ABSTRACT
Focusing on the Australian Cultural Fields survey data and household interviews relating to the Australian television field, this chapter looks first at the key changes which have characterised the dynamics of the Australian television field in recent decades. It then reviews the debates concerning the place of television within field theory: the role of technological actors as active agents in the disposition of field relations, and the role of ‘quality television’ and of television’s personality system in televisual regimes of distinction. These preliminary concerns set the scene for the presentation of the most significant distinguishing features of television consumption practices in contemporary Australia. The pronounced significance of age in distinguishing both viewing practices and tastes is especially noteworthy. This is particularly true of its role in distinguishing the extent to which a range of platforms and devices has displaced the role of free-to-air television in the viewing practices of younger age groups.
