Televison Magick

Since TELEVISION MAGICK was first published, television technology has continued to expand at an exponential rate. We now have satellite TV channels operating 24 hours a day in the U.K., cable networks, religious broadcasting about to begin in the UK, and a massive increase in the use of home video cameras; and on the near-TV side we have Virtual Reality; and a computer games explosion (with the real dangers of ‘fixed’ or static software which only allows specific responses from the player &shyp; freedom is being eroded here, even in the so-called interactive games). Some of the material in this booklet may therefore seem a little dated. Our aim in re-publishing it, however, is to keep alive the idea that Television is much more than a mere entertainment/control medium. The expansion in technology does not appear to have been coupled with an expansion in philosophy. In fact the reverse has happened, at least in the U.K., as economic factors become more pressing, and the standards of broadcasting aim ever lower at the largest market share. It may be of interest that in Britain today, the total TV audience is showing signs of a decline &shyp; despite all the new attractions.