This text was first published in 1974, long before the dawn of
multi-channel TV, or the reality and celebrity shows that now pack the
schedules. Yet Williams' analysis of television's history, its institutions,
programmes and practices, and its future prospects, remains prescient.Twenty-first century TV offers an apparently endless stream of images,
unfolding at high speed. We no longer watch individual programmes but flick
from channel to channel, absorbing a continuous flow of news, game shows,
comedy, drama, movies, advertising and trailers. 'Television: Technology and
Cultural Form' was first published in 1974, long before the dawn of
multi-channel TV, or the reality and celebrity shows that now pack the
schedules. Yet Williams' analysis of television's history, its institutions,
programmes and practices, and its future prospects, remains remarkably
prescient. Williams stresses the importance of technology in shaping the
cultural form of television, while always resisting the determinism of
McLuhan's dictum that "the medium is the message". If the medium really is the
message, Williams asks, what is left for us to do or say?; Williams argues that, on the contrary, we as viewers have the power to
disturb, disrupt and to distract the otherwise cold logic of history and
technology - not just because television is part of the fabric of our daily
lives, but because new technologies continue to offer opportunities,
momentarily outside the sway of transnational corporations or the grasp of
media moguls, for new forms of self and political expression.
