Concludes that the answer to the question of whether viewers restructure their lives to accommodate television or whether television is made to fit into the existing structure of their lives is functionally related to the programing and the time period involved. (FL)

Concludes that next-day weather forecasts given by television stations are usually accurate and that stations seldom change their forecasts between the early evening and late evening newscasts. (FL)

Reports that television viewing ranked lowest on the preferred activity lists for busy mothers, but that the use of television as a "babysitter" is extensive. (FL)

A survey of 379 adults was used to assess the extent to which television news credibility scores were a function of researcher operationalizations of the concept. Underlying this effort were published reports suggesting that single item measures of television news credibility were either biased or inadequate indicators of a more complex…

Telephone interviews were conducted with 308 adults in a large eastern metropolitan area as part of a study to discover levels of satisfaction with present television programing; awareness of and exposure to religious broadcasts; motivations for exposure to "The 700 Club," a nationally syndicated religious program; and potential utilization of…

Finds clear patterns of differences in nature and number of commercials during children's programs on three different types of television channels: broadcast networks, independent stations, and cable networks. Examines themes/appeals employed in commercials, disclosures/disclaimers used, and other content attributes. (SR)

Of 219 people interviewed within a week of the broadcast of the miniseries "Roots," 104 people were reinterviewed one year later to determine the program's long-term effects, including its perceived and experienced impact on race relations in the United States and its stimulation of viewers to search for their own roots/heritage and to…

Reports on a study that suggested that those who watch television news primarily to gain information recall more than others, and that casual viewers recall more than those seeking diversion or both diversion and information. (GT)

A study was conducted to determine (1) how often television was used as a surrogate parent, (2) the reasons leading to its use as such, and (3) the correlates of using television as a babysitter. Telephone interviews were conducted with 226 mothers who had children between the ages of 2 and 12. The respondents answered questions that addressed…

This study provides evidence of the basic parameters of elementary school students' viewing of national, local, and children's news programing. About half of the children studied regularly watched the special Saturday morning newscasts, while almost half watched adult news programing at least occasionally. News viewing increased steadily from…

A total of 286 subjects was presented with a series of motivations and asked to evaluate the relative importance of each in their exposure/avoidance decisions about watching sports programs on television. The 188 sports viewers assessed the importance of each motivation for their viewing of baseball, hockey, football, and tennis. The 98…

This study examined both general and specific parent-child television viewing experiences together with any interactions related to television viewing whether the child has watched television with a parent or alone. A total of 384 telephone interviews of parents (57% female, 43% male) with children at home between the ages of 6 and 18 were…