

Professor Helen Wood, University of Leicester


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