The Violence Profile: Five Decades of Cultural Indicators Research

This study examines violence in prime-time broadcast network television programs aired between 1967 and 2015. The data show that violence has been a consistent and central part of programming, although levels vary by genre. Violence decreased in the 1990s, due mostly to the greater prominence of sitcoms and crime-related procedurals (such as Law & Order and CSI), which feature fewer explicit acts of violence. However, violence is making a serious comeback on prime time, with four of the five measures we examined reaching historically high levels in the 2010s. The percentage of characters involved in violence remains lower than in earlier years. Despite some ebbs and flows over the years, and dramatic institutional and technological changes, even at its lowest points violence on television is never far from the scene and remains difficult for the heavy viewer to avoid.     

Gender Portrayals Across the Life Span: A Content Analytic Look at Broadcast Commercials

This study investigated the role that age plays in gender portrayals in contemporary television commercials. A content analysis of 2,315 characters appearing in commercials aired during a composite week of prime-time programming on 6 major broadcast networks was conducted. The study compared images of female participants from childhood through the senior years to identify the extent to which female members of different age groups replicate conclusions drawn about images of females-in-general in advertising. The study also contrasted images of female characters from different age groups with their same-age male counterparts to shed additional light on the complexity of gender portrayals in prime-time commercials. The findings indicate significant differences among same-age gender portrayals and same-gender age portrayals. Results are interpreted within a social cognitive theory framework and directions for future research are articulated.     

The Bishop and the Gargoyle: A Study of Network-Produced Prime-Time Church-Set Dramatic Old-Time Radio Programs

This research examines dramatic old-time radio programs produced by the networks to identify prime-time shows that focused regularly and principally on ecclesiastics- people in service to the institutional church. Although many such programs appeared on prime-time broad- cast television, this study reveals that only one such program aired in the history of prime-time radio. The article draws a profile of this program, The Bishop and the Gargoyle, looking at how it represents ecclesiastics. The aim is to contribute to an understanding of how popular culture represents the institutional church and its leaders, here adding a review of radio to the existing literature that looks at the church's representation in television and movies. The study also considers why church-set network-produced prime-time programs were so scarce in old-time radio.     

The Spiral of Violence: Equity of Violent Reprisal in Professional Wrestling and its Dispositional and Motivational Features

Though lacking empirical evidence, professional wrestling has been criticized for portraying excessive violence in harmful contexts. This study focused on the equity of violent reprisal perpetrated by liked versus disliked protagonists with socially sanctioned or unsanctioned motives. Results of a quantitative content analysis show that most violent interaction sequences were over-retributive. Violence that was not part of match competition was routinely initiated for normatively unsanctioned motives and showed predominant patterns of escalating violent retribution. These patterns held across perpetrator disposition. Thus, liked characters regularly aggressed for normatively unacceptable reasons. The consequences of these portrayals are discussed.     

Media Life

This analysis of 4,469 promotions carried in on-air promos during prime-time and weekend sports television programs established the impact on prime-time ratings of frequency of promotion, distance, construction, and length. The analysis also examines the impact of these promotion variables for programs of different genres, targeted to different genders and ages, and with different degrees of familiarity. Whether the promotion aired in weekend sports or inside prime-time made little difference to the overall results, but notable differences emerged for programs of different genres, familiarity, and audience demographics. The findings apply to industry practices and contribute to refining salience theory.     

Homosexuality on All My Children: Transforming the Daytime Landscape

This study explores the question of whether lesbian or gay characters can be included long-term in daytime soap operas, a television genre historically predicated on the celebration of heterosexual romance. While daytime is typically ahead of prime-time in exploring controversial issues, its representation of gay and lesbian characters lags far behind prime-time comedies and dramas. The focus of investigation is the Bianca Montgomery storyline currently airing on All My Children (ABC). Through textual analysis and analysis of interviews with daytime journalists and other industry insiders, this article explores the risks and challenges of representing homosexuality on the soaps.     

Civilizing Prime Time: Gender and Conflict Resolution in the 2004–05 Season

Using a sample of 129 situation comedies, dramas, and reality programs airing during the 2004–05 prime-time season on the broadcast networks, this study examined the relationship between the gender of storytellers and on-screen portrayals of conflict resolution. The study found that the employment of at least one woman storyteller was related to the more equitable use of conflict resolution strategies and more “civilized” conflict resolution strategies among characters.     

Black Panthers in Peyton Place

This article uses the prime-time drama Peyton Place (ABC, 1964–67) to examine the challenges of racial integration in the serial narrative. Peyton Place broke ground as a prime-time serial, but declined in popularity by its fourth year on the air. An African-American family was added to the story canvas as part of a strategy to revive audience interest by exploring stories with social relevance. I use the archived papers of the show’s writers and producers to examine the negotiations behind the racial integration of a continuing drama that established its success with a white cast of characters.     

Geographical Proximity,Cultural Imperialism,and the Cultivation Effect

This work investigates the influence of geographical proximity on the cultivation effect in the context of cultural imperialism. A content analysis of prime-time programming (n=63 hours) is used to compose questions about the prevalence of different occupations in the USA and Israel. A sample of 655 students answered these questions. Viewing of American programming was significantly correlated with a tendency to hold a biased estimation of the prevalence of certain occupations in America in a manner that resembles the world of TV content. Viewing of Israeli programs had no such impact on the estimation of occupation prevalence in Israel. General viewing had no influence on the estimations made about any of the countries.     

