Reexamines assumptions about the displacement mechanism, which states that television displaces other activities. Considers strengths and weaknesses of various methodologies used to test the displacement hypothesis. Examines data from an eight-year panel study of the introduction of television to South Africa. Uses a variety of methodologies to…

Like other industries, television has its own version of the used-car dealership or second-hand store: off-network syndication. Since researchers who study television have rarely investigated the market for these programs, a study examined program and marketplace characteristics to determine which contributes most to the successful syndication of…

On the assumption that the mass media, to some degree, shape their users' thoughts about the nature of the world, this paper explores the development of a framework for studying television-influenced social reality--the controversial television-viewing-and-aggression hypothesis known as cultivation theory, as well as recent cultivation theory…

The viewer's perception of television pictures is different from the perception of pictures generated by other visual media. The research findings on the subject reveal that there are four major areas under which the study of television picture perception can be grouped. The "light through" as opposed to the "light on" theory…

Recent literature on television and behavior is reviewed, synthesized, and assessed in this report, the first of two volumes. Questions of television's impact on viewer functioning are addressed for the general reader, for the purpose of elucidating research findings and their implications for public health and future research. The focus of this…

Arguing that the threat to privacy in the new technological era of information processing and transmitting via cable television is a real one, this paper proposes that the threat can be minimized through effective legislation. The paper first looks at cable television privacy concerns and examines several studies concerning privacy, then reviews…

Research studies on the influence of the viewing environment on children's attention to television and the amount of television viewed are reviewed, as well as control of television viewing through environmental design and what is known about the kinds of environments depicted on television. How television can influence the development of our…

The 1976-79 schedules of the three major television networks were analyzed to determine what strategies were used to organize prime time schedules and what types of programs appeared during prime time viewing periods. Five essential programing strategies were identified: fraction of selection (cost versus reward), lowest common denominator (wide…

Studies investigating selected aspects of children's television viewing are described and the findings are used as the basis of a theoretical formulation in which young children's television viewing is seen as a transactional process similar to other normal information processing activities. According to this formulation, the child's motivation to…

Suggests that the fact that every country has its own system of cultural values and beliefs that decides the popularity of television programs, which plays a decisive role in influencing the types of shows imported from the United States. (DF)

The literature review discusses studies which have been conducted to determine whether television enriches a child's imagination or leads to distortions of reality, and whether adult mediation during a child's television viewing or immediately after can evoke constructive changes or stimulate make-believe play. Thirty-six references are cited.…

Compares different theoretical approaches to the study of international news. Finds many comparative studies of the foreign news output of national broadcasters and few studies analyzing the actual flow of television news between actors at the wholesale level and the flow between wholesale and retail level. Suggests a better framework for the…

Even though television scholar Herbert Zettl singlehandedly created the term "television aesthetics" by proclaiming that TV is an art, television studies are still excluded from the respectable divisions and disciplines of knowledge. Television is considered the epitome of mass culture/kitsch, and the very idea of a TV…

This document consists of abstracts for two papers which discussed television audience research and public policy. The first, "News Audience Research and an Informed Electorate" (Mark Levy), examined more than a dozen studies over the past 20 years concerning the flow of news and information to the public. None of these studies found…

Evidence in recent years has linked a heavy dependence on television news with lower levels of knowledge about various aspects of the political system and negative evaluations of that system (political malaise). Three different sources of data on audience dependence on television news were used (1) to examine more closely the shift toward…