ABSTRACT
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) suggested that television is changing so rapidly that the markers of access and success television has relied on for decades can no longer account for the way people watch or the way programmers think about individual episodes. Radio, television, and internet are all part of the mission, indeed are increasingly conflated, as the BBC shapes itself into a digital public service broadcaster that “unites technology and editorial to meet a clearly defined audience need”. A vital example of the intersection of technological change and global difference can be illustrated through an aspect of global television studies that remains woefully under-attended: the disposal of old screens. For global television to fully account for technological change and global difference, the material impact on livelihoods, human bodies, and the environment is a crucial part of the conversation.