Messages About Sex on Israeli Television: Comparing Local and Foreign Programming

A content analysis of 584 prime-time programs examines messages about sex on Israeli television, comparing local and foreign shows. A 2-week composite sample from 7 commercial broadcast, cable, and satellite channels is analyzed. Results show that sexual content is highly prevalent, with a significantly higher frequency in foreign than local shows. Less than 20% of programs with sexual content address sexual health and risks; foreign shows again exceed local ones. Few differences emerge between local and foreign content in the contextual presentation of sex. Findings are discussed in light of theory, research, and implications for audience effects, policy, and education.     

Constructing Gender Stereotypes Through Social Roles in Prime-Time Television

Using a sample of 124 prime-time television programs airing on the 6 broadcast networks during the 2005–06 season, this study examined the social roles enacted by female and male characters. The findings confirm that female characters continue to inhabit interpersonal roles involved with romance, family, and friends. In contrast, male characters are more likely to enact work-related roles. Moreover, programs employing one or more women writers or creators are more likely to feature both female and male characters in interpersonal roles whereas programs employing all-male writers and creators are more likely to feature both female and male characters in work roles.     

Rethinking Program Diversity Assessment: An Audience-Centered Approach

The marketplace metaphor that provides the foundation for the regulation of electronic media assumes not only that a diversity of content is available, but also that audiences expose themselves to this diversity. This exposure dimension of the diversity issue has been largely absent from conventional diversity assessments. This article proposes a method of assessing exposure diversity and conducts a preliminary analysis using 1995 Nielsen data for prime-time television. The marketplace metaphor that provides the foundation for the regulation of electronic media assumes not only that a diversity of content is available, but also that audiences expose themselves to this diversity. This exposure dimension of the diversity issue has been largely absent from conventional diversity assessments. This article proposes a method of assessing exposure diversity and conducts a preliminary analysis using 1995 Nielsen data for prime-time television.     

Representations of Race in Television Commercials: A Content Analysis of Prime-Time Advertising

Given the paucity of contemporary examinations of racial/ethnic minority portrayals in television advertisements, this study analyzed the frequency, context, and quality of 2,3 15 speaking characters in a one-week sample of prime-time television commercials. Results reveal different patterns of portrayals when African American, Asian American, Latino, Native American, and White characters are featured in television advertisements. The implications of these images are examined from the perspective of social cognitive theory to provide insights into their possible impact on audience members' self-perceptions.     

Judging the Degree of Violence in Media Portrayals: A Cross-Genre Comparison

This study tests the relative importance of different factors of television narratives in how they influence people's judgments of how violent those narratives are. After watching 1 of 3 videotapes of a violent narrative, 99 college students answered a series of questions about their interpretations of the violence. It was found that participants' judgments about the degree of violence in the narratives were more strongly associated with their perceptions of the graphicness of the violent acts and the harm to the victims than with other factors such as the number of violent acts or the seriousness of those acts. Thus, people's judgments of the degree of violence in television programs differs from researchers' conceptualization. Implications of these differences are discussed.     

Developmental Changes in Adolescents' Television Viewing Habits: Longitudinal Trajectories in a Three-Wave Panel Study

Trajectories of television viewing throughout adolescence were described using the data of a panel study in 12- to 17-year-olds. Results indicated that changes in viewing habits are different when daytime, prime-time, and late-night television viewing are examined separately. Although daytime and prime-time viewing showed a decline, viewing during later waking hours increased. Teenagers who have access to a television set in their room watch more; male viewers tend to avoid the "family hour" and "female contents." Findings are discussed within the framework of developmental processes as separation, the growth in alternative opportunities, and identity formation.     

Talking Smack: Verbal Aggression in Professional Wrestling

The current study presents the results of a content analysis of the verbal aggression found in 36 hours of televised professional wrestling. The coding scheme was adapted from the National Television Violence Study and past research on television verbal aggression. Results show that an abundance of verbal aggression occurs in televised professional wrestling, with swearing, competence attacks, and character attacks being the most common types. In addition, the primary motives for verbal aggression use are amusement and anger. Furthermore, verbal aggression tends to be communicated and received by White, male individuals with no clear dispositional characteristics. The results are discussed in terms of potential effects of exposure to the verbal aggression found in professional wrestling.     

Age-Based Ratings,Content Designations,and Television Content: Is There a Problem?

An analysis of 9 week-long samples of prime-time network programming broadcast between the fall of 1997 and the fall of 2003 found that more than 8 out of 10 programs were labeled with an age-based rating (TV-G, TV-PG, TV-14, or TV-MA), whereas fewer than 4 in 10 programs were also labeled with content-based ratings (V, S, L, or D). Although programs with age- and content-based ratings accurately reflected sexual and violent content, a sizable number of programs without content-based ratings also had sexual and violent content. Ratings provide parents with incomplete information on which to base viewing decisions.     

Exploring Attribution of Responsibility in a Cross-National Study of TV News Coverage of the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen

This study investigates how prime-time television news portrayed attributions of responsibility for climate change policy issues in the United States, China, and Canada. In analyzing news coverage of the 2009 climate change summit in Copenhagen, we distinguish between causal and treatment responsibility. Additionally, we develop frames to test Cerutti's conceptualization of responsibility attribution (2010). The results suggest that television news in the 3 countries portrayed treatment responsibility differently. The prominence of morality, global justice, and national efficacy frames varied across countries, and these conditions were associated with the treatment responsibility frame, partially lending support to the validity of Cerutti's conceptualization.     

The Big Three's Prime-Time Decline: A Technological and Social Context

This paper is an analysis of factors associated with the 25-year decline in the prime-time shares of the top 3 television networks. Time series analysis revealed a stronger serial correlation between network decline and social indicators than between network decline and technological factors. Network shares were negatively correlated with indicators of social differentiation, and were also negatively correlated with the penetration of cable and other multiple video programming distribution sources (MVPD) into the nation's households (the technological context). Findings were discussed in terms of the impact of social change on both the audiences and organizations of broadcasting.