When "Sesame Street" launched in 1969, it was the first show to attempt to teach young children school-readiness skills with catchy songs and playful Muppets. Not only did it revolutionize the children's media landscape, the program sparked a love of learning among generations of children all over the world. For "Revisiting the…

Investigated the role of television as a medium for communicating environmental information to the general public by determining the influence of a Cousteau documentary on viewer knowledge and attitudes and to assess changes in those characteristics over time. Survey form used is included in an appendix. (ML)

This study evaluated the practicality of using videodiscs to distribute the television programs that are part of the courses of the International University Consortium (IUC) for Telecommunications in Learning, a network of colleges and universities in partnership with public broadcasting stations and cable systems. Fifteen videodisc players, along…

Describes a survey of U.S. public television programers which identified 11 factors perceived as important in making programing decisions; however, it was found that about 70 percent of total variance was explained by five of the factors: audience measures, personal feedback, program strategy, station resources, and intuition. The questionnaire is…

Findings are presented from the fourth survey of the educational services provided by public television licensees (in this case, n=168), which covered the period from September 1, 1982, to August 30, 1983. Results for a companion survey on the financing of public television's educational services covering Fiscal Year 1983 are also included, and…

This paper discusses from a historical perspective past shortcomings of public service television with its protective information policies, indifference to audiovisual language, absence of diversity in journalistic thematic choices, and "boring" style of television reporting. It is argued that there has been a substantial lack of concern…

Documentation of the status of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Television Department's Cable Television Communications Research Project is provided, along with a report of an evaluation which was undertaken both to determine the impact and effectiveness of the EduCable program service to cable system subscribers and to assess the viability of…

A survey was conducted to examine the instructional potential of six educational television programs designed to teach world history to high school students. Each of the six programs encapsulates the events of a given century as if it were a 15-minute evening newscast, providing interviews with famous figures, dramatic moments in history captured…

One in a series of papers by the Rural Research Agency devoted to the study of telecommunications services and systems sponsored by the State of Alaska, this paper concentrates on the technology of television delivery and distribution to the citizens of the state. It most closely scrutinizes entertainment television, but much of its analysis is…

A five-study evaluation assessed the appeal of Over Easy to its target group and its effectiveness in meeting stated objectives. Aimed at viewers over the age of 55, the daily, half-hour magazine-format program produced by KQED-TV San Francisco, is intended to inform them, encourage positive attitudes about aging, and encourage interaction among…

A study investigated the idea that the amount of knowledge viewers extract from exposure to television is a function of the amount of mental effort involved in processing the program content, and that the mental effort invested in viewing is partly a function of people's expectations about the demand characteristics associated with the content.…

The Search for Solutions (SFS) film series has been a popular and important component of many school science programs ranging from elementary to college level. Phillips Petroleum Corporation, funding agent for the SFS, reported that by 1984 some 26,000 schools, 83 percent of all public and private schools, had used the series. In addition, some 84…

This report describes an analysis of the segments and shows of the first season's production of "Square One TV" in terms of its elaborated goals. It includes charts and graphs showing the treatment of objectives for the series' goals across the 75 shows of the series. The goals of the series are: (1) to promote positive attitudes toward,…

This report presents a review of key research on public broadcasting and a synthesis of the actuality of public service broadcasting today in the face of increasing globalization, with case studies from 16 countries. Following the General Introduction (Pierre Juneau), the report is divided into two parts. Part 1--"Public Service Television in…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 27 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) children's understanding of television advertising; (2) the occupational role portrayed of women in magazine advertisements; (3) the relationship between…