A study investigated the extent to which cable television diverts audiences from local television news programs, and whether such diversion decreases community involvement and political participation. Of a random sample of 300 adults selected for interviewing from a northern California county telephone directory, 53% reported having cable…

This report surveys the basic research on how children understand and respond to television advertising messages in order to determine whether regulation is necessary. The implications of the research findings for likely marketplace developments in an unregulated environment are discussed, and it is concluded that there is no sound basis to expect…

This study explored children's play behavior as it may be influenced by a particular type of television programming, i.e., shows based on commercially available toys. Subjects were two groups of 5- to 6-year-old and 7- to 8-year-old boys who were exposed to a representative program, The Transformers, which features the Transformer toys. Exposure…

This study was carried out to examine the issue of whether discipline-derived economics courses enhance student societal understanding. News and current affairs programs on Melbourne television throughout 1986 were surveyed, and the economic concepts and issues involved were examined. Of the 125 programs that comprised the sample, 90 (72%) were…

In order to investigate the nature of character portrayals in U.S. television commercials, a content analysis was done on a random sample of 2,604 U.S. television commercials which were videotaped in March 1981. This analysis included both demographic characteristics and more subtle aspects of gender differences, such as concerns, relationships…

Research has shown that producers and consumers of television programs are still uncertain about the nature of the "grammar" or "lexicon" that makes up the language of television. Although attempts have been made in experimental television ("video art"), systematic studies on the idiosyncratic nature, unique features,…

A study examined differences in television viewing behaviors and attitudes across age groups of children in their home environment. Personal interviews were conducted with 162 children, ages 5 to 12, in a midwestern elementary school. The interview assessed home environment (1) television viewing relationships, including viewing companion and…

To investigate the integration of new communications technology into existing patterns of leisure, a functional research model must be combined with a paradigm based on leisure time and the economical use of such time. A survey of 273 Davis, California, residents investigated the relationship between the desire to subscribe to cable television…

The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of television advertising on different types of children--specifically, the cognitive responses and extra-product expectations fostered by television commercials in both white and black children. The subjects, 52 middle-class white children and 30 inner-city black children ranging in age from…

One of Detroit's two black-owned and -operated television stations began broadcasting in October, 1975, as an independent, nonnetwork-affiliated channel. The diffusion theory of Rogers and Shoemaker, which assumes that adoption of an innovation is affected by the potential adopter's perception of the innovation's attributes, was applied in a…

The issue of whether or not television should continue to air commercial announcements for over-the-counter (O-T-C) drugs has been debated in the United States. On 8 December 1976, the Federal Communications Commission denied a petition to ban such television commercials between 6 A.M. and 9 P.M. in part because it could find little scientific…

A study was conducted in the Washington, D.C., area to test mass media effects in a community controversy. Five possible theories were hypothesized to explain the effects media have on a community: indirect and direct effects, null effects, agenda setting, reverse effects, and reverse agenda setting. During the 16-month test period of the British…

A study was undertaken to investigate, from a uses and gratifications perspective, the effects of serious television drama shown in a foreign country. Specifically, the study examined the impact of "Roots," a highly acclaimed American television drama on slavery, in Great Britain and provided comparisons with the findings of…

A model specifying relationships between life stage, motives for using television and the perceived reality of television was tested with data from 140 telephone interviews of adults living in Southern Illinois. The adults ranged in age from 18 to 87 years. Life stage was related to five of the 11 motives for using television: learning things,…

Visual field theory was examined insofar as television viewers' perception, retention, and preference for still visual images were concerned. The purpose of the experimental investigation was to determine whether the specific shapes, colors, and placement of visuals within a picture frame affected viewers' abilities to perceive, describe, and…