ABSTRACT
It is probably uncontroversial to claim that national television cultures have undergone rapid and fundamental change in the last decade. We have seen, at least in wealthier nations, the emergence of multichannel television, pay-perview and the steady erosion of audience share for terrestrial, free-to-air television. This has been accompanied by ‘lighter touch’ regulation, particularly for the new cable, satellite and digital channels. In fact, it has become unfashionable to talk in cultural terms about broadcasting, and more common for broadcasters and politicians alike to talk about the development of television markets. In this chapter, my primary focus will be on how television has increasingly become a site for the promotion of consumption practices within market capitalism. In order to investigate this market-based promotion of lifestyles I have chosen to use a model of critical discourse analysis that allows me to link media discourse with wider social practice. Before I introduce my analytical method and my analysis, there follows a brief discussion of how contemporary television is produced and consumed within the wider framework of market concerns, even where it is produced within public service structures.
