Professor Thompson is the general editor of an ongoing series of books about television published by Syracuse University Press. He is the former president of the National Popular Culture Association and lectures across the country on the subject of television and popular culture. In 1991 and 1992, he was awarded the Stephen H. Coltrin Award for Excellence in Communication Theory by the International Radio & Television Society.

Thompson is the author or editor of five books: Television's Second Golden Age (Continuum, 1996), Prime Time, Prime Movers (Little, Brown, 1992), Adventures on Prime Time (Praeger, 1990), and Television Studies (Praeger 1989). He is currently working on a history of television to be published by Blackwell.

Hundreds of radio and TV programs and publications have featured Professor Thompson's commentary, including: CBS's "60 Minutes", "48 Hours", "The Early Show" and "The Evening News with Dan Rather"; NBC's "Dateline", "Today" and "Later Today"; ABC's "20/20", "World News Tonight", and "Good Morning America"; PBS's "Newshour"; MSNBC's "Headlines & Legends", and "Playback"; CNN's "Newsstand"; CNBC's "Upfront Tonight with Geraldo Rivera"; Fox News Channel's "O'Reilly Factor"; NPR's "All Things Considered", "Morning Edition", "Talk of the Nation", "Fresh Air", "On the Media", and "Anthem"; The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Time, Newsweek Fortune, TV Guide, and Variety.

He holds a BA in political science from the University of Chicago and an MA and Ph.D. in radio, television and film from Northwestern University.