Jason Mittell is a prominent media scholar known for his contributions to television and genre theory. He defines genre not as a fixed category but as a cultural process—a dynamic interaction between media industries, texts, and audiences.
Mittell argues that genres evolve over time through institutional practices and cultural negotiation, especially within the changing landscape of television.
In his influential book Genre and Television, Mittell analyzes how TV genres are shaped by industrial contexts and audience expectations rather than intrinsic textual features. He emphasizes historical and institutional approaches to genre analysis, moving beyond traditional structuralist frameworks.
Mittell is also noted for his work on narrative complexity in contemporary television, exploring how genres intersect, hybridize, and innovate through non-linear storytelling and long-form seriality.