Prompted by the belief that the noncomparative responses used in earlier studies did not provide accurate and objective measures of cable television subscriber preferences, a study was conducted to investigate subscriber preferences for new program services using a paired-comparison technique. Approximately 400 subscribers in a midwestern city…

Based on the notion that technological and artistic developments in the area of television production affect viewers' comprehension and appreciation of televised programs, this essay examines the impact of telecommunication advances on the industry. The first section briefly considers the technological advances of the last decade in major TV…

A study examined the relationship between television viewing habits and reading achievement of students in grades 4, 8, and 11. Students, in addition to responding to the achievement and background exercises, answered three questions about their television viewing habits. Analysis of results showed that at all three grade levels, students who…

Eating disorders are more common among women than men, perhaps because of the present cultural emphasis on thinness for women. Television is one potential communicator of this thin standard of attractiveness. To assess how men and women are presented on television, 139 male characters and 82 female characters from 33 popular television shows were…

The portrayal of reading, writing, and other selected behaviors on prime-time network television was examined in this two-part study. First, an interest inventory was administered to a sample of 301 elementary students (i.e., grades 1-5) in South Carolina, Virginia, and Pennsylvania to determine their favorite television shows, books, and school…

This investigation of some of the meanings of "woman" that are produced and negotiated in the interaction of television representations, viewer receptions, and the historical/industry context focuses on the "Cagney and Lacey" series--produced in the United States--as a particular instance of the cultural production and…

The image and interactions of the black family depicted on television were investigated in order to determine whether changes occurred in the imagery and interactions of black television families between 1980 and 1985, and to compare the family structures and interactive behavior on situation comedies portraying nuclear black families during the…

What is currently happening in China is similar to what happened in the United States in the 1950s and the Soviet Union in the 1970s--television is quickly becoming a mainstay of popular entertainment and news. The Chinese government has made substantial efforts to provide television service to all regions of the country, with importance attached…

Based on the associational nature of memory, the distinction between episodic and semantic memory, and the notion of memory strength, a model was developed of the role of emotion in the memory of television commercials. The model generated the following hypotheses: (1) emotional commercials will more likely be recalled than nonemotional…

Recent polls seem to indicate that many Americans rely on television as a credible and primary source of news. To test the accuracy of this news, a study examined three networks' newscasts of science news, the attitudes of the science sources toward reporting in their field, and the factors related to accuracy. The Vanderbilt News Archives Index…

Homevideo is the most important innovation to enter the entertainment industry since the mass adoption of television nearly 40 years ago. It has revolutionized the movie studios, contributed to the crisis besetting the broadcast television networks, and changed the way Americans are entertained. Homevideo is the only private-sector mass rental…

In an effort to determine the nature of American network television news coverage of the Khmer Rouge rule in Cambodia, a study examined the television evening news from April 16, 1975, the date on which the Lon Nol government first offered to capitulate to the Khmer Rouge, through January 8, 1979, when news of the fall of Phnom Penh to the…

To compare broadcast coverage of the 1984 and 1988 GOP Conventions, a study asked three research questions: (1) Did live interviews represent the same number of sources interviewed during broadcasts of the 1988 GOP convention by the four networks as during the 1984 convention? (2) Did 1988 live interview sources have the same distribution with…

The 1988 presidential campaign provoked a flurry of popular press criticism directed at the heavy use by television news of short "sound bites" from candidates. A study examined the following questions: (1) Has the number of sound bites in network evening newscasts increased over the past 20 years? (2) Has the length of the average sound…

Theory and research on the processes of early social learning in children has indicated that television and television commercials play an important role in children's internalization of cultural meanings, interpretations, and values, whether or not the commercials children see are intended for or directed at them. Between the ages of 2 and 18,…