Manchester TV Studies Crisis and Representation

This conference serves as a localized, in-person anchor for scholars and practitioners focused on the "Critical Studies in Television" discipline. As we move further into 2026, the medium of television faces a dual-identity crisis: it is both a vital witness to global upheaval and an industry in the midst of its own structural breakdown. This event explores the "structure of feeling" associated with modern broadcasting, focusing on how UK television—from public service broadcasting to global streamers—navigates moments of extreme social and political tension.

Attendees will engage with a variety of papers examining the ethics of researching precarious workers within the television industry and the cultural impact of "crisis" narratives on screen. We will look back at historical blackouts and compare them to modern digital disruptions, asking what it means for a national audience to lose its shared viewing space. The program includes dedicated sessions on the transition from Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) to Public Service Media (PSM), analyzing how funding shifts are altering the very DNA of the content produced in the UK. This is a vital gathering for anyone interested in how the "small screen" continues to define our large-scale reality.