This chapter explains how the show "The Avengers," a popular British television program with an unusual female lead role, captured the imagination of women viewers in England from 1962 to 1964. After describing the show and then the research project investigating viewers' responses to it, this chapter explores the experience of watching…

Examines prime-time television's portrayals of industries from the 1950s through the 1980s. Claims that television overrepresents service and public administration industries and underrepresents manufacturing. Asserts that these representations reflect widely shared cultural values and the commercial constraints of network television. (MM)

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)

The readability/usefulness of a new format for the final report of the Tri-State Adoption Project--involving Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas in a television promotion effort--were evaluated. How busy decision makers (two federal, seven state, and 17 regional program officers) can be informed of evaluation research outcomes is illustrated. (TJH)

Investigates whether audience reaction to an editorial affect evaluations of adjacent newscasters. Tests effects of strong to weak television editorials on audience members and finds that strongly worded negative editorials cause a lowering of the judgment of competence of the adjacent newscaster if the audience members disagreed with the…

Examines the current state of empirical research on religious television, discusses some of the implicit difficulties in exploring this phenomenon and its viewership, and suggests avenues for future research. (MS)

Examines the locally produced programing on independent television stations and concludes that such programing averages only about 3.6 hours a week and is declining. (FL)

Concludes that major market local television newscasts include substantial doses of helplessness, most of it at extreme levels. Specifically, members of the general public are often presented as helpless, and, by implication, so are television viewers. (FL)

Examines all network prime-time television aired from 1963 through 1985 to determine the effect of available program options on inheritance effects. Indicates that a strong lead-in increases audience share, especially when the program is new, of the same type as the preceding program, or one of few viewing alternatives. (JD)

Examined the type of local television programing offered during the prime-time access period (7:30-8:00 P.M.), the reasons behind the choices, and the special alternative offered by "PM Magazine." Discusses what these findings suggest about the limits of local programing in the current television marketplace. (PD)

Presents systematic evidence that violent, fictional television stories trigger imitative deaths and near-fatal accidents. In 1977, suicides, motor vehicle deaths, and nonfatal accidents all rose immediately following soap opera suicide stories. (AM)

Reveals that the three major television networks in the United States emphasize the "bad" aspects in their coverage of business news. (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)

The gratifications identified by viewers of the daytime television serial "All My Children" were (in rank order): entertainment, habit, convenience, social utility, relaxation or escape from problems, escape from boredom, and reality exploration or advice. (GT)

Concludes that television viewing and adolescent audiences' perceptions of program reality are strongly related. (FL)