“Coming Up Next”: Promos in the Future of Television and Television Studies

Abstract This article argues for the importance of studying promos. First, it is noted that promos often begin the text, offering viewers their first understandings of and encounters with the text. Second, promos' role in creating notions of the channel as a whole and these notions' role in contextualizing our understanding of any given text are examined. Thus, while promos have often been regarded as annoying hype at worst, or as secondary and peripheral distractions at best, the article argues that they frequently make vital contributions to the production of television's textuality.