The thesis is a sociological case-study of the two-channel television system in New Zealand from its inception in 1974 to the present day. It focusses in detail on the period 1974-80 when the two public channels were in direct competition with each other. The study examines three sets of issues and ambiguities which this competition threw up. One was the conflict between administrators and programme-makers over the best way to manage the severe ambiguities produced by this unusual mixture of state and market. The second concerned the attempts by programme-makers to pursue the production of programmes as they wished with minimal interference from either the state or other organisational bodies. The third concerned the kinds of programmes and schedules they produced, the types of potential public these constructed and the response of audience groups to these activities. Drawing on recent theoretical debates in the area of organisations, professions and culture, the study argues that it is the shifting relationship between all three areas which explains the development of television through this period.