Book excerpt: This book provides the first up-to-date introduction to the shape and style of Australian television in the 1980s, 1990s and beyond. Traditional formats like news, current affairs and sport as well as newer genres like tabloid and reality TV are treated in detail. The authors use their expertise in cultural and media studies to take apart the medium in terms of text, genre, audience, nation, culture, policy, industry and postmodernity. Trends and developments that are taking Australian television into the future, such as the increasingly international orientation of the local industry and new services like pay TV, community TV and ABC satellite TV are also examined in depth.