A study investigated several questions concerning the amount of viewing and types of programs children and parents watched alone and together and the relation of viewing patterns to children's development. Investigated over a 2-year period were coviewing patterns, differences between younger and older children in their viewing with parents, changes in coviewing patterns, and the relation of parental coviewing to children's: (1) language development; (2) social behavior toward peers and adults; and (3) cognitive processing of television. Participants were 271 children of 3-7 years of age and their families. It was found that when children watched adult programs, a parent was present 75 percent of the time; only 22 percent of children's viewing of child-oriented programs was done with a parent. A history of coviewing informative programs with parents was positively related to children's attention to television and use of print. However, a history of coviewing general entertainment programs with parents was negatively associated with children's visual and auditory attention to television, preference for print media, and prosocial behavior. The paucity of findings favoring positive developmental outcomes from coviewing suggests that family viewing time is not used as an occasion for beneficial or instructional interactions. (Author/RH)