Broadcasting and Cable covers top stories of general industry interest. including regulatory issues, ratings, company and personnel changes, advertising and marketing strategies. and programming trends. Aimed at broadcast executives, Broadcasting and Cable's concise journalistic coverage has been recognized as an authoritative source for industry news. Originating as a radio trade paper named Broadcasting in 1931, the weekly eventually expanded its coverage into the media of television and cable. Along the way, it was also known as Broadcasting-Telecasting (1945-57), and absorbed other important trade publications such as Broadcast  Advertising  (in  1936)  and  Television  (in 1968). Currently. Broadcasting and Cable consists of sections that cover the top weekly stories. broadcast­ ing. cable, and technology. Additional columns treat federal lawmaking. personnel moves. and station sales. Recently. Broadcasting and Cable has expanded coverage of new media technologies; its "Telemedia Week" section covers the World Wide Web.,interactive media, CD-ROMs, and Internet developments.

     Television Week. formerly known as Electronic Media ( 1982- ), a tabloid-size weekly, covers American visual electronic media (television, cable, and video). Aimed at managerial executives. Television Week reports on production and distribution, emerging and interactive technologies. network and affiliate news, regulatory developments. and programming. Television Week often draws on perspectives from throughout the industry when it covers such debates as the conversion to digital television. With its regular features such as "The Insider," "Viewpoint," and "Converging Media," and sections on deals, ratings, Hollywood, Washington, career moves, and special reports on a variety of topics. Television Week is an excellent source for tracking current events in the television industry.

     Since the majority of U.S. television viewers subscribe to cable, there are several important trade publications devoted to the cable industry. Since 1980, the tabloid-size weekly Multichannel News has sought to provide breaking news to managers and suppliers of cable operating systems. including stories on programming. marketing. regulatory issues. and industry deal­ making. Features such as "Broadband Week" and "Pay-per-View" highlight how changing technologies are affecting the cable-operating business. Cable FAX's CableWORLD, a biweekly since 1989, is aimed at the cable executive with little spare time and provides concise news sections on cable operations, technology, financing, advertising, and programming, as well as broadband services.

     Satellite transmission, while crucial to distributing network and cable programming, has developed into a key competitor to cable with the advent of direct broadcast satellite services (DBS). The monthly Satellite Broadband covers the latest technology trends affecting both broadcasting and broadband services. Via Satellite (1986- ) covers the applications of satellite technology to international broadcasting. In addition to satellite company and personnel news, articles in Via Satellite address the financial and technological issues of satellite broadcasting, the changing policy and regulatory environments worldwide, and potential future applications of satellite broadcasting. Likewise, Satellite Week (1979-) reports on the satellite broadcasting industry, its changing international markets and regulatory environments.

     Advertising industry trades Advertising Age (1930--) and Adweek (1960- ) cover television from the perspective of media buyers. Advertising agencies buy time on television for their clients' commercials and thus seek up-to-date and accurate information on ratings, programming strategies, schedule shifts, regulatory changes, and personnel moves. Pertinent articles in both weeklies concern specific commercial campaigns, sponsorship issues, demographic research, effectiveness of network versus cable television advertising, advertising agency activities, production company news, and ratings infonnation. Since media buyers are customers of station managers and network executives, the editorial opinions of Advertising Age and Adweek sometimes differ from those of Broadcasting and Cable and Television Week.

     The long-lived show business trade periodicals Variety (weekly), Daily Variety, and The Hollywood Reporter also report on the television industry. The tabloid-size weekly Variety has covered entertainment industries such as vaudeville, film, television, radio, music, and theater since 1905. In addition to extensive hard-news coverage of show-business and insider "buzz," Variety is renowned for its often jocular head­ line style (for example, "Vid Biz in Rewind," and "Greenlights Turn Red"). Variety's television section includes news about programs, talent deals, production companies, broadcast and cable networks, regulatory issues, syndication deals, and regular Nielsen ratings reports. Variety's "World News" section also includes articles on international broadcasting. Additionally, in­-depth television program reviews provide production information, analysis of production values, and predictions of a program's potential success or failure. Daily Variety, the daily counterpart to the weekly Variety, provides daily updates in two editions, one from Hol­lywood, the other from New York ("Gotham").

     The Hollywood Reporter has been a daily news magazine for the entertainment industry since 1930. It also publishes an International Weekly edition, as well as Special Editions on various topics. Its television coverage includes ratings, business and financial news, studio and talent deals for new programs, distribution, stock prices, personalities, and entertainment industry events. The Hollywood Reporter's television program reviews include behind-the-scenes production information. Its regular section "Convergence" addresses how digital technologies are affecting entertainment industries.

