This book by two leading experts takes a fresh look at the nature of television, starting from an audience perspective. It draws on over twenty years of research about the audience in the United States and Britain and about the many ways in which television is funded and organized around the world. The overall picture which emerges is of: a medium which is watched for several hours a day but usually at only a low level of involvement; an audience which views mainly for relaxation but which actively chooses favourite programmes; a flowering of new channels but with no fundamental change in what or how people watch; programmes costing millions to produce but only a few pennies to view; a wide range of programme types apparent
Author(s): Professor Patrick Barwise, Professor Andrew Ehrenberg
Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd
Year: 1988
Language: English
Pages: 220
Contents......Page 6
Preface and Acknowledgments......Page 8
Detailed Contents......Page 10
Part 1: The Giant Medium......Page 14
1 - Introduction and Overview......Page 16
2 - Watching Television......Page 25
Part 2: Watching Programs......Page 36
3 - Choosing Different Programs......Page 38
4 - Watching Different Episodes......Page 51
5 - How Much We Like What We Watch......Page 62
Part 3: How Programs Reach Us......Page 74
6 - Broadcast Channels......Page 76
7 - The New Channels......Page 89
Part 4: Paying for Television......Page 102
8 - What It Costs......Page 104
9 - How We Pay......Page 117
Part 5: Television Today and Tomorrow......Page 134
10 - Television as a Medium......Page 136
11 - Concerns About Television......Page 149
12 - The Future......Page 167
Appendix A: Television Advertising......Page 180
Appendix B: Who is Viewing?......Page 188
References......Page 192
Glossary......Page 202
Author Index
......Page 210
Subject Index
......Page 214
