Broadcast and Cable News Network Differences in the Way Reporters Used Women and Minority Group Sources to Cover the 2004 Presidential Race

Our content analysis of 2,075 campaign stories aired by 3 broadcast and 3 cable networks during the 2004 presidential campaign revealed that female and non-White reporters at broadcast networks were generally more aggressive in their source use when compared to their male and White colleagues, using a greater number of sources and in most cases also allotting the sources more time. Female and non-White reporters at cable networks also tended, although less consistently and to a lesser extent, to use and give more time to female and non-White sources.     

Product Differentiation in National TV Newscasts: A Comparison of the Cable All-News Networks and the Broadcast Networks

This study explores content differences in the evening newscasts of the cable all-news networks and compares the evening newscasts of the cable and broadcast networks. A content analysis found strong evidence of product differentiation in the major evening newscasts between the cable and broadcast networks as well as among the cable all-news networks. Each network contributed significantly to adding unique news to the daily television news pool and the topics of the unique stories were diverse.     

Differences in the Way Broadcast,Cable and Public TV Reporters Used Women and Non-White Sources to Cover the 2008 Presidential Race

TV evening news coverage of the 2008 presidential election by broadcast, cable, and public networks was predominately male and Caucasian in terms of reporters and sources. However, according to our content analysis of 888 campaign stories, viewers saw the least amount of source diversity if they watched the evening news on broadcast networks ABC, CBS, and NBC. Cable networks FOX and CNN, and the PBS evening news had more female and non-White sources. This pattern also holds true for reporter use of nonpartisan sources. Findings on the 2008 election for the traditional broadcast networks are not consistent with those for the 2000 and 2004 elections, when female reporters at these networks had more female and nonpartisan sources in their election coverage than did their male colleagues. Reporters at PBS provided the greatest overall source diversity, regardless of their race or gender, compared to what was observed on broadcast and cable networks. Differences in the way reporters used women and non-White sources to cover the 2008 presidential race may be attributable to organizational factors.     

Can You Repeat That? Patterns of Media Ownership and the “Repurposing” Trend

The article examines shifting patterns of ownership for cable programming services from 1994 to 2003. In these years, vertical integration in the cable industry declined, as cable's multi-system operators divested equity in programming services. Meanwhile, broadcast network-owning media conglomerates invested heavily in cable, tripling their holdings among the top 20 most fully distributed cable channels, as well as launching and acquiring dozens of additional, less widely distributed channels. In light of the Federal Communications Commissions' recent attempts to revise rules regarding television ownership, the author argues that while vertical integration has declined, the market power of the broadcast networks has grown by means of a new kind of horizontal integration that reaches across broadcast and cable channels. This shift is reshaping cable as a market which, despite growing product differentiation, is trending toward less competitive conditions that are akin to the broadcast oligopoly. This article shows that these broadcast-cable alliances contributed to the development of the new synergistic practice of repurposing.     

Museum Monsters and Victorious Viruses: Improving Public Understanding of Emerging Biomedical Research

Although microbes directly impact everyone's health, most people have limited knowledge about them. In this article, we describe a museum and media public education campaign aimed at helping diverse audiences better understand emerging knowledge about microbes and infectious disease. Funded primarily by the Science Education Partnership (SEPA) program of the National Institutes of Health, this campaign involved crosscutting programs designed to extend impacts throughout a broad public audience. Collaborations with partners from public media, libraries, science education, the social sciences, and biomedical research centers extended our outreach to local and national audiences of adults and youth. Our campaign developed programs for radio broadcast, schools, libraries, museums, and publishers to ultimately reach over eight million people. In addition, we conducted a series of research studies focused on understanding the mental models that people create of the complex concepts of microbes and infectious disease and on how to engage hard‐to‐reach adolescents with this science content. These studies furthered our understanding of how people reason about unseen phenomena, the kinds of materials that might intrigue youth who claim little interest in science, and how to begin to combat misinformation pervasive in this field. Our comparisons of expert, teacher, and teen reasoning about microbes revealed their distinct mental models on the topics of infection, vaccination, and immune response. Our investigation of comics confirmed their power to motivate teenagers to want to read more about science. Across all levels of science identity, we found that youth were more engaged with the comics than with comparable essays. Together, these findings provide insights into how to educate a diverse public about emerging biomedical research.     

