Florian Huber

Department	Department of Communication Studies
PhD Supervisor	Univ.-Prof.in Dr.in Elisabeth Klaus, i.R.
PhD Co-Supervisor	Univ.-Prof. Dr. Rudolf Renger, i. R.
Start	SoSe 2012
Contact
Topic/Title	The rise of ‘quality TV’ series and their inextricable link to the development of the medium of television.

Abstract

The subject of this dissertation is the growing significance of ‘Quality TV’, which coincides with the decline of television as a unique and all-encompassing medium. In this context, ‘Quality TV’ refers to a specific type of TV series and not to all high-quality TV programmes. This commonly used but misleading term has become established in media analysis. However, one of the aims of this dissertation is to challenge this designation. The research objective is to analyse and characterise this relatively new category of TV programme. The research questions are: ‘What are the characteristics of Quality TV, and to what extent do its modes of reception reflect the development of television as a medium?’ ‘What are the effects of multimediality?’ ‘What are the implications of diverse, fragmented audiences?’ ‘What new funding opportunities have emerged?’ ‘Is Quality TV a genre?’ ‘How does it relate to the ongoing hybridisation of TV genres?’