It's Not TV

<p>Since first going on the air in 1972 HBO has continually attempted to redefine television as we know it. Today pay television (and HBO in particular) is positioned as an alternative to network offerings consistently regarded as the premier site for what has come to be called quality television.</p><p>This collection of new essays by an international group of media scholars argues that HBO as part of the leading edge of television is at the center of television studies’ interests in market positioning style content technology and political economy. The contributors focus on pioneering areas of analysis and new critical approaches in television studies today highlighting unique aspects of the HBO effect to explore new perspectives on contemporary television from radical changes in technology to dramatic shifts in viewing habits.</p><p><em>It’s Not TV</em> provides fresh insights into the post-television network by examining HBO’s phenomenally popular and pioneering shows including <em>The Sopranos</em> <em>The Wire</em> <em>Six Feet Under</em> <em>Sex and the City</em> as well as its failed series such as <em>K Street</em> and <em>The Comeback</em>. The contributors also explore the production process itself and the creation of a brand commodity along with HBO’s place as a market leader and technological innovator.</p><p><strong>Contributors: </strong>Kim Akass Cara Louise Buckley Rhiannon Bury Joanna L. Di Mattia Blake D. Ethridge Tony Kelso Marc Leverette David Marc Janet McCabe Conor McGrath Shawn McIntosh Brian L. Ott Avi Santo Lisa Williamson</p><p><strong>Foreword by Toby Miller</strong></p><p><strong>Marc Leverette</strong> is Assistant Professor of Media Studies at Colorado State University. He is author of <em>Professional Wrestling the Myth the Mat and American Popular Culture</em> and co-editor of <em>Zombie Culture: Autopsies of the Living Dead</em> and <em>Oh My God They Deconstructed South Park! Those Bastards!</em></p><p><strong>Brian L. Ott </strong>is Associate Professor of Media Studies at Colorado State University. He is author of <em>The Small Screen: How Television Equips Us to Live in the Information Age</em>.</p><p><strong>Cara Louise Buckley </strong>is a lecturer at Emerson College.</p>