Partnerships between the old and the new: Examining the strategic alliances between broadcast television networks and internet firms in the context of convergence

Abstract

This study applied a resource‐based view (RBV) strategy framework to analyze the major broadcast television networks’ alliances with Internet firms in the United States from 1998 to 2001 in the context of the convergence between the Internet and television. The findings show that the television networks primarily contributed property‐based resources, while the Internet firms largely contributed knowledge‐based resources to the alliances. The findings also indicate that the broadcast networks’ alliance structural preferences were influenced by the resources they contributed to and what they desired to access through the alliances. The networks used their property‐based resources as a basis to form Internet alliances, and in return they obtained access to Internet firms’ knowledge‐based resources that are essential in creating an Internet presence for the broadcasters.     

Has lead‐in lost its punch? An analysis of primetime inheritance effects: Comparing 1992 with 2002

Abstract

Recognizing the recent dramatic increase in the number of channels available to the typical American household coinciding with an equally dramatic decrease in audience ratings for the major broadcast networks, there was reason to hypothesize that, in recent years, lead‐in or inheritance effects have diminished. However, an analysis of prime time ratings comparing 1992 with 2002 for ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox showed no support for this notion, suggesting that, despite the recent upheavals in the television industry, lead‐in has not lost its punch.     

Political bias in the news coverage of Taiwan's first presidential election: A comparative analysis of broadcast TV and cable TV news

This research examines how TV reported the campaign and the candidates during Taiwan's first‐ever presidential election in 1996.

A content analysis of evening news coverage of six TV stations indicated that the state‐owned broadcast TV stations were far more likely than the privately owned cable TV stations to give a greater amount of coverage and soundbites to the ruling party presidential and vice presidential candidates, using the ruling party officials as principal news sources. The TV Stations’ coverage also contained more news favourable to the ruling party candidates than to other candidates.

The future may well see a turning point in TV election coverage as well as in general news coverage in Taiwan. The three state‐owned broadcast TV stations face competition from privately owned cable TV stations and may soon be confronted with the loss of public trust and audience, unless they can provide fair and balanced news free from government control.     

Verbal Aggression,Race, and Sex on Reality TV: Is This Really the Way It Is?

This content analysis examines verbal aggression, race, and gender presented in a composite week of popular reality TV programming on cable and broadcast television. Results show that African Americans were found to be overrepresented and depicted disproportionately as more verbally aggressive and more likely to be victims of verbal aggression than other races/ethnicities. African American women were more likely than men to be involved in verbal aggression, both as aggressor and victim. The results are discussed in terms of the potential effects of exposure to verbal aggression and the accompanying contextual factors found in reality TV programming.     

An assessment of utility and competitive superiority in the video entertainment industries

The authors examine the satisfactions obtained by audiences from different video media (broadcast television, cable television, videocassette recorders, premium cable television, and pay‐per‐view cable services) and examine the extent to which the different media compete in meeting those satisfactions. The study illustrates how merging niche theory with gratifications research can be used to effectively study competitive relationships.     

Competition between the cable and broadcast industries: A niche analysis

The authors show that although there is increasing competition between cable television, broadcast television, and radio, broadcast television remains a strong competitor and has not yet been displaced by cable television in the advertising market. Radio still remains competitive, but not to the degree of broadcast television. The authors suggest that cable television will not rapidly overwhelm and push broadcast industries out of the market.     

The Commodity Flow of U.S. Children's Television

This article argues that commodity flow is a defining characteristic of children's television programming, and that this flow of commodity and corporate-brand images builds into the genre a relatively coherent selling ethos. Three-hour blocks of programming, recorded on two different Saturday mornings for several broadcast and cable networks, were analyzed to highlight commodity flow within and between networks. This flow of commodities on children's television indicates a blurring of the distinction between content and promotional forms and illustrates the high level of commercialism targeted at this audience.     

