A number of important consequences have resulted from the generally increased sensitivity of trade unions to questions of communication and representation, particularly the trade union's uses of videos. Primarily developed by union leadership as a response to general political problems they have faced in the last decade, trade union videos…

A film course especially designed for technical communication students can illustrate basic film concepts and techniques while showing how film effectively communicates ideas in an industrial and scientific communication system. After a basic introduction to film terms, the study of actual scientific and industrial films demonstrates the following…

Research in broadcasting has increased substantially and can be used to aid in a variety of broadcast-related decisions. This paper focuses on audience analysis, an area of knowledge necessary for deciding analysis, an area of knowledge necessary for deciding special-program content, format changes, and aspects of news programming. Topics…

Personal interviews were conducted with drive-in theatre patrons in an attempt to paint an empirical portrait of a contemporary drive-in movie theatre audience. A total of 607 patrons of one Rochester, New York, drive-in were interviewed by trained college undergraduates using a prepared 33-item questionnaire consisting of open- and close-ended…

There has been little valid and reliable research of the motion picture audience. Specific reasons for the movie industry's own inattention to audience research include the early popularity of films and the fact that since the industry does not sell advertising it does not need to account for its audience size and preferences. Some researchers…

Providing an extensive, factual account of the controversy regarding the sale of a television station in Bloomington, Indiana, this paper presents a description of the legal issues involved, discusses the correspondence between the author and the purchasers of the station, outlines the justification for filing a Petition to Deny the transfer, and…

A study suggested that audience feedback plays a central role in determining the types of television programs shown on the air and that two major ways series are adopted are through imitation of popular series and through a gradual, evolutionary process. Through an analysis of the prevalence of programs in six genres, these hypotheses were…

Of all the mass media, radio is the most abundant, both in terms of the number of radio stations in operation and the number of radio receivers in use. Unfortunately, given the dynamics of a competitive market and the Federal Communications Commission's reluctance to interfere with a licensee's discretion in the choice of format, format…

The growth in competition for revenues, along with the advent of cable, independent television and video cassette recorders (VCR), may signify a change in the market structure of local television news. To explain if and how this change may be occurring, an explanation of economic theory as well as evidence from "Broadcast and Cable…

Reactance theory predicts that when a behavioral freedom is restricted or eliminated an individual is motivationally aroused to restore that freedom. This theory served as the basis of a study that investigated whether motion picture ratings, specifically R and X ratings, acted as a source of reactance arousal for high school students. Subjects…

Prompted by the belief that the noncomparative responses used in earlier studies did not provide accurate and objective measures of cable television subscriber preferences, a study was conducted to investigate subscriber preferences for new program services using a paired-comparison technique. Approximately 400 subscribers in a midwestern city…

The emergence of frequency modulation or FM radio signals, which arose from the desire to free broadcasting of static noise common to amplitude modulation or AM, has produced the controversial development of stereo broadcasting. The resulting enhancement of sound quality helped FM pass AM in audience shares in less than two decades. The basic…

Historically, radio broadcasting has been affected by innovational, social, technological, and economic change. For instance, FM (frequency modulation) radio emerged out of a desire to free broadcasting of static noise common to AM (amplitude modulation) signals. The eventual response by AM was to improve the technology of the signal. The inquiry…

Throughout most of the 1970s, the two major competing syndicated services measuring consumer magazine audiences utilized different methodologies in gathering magazine audience measurements and released somewhat differing figures. A study was conducted to explore the historical developments of W.R. Simmons and Associates Research, Inc. (Simmons),…

It is difficult to develop a measure of diversity in broadcast programing, and it is equally difficult to measure the value of a broadcast to its viewer. Similarly, attempts to measure viewer preference functions have resulted in categorizations so vague as to be meaningless. In the face of such ambiguity, attempts by the Federal Communications…