Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: but television's not soap!: approaching television branding -- Branding and the US television industry. Deregulation, differentiation, and niche targeting: the emergence of branding in the cable/satellite era -- From channel brands to service brands?: US television enters the digital era -- Branding and the UK television industry. Competition, fragmentation and commodification: the emergence of branding in the UK television industry -- The end of public service broadcasting?: branding Channel 4 and the BBC -- The texts and intertexts of branding. Of idents and interstitials: channel branding -- Longevity, transferability and multiplicity: programme brands -- What's at stake in television branding?