Reading Television was the first book to push the boundaries of television studies beyond the insights offered by cultural studies and textual analysis, creating a vibrant new field of study. Using the tools and techniques in this book, it is possible for everyone with a television set to analyze both the programmes, and the culture which produces them.
In this edition, Hartley reflects on recent developments in television studies, and includes suggestions for further reading. His new foreword underlines the continuing relevance of this foundational text in the study of contemporary culture.

'This understanding of television is not a simple analysis but it is an extremely rich and convincing one. And in putting it forward the authors provide much of the necessary theory that anyone who wishes to challenge the role of the medium has to comprehend. You don't want to challenge that role? After reading Reading Television, you should do.' - Time Out

John Fiske was previously Professor of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. John Hartley is Dean of the Creative Industries Faculty at the Queensland Institute of Technology, Australia.