In a study on public television viewing, data taken from KQED San Francisco (California) revealed that the pattern of "cume build-up" and viewing to program genres was absolutely similar in non-pledge and pledge months. The percentage of audience that watched 7 or more other pledge programs was well over 50% for many of the shows. These new findings should change the way public television approaches its audience in fundraising efforts. Research indicated that certain dissimilar programs contained something that appealed to the same individuals. The more that is known about programs that share that appeal--programs that have affinity--the more opportunity there is to: "(1) manipulate the schedule in ways which increase audience flow; (2) cross-promote programs that people are likely to watch; (3) develop effective, on-target pitches and strategies for pledge drives; and (4) demonstrate increased daypart frequency for underwriting sales." With access to home-by-home viewing data, viewing patterns can now be exposed that show affinity relationships between programs and program genres. Understanding affinity will allow for more precise scheduling of public television programs than was possible with audience flow studies and scheduling programs by demographic appeal. Research also indicates that certain regions of the country vary in preference for certain types of public television programming. A sidebar provides a fictional illustration of the importance of affinity studies. (Author/AEF)