The face of independent TV production in the UK has changed irrevocably. 21st Century Fox and Apollo Global Management together have taken over Endemol, Shine Group and Core Media and will transform them into the world’s first mega-indie.

The recent proliferation and, I might add, pervasiveness, of crime dramas like Sherlock (BBC One 2010-), Elementary (CBS, 2012-), Hannibal (NBC, 2013-), Whitechapel (ITV, 2009-2013), Ripper Street (BBC One, 2012-), and Copper (BBC America, 2012-2013), just to mention a few, all indicate an interesting albeit not unprecedented

The universe is made of stories, not of atoms. Muriel Rukeyser This is an intimate account of the ways in which the moving image enters and energises the stories that we tell one another on Facebook. It is not meant to be a taxonomy of the different audio-visual forms that are shared, liked and commented upon.

Television has long been accused of creating zombies….breeding an audience that sits transfixed in front of their TV screens, hypnotized by the presumed-to-be mind-numbing qualities of this ‘mindless’ entertainment. This idea continues to haunt popular culture, so much so that it has been used, quite ironically, within such cult TV series as Angel (WB 1999-2004) and Doctor Who (BBC1 2005-) to comment upon the negative potential of television.

In the early days of TV, some people apparently said that television was just radio, with pictures. Now, the general opinion would be that this is by no means the case. So it seems a little perverse to write here about something that could easily be described as radio with pictures: the BBC Young Musician 2014 competition final, as broadcast on BBC Four, though also covered on BBC Radio 3, on May 18th.

Dear Sajid Javid Please accept this column as my application to become the next Chair of the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Trust. I know the monarch ultimately makes such decisions, but between you and me, I believe you have a part to play. I am a straightish, whiteish, maleish subject, so I come from the kind of background that has been favored in the past for such jobs.

“Fire up the Mexico” Philip Glenister presents For the Love of Cars I first became interested in cars when I was four. That year my father got his first company car, an Austin Maxi.

In light of the recent furore regarding Jamaica Inn (BBC, 2014), this week’s piece takes a look at – or a listen to? – the actor’s voice on television, and how its production and delivery has altered over the years. For those who missed it at Easter, the BBC’s adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s novel was roundly criticised by press and public alike for the unintelligibility of its cast;

NB- Post may contain spoilers regarding Game of Thrones Season 4 Over the past few weeks, CST Online has seen a number of posts discussing the nature (I might say, ethos) of television studies. The question has been addressed from multiple perspectives;

There has been plenty of discussion on this blog and elsewhere about the difficulty that many of us have as television scholars ‘keeping up with television’. It’s certainly something that comes up repeatedly as a topic of conversation in meetings of the Midlands Television Research Group.

A furry number 2, perched on a neatly-draped table set with fruit and little cakes, peers at a bowl of strawberries. In the background birthday cards pinned to a cheerful yellow wall spell out the number 50.  But with its colourful balloons and table full of goodies, this is more like a nursery party than a marker of maturity.