Distributing queer storyworlds in US, UK, Australian, and Canadian mainstream television drama

This article examines the distribution of LGBTQ+ television from the 1990s to the beginning of the 2020s. It presents new data of what queer-oriented series were distributed and where, uncovering the relationship between ‘distributive logics’ and centrally queer themes in mainstream television drama. Examining the emergence and proliferation of the ‘queer storyworld’ in anglophone markets of the US, UK, Australia, and Canada, it reveals how queer televisual representation has developed alongside changing modes of television distribution, particularly through liminal moments of industrial experimentation. In more recent years, this has prompted greater complexity and layering of themes in queer televisual representation.