ABSTRACT
T his chapter presents an overview of where we think television isheading, and where new studies of television might lead. We havestructured this chapter by including brief comments on the institutions and economic structures of television, especially in Britain, the impact of new technologies for producing and watching television, the current trends in television forms, genres and formats, and the ways that audiences are changing in their habits of viewing and their expectations of television as a medium. In each of these sections, we not only discuss the possible evolution of television but also provide some critical commentary on these trajectories in the immediate future. In our view, people engaged in studies of television and in the making of television professionally, should develop a knowledgeable, critical and responsible attitude to change in order to take an active part in it.
