In this course we will examine the ways in which industrial factors and communication policies have shaped the medium that sits in 99% of U.S. homes. We will begin by examining television's roots in radio. The remainder of the course will be broken down into three stages of television history advanced by Rogers, Epstein and Reeves (2002). The first category is TVI- the period of three-network dominance. The next stage, TVII, is characterized by the rise of cable television and the decentering of the three networks. We will conclude the course by considering the current stage of television- TV III- in which the era of "on demand" has further destabilized traditional notions of content, audiences, producers, scheduling and technologies. In addition to tracing this development historically and thematically, we will confront it critically, analyzing the connections between power and money in the medium of television.