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vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Ihave had a great deal of help over the years to bring this across the finish line, and I owe many thanks for all of the contributions that have made this a better book. This project began at UCLA, where fellow grad students Marc Seigel, Jerry Mosher, Tim Halloran, Cecilia Hastings, Vincent Brook, Ruth HaldimannSteinberg , and Rebecca Epstein offered valuable critiques in the early phase of this research. The UCLA faculty were especially supportive of my work throughout my time in Los Angeles. I remain grateful for the guidance and counsel of my committee, Steve Mamber, John Caldwell, Chon Noriega, and Douglas Kellner . I found a wonderful mentor and friend in Vivian Sobchack, lasting support from Janet Bergstrom, and pure generosity and continued inspiration from John Caldwell. I was advised and influenced by many other outstanding scholars who took an interest in my work and helped to shape the form and substance of this manuscript. John Wiley, Jonathan Kuntz, Justin Wyatt, Denise Mann, Lisa Kernan, Robert Vianello, and Douglas Gomery all contributed their time, energy, and expertise while I was at UCLA. Thomas Schatz has been in my corner since my time at UT-Austin, and has always found time to work with me on this project. Tom has taught me all I know about conducting archival and industrial research, and has been the world’s greatest mentor over many years. His many readings and detailed critiques of this manuscript in all forms have made me a better writer. I am also quite thankful to fellow UT grads Alisa Perren, Cynthia Meyers, and Megan Mullen. Alisa and Cynthia have been fantastic sounding boards for my work for many years, and Megan offered early drafts of her book chapters that were very helpful for perspective on cable history. At UCSB, I won the lottery in supportive and brilliant colleagues. Every single person in the Film and Media Studies department has helped me with this project in their own unique way. I am so lucky to have landed here, with Edward Branigan, Chuck Wolfe, Constance Penley, Dick Hebdige, Janet Walker (mentor supreme), Anna Everett, Bhaskar Sarkar, Peter Bloom, Greg Siegel, Michael Curtin, Cristina Venegas, and Lisa Parks. Special thanks go to Greg for his editing, and to Lisa and Cristina for their true friendship and guidance that went well beyond the research and writing. Department guru Dana Welch helped me with scans and all things technological, Ethan Tussey provided outstanding research assistance, and Emily Carman was a great help when preparing the manuscript. While writing, I received valuable awards from the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center and the Regents Junior Faculty Fellowship at UCSB. The Hellman Family Fellowship for untenured faculty also provided critical research funding at an important time. I am truly fortunate that these generous organizations chose to support my work. The Antitrust Division at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., gave me all I needed (and more) to start this project; Janie Ingalls, Leona Johnson , and Attorney Bernard Hollander helped me identify, access, and process primary sources that were critical to the formulation of my argument. I am eternally grateful for their help in navigating the bureaucracy and government files that provided the backbone for this history. I am also very appreciative of the staff at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, where I received expert assistance finding archival materials. I am sincerely grateful to Leslie Mitchner at Rutgers for believing in this project and shepherding the book through the publishing process with extraordinary focus and efficiency, and to Katie Keeran for administrative assistance. Rick Delaney made this book a better one with his masterful copyediting. Anonymous readers at Rutgers offered thoughtful comments on an early draft, as did Stephen Prince. Stephen’s suggestions were especially helpful and improved the structure and quality of the book. Editors Ann Martin, Mark Jancovich, and Ron Rice worked with me on published articles about this topic, and this book has benefited from their expertise. I am also thankful to Matt Caldwell for the cover design. There is no way I could have finished this project without the love and support of amazing friends. Rebecca Epstein, Miranda Banks, David Meyer, Kelly Goldberg, Jack Jason, Ryan Rayston, Chris Davies, Lana Saffrin, Amy Stein, Lisa Parks, Cristina Venegas, Lisa Hajjar, Winddance Twine, Alisa Perren, and Jacalyn Gross are all responsible in some way for this book getting done. I cannot thank them enough. Lastly, I feel very lucky for my sturdy...

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