Noting that little has been said about "TV Guide's" performance in telling its readers about television, a study examined how the magazine presented television during the 1970s, a critical period in the development of American television. All "TV Guide" covers from the 1970s were examined, and each cover story was categorized…

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…

This paper begins by identifying and discussing six attributes or characteristics of television interviews, which include the function of the interview, i.e., information or entertainment; the context within which it is presented in the program; the number of interviews and interviewees; the duration of the interview and the degree of its…

The current tension in the writing of histories has been between the defense of "textbook" histories--i.e., the conventional approach which focuses on great events, great individuals, and great collectivities--and progressive--i.e., populist or alternative histories which focus on ordinary people. A new form has been engineered by…

Evaluating the impact of the changing media environment on television programming, a study examined inheritance effects--the percentage of one television program's audience that also watches the program immediately following--in network prime time programming between 1976 and 1985. Inheritance effect was calculated as the correlation between a…

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…

Previous economic models suggested that, due to the high channel capacity of cable technology and its capability of pricing television programs directly to the viewers, its diffusion would promote specialized "narrow appeal" programming designed to serve relatively small audience segments. While this has clearly occurred, these models do…

A study examined the agenda setting and policy decision-making strategies utilized by independent public television producers to incorporate an independent production service into public broadcasting reauthorization legislation during the 100th Congress (1987-1988). Public policy analysis techniques from a political science perspective and…

To examine the agenda-building process in local television news, a study collected data in the newsroom of a network-affiliate television station in Indianapolis, Indiana, during a four-week period. Assignment editors and producers were observed as they selected from among the information subsidies they received in the mail (including news…

A study was conducted to determine the extent of television viewer interest in watching a 60-minute network evening newscast each weeknight. Data were collected through telephone interviews with 203 residents of a single county served primarily by New York City stations. Respondents reported their viewing of network nightly news programs, the…

This paper investigates the potential effectiveness of counter advertising in influencing the buying habits of a convinced audience. One month before the actual study, 109 subjects indicated a brand preference in a consumer questionnaire. The subjects were randomly assigned to groups that viewed one of the following: (1) a pro-Bayer aspirin…

Network policy, for the past several years, has been to preface many controversial programs with a general advisory warning that "this material may not be suitable for all family members." A random sample of the general public was surveyed in order to determine the usefulness of the current warning system. Only one-fourth of the adult…

A study was made of the news-interview programs from the three major television networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) to determine which aspects of the Vietnam War were discussed on the programs and whether participants were supporters of or detractors from the policies of the presidential administration at the time. The content analysis of 481 editions of…

The ABC television network's "Monday Night Football" (MNF) series is a very successful example of the symbiotic relationship between advertising, television, and sports. Assuming that the athletic contests are packaged as slick entertainment to draw both fans and nonfans to the real programing--the commercials--a study was organized to examine…

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…