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)

Finds that inertial engagement sustains looks across boundaries between programs and commercials; inertial engagement does not carry over from one look to the next; inertial engagement was associated with greater recognition memory for television content; and look length distributions are approximately lognormal, and hazard functions are…

A great deal of research has examined the effects of the racial composition of advertisements on their acceptance by the black consumer. From this literature two antithetical findings have emerged: (1) television commercials that use black models are more meaningful to black viewers than are those using white models, and (2) black models in…

A total of 155 nonlabeled, normal adults and 28 labeled, schizophrenic adults were interviewed in a study to determine differences in the two groups' perceptions of television utility and reality. Hypotheses were formulated concerning expected differences in the reported importance of television in interpersonal communication, relaxation, and…

Concludes that intelligence scores are consistently lower for adults who are heavy television viewers. (FL)

Concludes that the amount of time children and adults spend viewing television has little to do with their perceptions of violence. (FL)

Designed to indicate the reasons behind viewer program preferences, this 32nd report of an annual opinion poll presents the results of a survey which asked 914 participants to evaluate 3,584 television programs they liked, did not like, and/or to evaluate new programs. Tables summarize the reasons why programs were selected by viewers, their…

A study was conducted to explore the hypothesis that heavy television viewing, particularly the viewing of a great deal of violence, cultivates certain misconceptions about social reality. Four counties in Florida were selected for the study on the basis of geographical location and amount of violent crime. Survey questionnaires were administered…

Reports that viewing sitcoms and game shows can be beneficial to mental health, but viewing soap operas can be harmful. (FL)

Analyzes usage of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs during two recent television seasons. Alcohol predominated, accounting for more than two-thirds of all coded substance acts. More than two acts of alcohol use were found per hour in each season. The middle class and comic characters did the heavier drinking. (Author/BEF)

A study involving 111 adults with blindness examined the impact of watching television science programs with and without audio description. Results indicate respondents gained and retained more information from watching programs with description. They reported that the description makes the program more enjoyable, interesting, and informative.…

Found that viewers who were cued to pay particular attention to the following evening's network news were able to recall significantly more news items and in more detail than viewers who were not, but neither group as a whole recalled more than 25 percent of the stories. (PD)

Designed to indicate the reasons behind viewer program preferences, this report presents results of a survey which asked 1,576 television viewers (monitors) to evaluate programs they liked, did not like, and/or new programs. Tables summarize the findings for why programs were chosen, their technical quality, content realism, overall quality, and…

A survey of 128 hospital patients produced the following findings about hospital-home television viewing differences. Viewing motivations differed between home and hospital contexts. Patients indicated that television was used in the hospital more often to pass the time, but less frequently for information, entertainment, and relaxation, than in…

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…