Audience concentration in the media: cross-media comparisons and the introduction of the uncertainty measure

This article examined how audiences respond to item abundance by analyzing audience concentration of magazines, cable television networks, radio networks, and broadcast television networks. The primary finding is that there is a positive relationship between item abundance and the degree of audience concentration measured by uncertainty ratios. As item options in newer media increase, the finding is important for two reasons: diversity issues related to audience behavior and diversity policy issues. The efforts to promote item diversity by policy-makers can be undermined by the result that audiences concentrate more highly on a smaller portion of items with an increase in item options.     

Television coverage of the 1995 legislative election in Taiwan: Rise of cable television as a force for balance in media coverage

This research examines how television reported the campaign, parties, and candidates during the 1995 Legislative Election in Taiwan. Results of this study showed that state‐owned broadcast television stations were far more likely than privately owned cable television channels to give greater coverage to the ruling party and its candidates, to use ruling party officials as news sources, and to offer more news coverage favorable to the ruling party than to other parties. We conclude that cable television has become a force for balance in coverage, diluting a pervasive pro‐government party bias. The rise of cable television from virtual “outlaw” status to government‐licensed status appears to have responded to a more liberal society and made a contribution to the development of democracy, as have the expanded elections themselves.     

“You too,Second Screeners?” Second Screeners’ Echo Chambers During the 2016 U.S. Elections Primaries

This article examines second screeners’ conversations during the 2016 U.S. election primaries. Over a 2-week period, we collected Twitter mentions of 3 top cable news shows (N = 49,568) posted while these shows were broadcast. Using social network analysis, we reconstructed the social network of second screeners (N = 27,811) and found that the network exhibits ideological homophily with few cross-camp interactions. Our findings strongly indicate the existence of echo chambers in the second screen realm, with more confined echo chambers identified in networks of Twitter followers in comparison to second screeners. The study provides one of the most comprehensive mappings of the second screening phenomenon during an election campaign to date.     

Food and Beverage Advertising on U.S. Television: A Comparison of Child-Targeted Versus General Audience Commercials

Major advertisers and children's television networks have announced marketing policies designed to combat childhood obesity. A content analysis of food advertising was conducted on programming from broadcast and cable networks most likely to be viewed by children. Unlike previous content analyses, the results show that nutrition appeals are among the most frequently used. However, as in past research, unhealthy foods are most frequently advertised. Further, child-targeted commercials employ production techniques and persuasive appeals that children have found difficult to evaluate critically. The potential impacts of this advertising landscape are discussed on both the individual and social level.     

Taboo or Not Taboo? That is the Question: Offensive Language on Prime-Time Broadcast and Cable Programming

This investigation of offensive language on prime-time broadcast and cable programs found that 9 out of 10 programs contained at least one incident of profanity, and viewers were exposed to 12.58 cuss words per hour in 2005. Viewers of broadcast programs were exposed to slightly less than 10 objectionable words per-hour compared to 15 words-per-hour on cable programs.     

Standpoint: Television broadcasting leads Romania's march toward an open,democratic society

Television broadcasting started slowly in Romania and for decades languished under strict state control. However, since it helped break the shackles of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's unique blend of Communist dogma and censorship, it has been leading Romania's march toward a more open, democratic society. At first, broadcast improvements were slow to develop as the first democratically elected regime in post‐revolutionary Romania maintained its Communist‐era monopoly overstate television. More recently Romania has seen a dramatic increase in broadcast competition and freedom. Four factors have played particularly significant roles in spurring improvements: the development of alternative networks, access to Western‐style programming and production techniques, the rise of private, independent broadcasters, and the international exchange of broadcast content.     

Promoting Movies on Television

Although many factors affecting a movie's success lie outside a television network's control, on-air promotion is produced by the network and can be utilized to varying degrees of effectiveness. This study measured the impact of 10 promotional variables on broadcast movie ratings by analyzing 813 prime-time promos for 137 televised movies. Results showed how the effectiveness of promotion differed according to a movie's familiarity, popularity, and compatibility. The ratings for made-for-television movies were most affected by the promotion's audience reach, frequency of exposure, and close distance in time to movie airdates; in contrast, theatrical movies aired on television were more affected by promotional reach and the construction of the promotional spot. The findings supported the general salience model of on-air program promotion but also demonstrated that the factors affecting television movie promotion differ markedly from those affecting dramatic and comedy series promotion.