     Other trade publications address specific television fields. For information on the broadcast news business, Communicator (1988- ), published monthly by the Radio-Television News Directors' Association, offers coverage of television news production, personnel moves, network-station relations, and local news markets. For religious broadcasters, NRB Magazine (1969- ) is published by the National Religious Broadcasters group. NRB Magazine covers religious programming strategies, personnel training, international religious broadcasting, and news analysis. The bi­ weekly newsletter, Public Broadcasting Report, serves noncommercial broadcasters such as CPB, PBS, and NPR, covering topics such as regulation, programming, funding, career moves, and new technologies.

     For historical research purposes, several now­ defunct trade publications offer much information on the earlier decades of the television industry. In addition to Broadcasting-Telecasting mentioned above, Sponsor (1946-68) and Television (1944-68) are excellent sources for articles on evolving programming strategies, regulatory issues, financing, advertising techniques, and intra-industry competition. Early issues of Television include many "how to" articles, often designed for the advertising agencies then in charge of much program production. Likewise, early issues of Sponsor, which was subtitled Buyers of Broadcast Advertising, trace the attitudes of advertisers and sponsors toward the decline of national network radio and the rise of network television, reflecting shifts in programming strategies and increased network control of television programming.

     The biweekly Television/Radio Age, which originated as Television Age in 1953, provided analytic coverage of television-industry issues until 1989. Arguing that few other industries had grown as rapidly or faced as many problems as television, the magazine's editors sought to provide in-depth analysis with which to address the television industry's regulatory, financial, and programming concerns. In addition to publishing articles written by major broadcasting executives, many Television/Radio Age articles closely examine specific advertising campaigns, ratings trends and techniques, network programming strategies, and Wall Street financing.

     The discontinued Channels (1981-90) is also a good source for analytic articles on the television industry of the 1980s. Originally subtitled of Communications, and edited by well-known television journalist Les Brown, Channels was later subtitled The Business of Communications, and sought to analyze the expanding role of television in society while reporting on the regulatory environment, production deals, programming strategies, and media markets.

     Trade publications in Canada, Australia, and Great Britain not only covers national television industries but also reports on the international aspects of the television industry. The Canadian monthly Broadcaster (1942-) often addresses issues such as how to develop and sustain Canadian-produced programming that can be competitive with well-financed and well-distributed programming from the United States. Aimed at broadcast managers, Broadcaster reports on developments in technology, financing, advertising, and programming, in addition to news about the state-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Canadian Communication Reports monitors Canada's broadcasting, cable, and pay-TV distribution industries. Information about the Canadian cable television industry can be found in Cablecaster (1989- ), which covers the management, technology, regulation, and programming of Canadian cable television. A more technical perspective on Canadian broadcasting is provided by Broadcast Technology (1975- ), also known as Broadcasting  Technology. Although originally designed for technicians, Broadcast Technology has expanded into business reporting and includes articles on programming, marketing, and personnel changes.

     The Australian television industry is covered by Encore, which reports on all audiovisual production industries in Australia. Encore emphasizes production news, including stories on new program series and financing arrangements, but it also covers new technology developments and regulatory issues. B and T ( 1950-), formerly known as Broadcasting and Television, covers Australian media markets. ratings, new productions, network strategies. and media personnel moves, as does the more advertising-trade oriented AdNews.

     British television trade press maintains a strong international slant and is a useful source for news about European television industries. The weekly Broadcast (1973- ). formerly known as Television Mail, covers British television and cable programming, regulation, financing, technology, and ratings. in addition to articles on the international scope of trends in programming and technology. Screen Digest (1971- ) provides summaries of world news of the film. television,  video. satellite,  and consumer electronics industries. Screen Digest covers industry events and conventions, publications, and market research data for "screen media worldwide." TBI (or Television Business international, 1988-) covers international broadcast, cable. and satellite markets for the broadcast executive, including articles in English, Ger­ man, and Japanese. TV World (1977- ), subtitled Award Winning International Magazine for the Television Industry, focuses on programming, usually profiling the trends in a particular country for a section of each issue. in addition to reviewing specific productions and festivals. Designed for executives in broadcast production and distribution, both commercial and public-service. TV World also covers the technological developments in satellite and cable delivery systems, the shifting alliances among transnational media companies, and international conventions such as NATPE and VIDCOM. TV World's truly international scope makes it an excellent source for information on the television industry worldwide.

     The diversity of these trade magazines reflects the multifaceted nature of today's television industry. Since its beginnings, the television industry has been closely tied to the film and advertising industries. Now television has expanded beyond broadcasting and cable, satellites, and interactive technologies. An examination of trade publications reflecting these different perspectives should provide the reader with insights into the history and future of the rapidly changing international television industry.