Although circulation of public television increased because of cable's extension, the amount of public television viewing as a portion of total TV use fell. This decrease follows no strong pattern of market characteristic, dial position, day part, or age of viewer, but does relate to the kinds of available competition. (MER)

A telephone survey of randomly selected homes was conducted to locate current owners of videocassette recorders (VCRs) for a study of their VCR-associated television viewing of both public (PTV) and commercial (CTV) television, and a one-week TV activity diary was mailed to homes in 16 cities. Analysis of data from 250 completed diaries indicates…

Discusses the effects on public television of competition from cable television and video recorders. Outlines the need for public television to reevaluate and redefine its program service. (JMF)