Examines a census of 1,757 major characters added to broadcast network lineups through new season programming from 1966 to 1992. New characters are examined in terms of gender, age, race/ethnicity, and occupational patterns occurring across 27 years of network program activity. (Author/AEF)

Describes a study that examined 48 television stations seeking FCC (Federal Communications Commission) license renewal in 1992 and assesses their efforts to fulfill the programming requirements of the Children's Television Act (CTA) of 1990. Educational programming requirements are explained, and results are reported that indicate inadequate…

Examines family relationships in domestic comedy; participants evaluated samples of 13 programs from a selection of popular shows during the period from 1950 to 1990. Spousal and parent-child relations were evaluated. The study yielded no support for the claim that family relations have deteriorated in the television family. Three tables present…

Examines the amount of coverage given to women's athletics by ESPN SportsCenter and CNN Sports Tonight. Results indicated: both programs devoted only about 5% of their air time to women's sports; story placement and on-camera comments indicated an emphasis on men's athletics; and stories about women involved individual competition, with almost no…

Examines the effect of violence advisories and MPAA ratings on parent-child television viewing choices and verbal interactions while making those choices. Parents mainly made negative comments about the advisories and restrictive ratings whereas children, especially older children, were more likely to make positive comments. The presence of an…

Examines differences among groups of listeners to political talk radio using data from a survey of adults in San Diego, California, from the perspective of Grunig's situational involvement model. Among more active audience members, limited motivational data suggest that political talk radio served a mix of needs, including seeking political…

Assesses aggressive behavior on television in terms of its realism. Replicated and contextualized reality were assessed for 100.5 hours of programming. Replicated reality compared television portrayals to real world characteristics, and was similar in seriousness to aggression and gender patterns of perpetrators and victims. Contextual reality…

Discusses the increase in audience research for public broadcast radio programming and how it influences decisions about programming and fundraising. The evolution of public radio's use of audience research is related to its changing conception of localism. (53 references) (Author/AEF)

Introduces a theoretical perspective on media viewing choices, grounded in social identity theory. Content analysis demonstrates that child, younger adult, and older adult television viewers show a preference for viewing characters of their own age. The experiment demonstrates that young adults' preference for viewing young adult characters exists…

Describes a study that analyzed television series programs from 1950-89 featuring families to identify racial/ethnic composition, number of children, head of household, marital status, and family configuration and to compare television family characteristics with real families based on census figures. (16 references) (LRW)

Examines the issue of diversity and cable television from a content analysis of 1,035 randomly chosen moments from four channels: network, cable, independent, and public. Results demonstrate that there has been little movement towards more accurate proportional representation of historically underrepresented demographic groups across the 32…

A sample of 285 parents of children in kindergarten, second, fourth, and sixth grades was interviewed about their children's television viewing habits. Analyses revealed that interest in classic cartoons, which typically display violence for violence's sake, was predicted by grade, whereas attraction to typically justice-restoring violent fare was…