VIEW Issue 4: Hidden Professions of Television

We know little about the ‘behind the scenes’ of television. While the booming field of production studies has been shining a light on the work processes and the personnel in production spaces, there is still a lot to be learnt about the ‘hidden’ professions of television. This issue of VIEW provides a rich but fairly eclectic series of contributions based on the theme. The articles presented here bring under scrutiny the ‘behind the scenes’ activities of television and their hidden, often unrecognised and uncelebrated personnel and processes. They engage across a wide range of organisational, administrative and technical activities that have played their understated, often ‘invisible’ part in the historical formation and development of television.

Just like in the previous issues, articles in this issue are divided across two separate sections: ‘Discoveries’ that zoom into the ‘behind the scenes’ of specific programmes and broadcasters and use innovative and original sources; and ‘Explorations’ that shine a light on different professions of television: from the continuity announcers, to the 1st AD, to the TV retailer or audience interpreters.