An analysis of the prime time television offerings of the three commercial network-affiliated television stations in Rochester, New York, revealed that nonentertainment programing was minimal (5 percent) and that entertainment shows of all types predominated during prime time. (GT)

Proposes a rethinking of historical analysis of U. S. television history, to begin at the local level. Offers a case study of the place of Washington, DC, as a site for network news. Notes that, as a community, Washington presents an important site where forces such as migration and suburbanization shaped the early history of television. (SR)

Discusses media coverage of public relations topics. Describes a census of television news stories about public relations. Finds increased coverage from 1980 through 1995, and that politicians and foreign governments are the most commonly reported on users. States that stories generally have a neutral tone and assume the "press agentry"…

Examines coverage of several infectious diseases and teenage suicide to see whether television news favors covering illness where it clusters or when it occurs near major news centers where it is easier to cover. Finds that television news did go to where the illness broke out but tended to favor reporting urban over rural suicides. (RS)

Examines the role of media coverage in providing political legitimacy for United States Senators. Introduces into the analysis two new variables: senators' attitudes towards an issue, and their voting behavior regarding that issue. Finds that the amount of senators' television news coverage is a function of their power and stance. (RS)

Compares the news values of small and major market television stations. Finds that major market stations place more emphasis on fires, crime, and accident, but also emphasize local government and politics. (MM)

Compares the portrayal of women in music videos during the summer of 1985 with portrayals during the winter of 1986-1987. Finds that while sexism exists during both periods, the degree of sexism in the 1986-1987 videos varies by the sex of the musician, indicating that the presence of women musicians in videos decreases the degree of sexism. (MM)

Examines approaches to discourse and television, working from the specific example of the television situation comedy "Designing Women" to the general functioning of discourse in television narrative. Positions "Designing Women" within the sitcom genre. Suggests that "Designing Women" activates television's…

Examines the portrayal of family relationships in television domestic comedy. States that subjects were randomly selected to evaluate samples of nine programs. Finds that on television both parent-child and sibling relationships have developed in relational frameworks defined by the changing levels of conflict, cohesiveness, and socializing, with…

States that contrary to previous reports of "grazing," most viewers only used their remote control devices (RCDs) once or twice every half hour. Claims that the dominant RCD operation was direct channel punching, as opposed to dial turning. Concludes that most RCD activity did not take place during a program, thus voiding industry…

Assesses the variable amounts of attention that are required for a viewer to process two kinds of interruptions common to television: the shift from one message to a different, unexpected message; and the reference to previously presented material. Interprets results in terms of limited capacity and attentional inertia models of attention. (RS)

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…

Argues that the current popular negative critique of television, if examined carefully, reveals fundamental confusions concerning how print and television communicate information. Discusses the syntax of motion which distinguishes television from print, based on movement in space--a space that is both visual and acoustic. (SR)

Examines psychological concepts and theories about people's restrictions in processing information, and relates the concepts and theories to multiple resource theory. Applies this approach to television viewing, and discusses four separate limiting factors. (SR)

Investigates whether selective attention to a particular television modality resulted in different levels of attention to the visual and auditory modalities. Finds that subjects were able to focus on a particular message channel but that reactions to cues were faster when the audio channel contained the most information and when viewers focused on…