Radio-television listening preference: City of San Bernardino

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RADIO-TELEVISION LISTENING PREFERENCE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO

A T h e s is P r e s e n te d to The F a c u lty o f th e S c h o o l o f Radio U n iv e r s i t y o f S o u th e rn C a lif o r n ia

In P a r t i a l F u l f il l m e n t o f th e R eq u irem en ts f o r t h e D egree M aster o f A r ts

by D avid F red Hubbard May 1950

UMI Number: EP65339

All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion.

Dissertation Pubi stung

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? W"

'S-o This thesis, written by

D a v i d . _Fr e d.

Hub bar d ............................

under the guidance of h.%.$~. Faculty Comm itt ee, and a p p r o v e d by all its members, has been presented to and acce pted by the Council on Graduate S t u d y and Research in pa rtial fulfill­ ment of the requirements f o r the degree of

M a ste r Of A r ts H .J .D e u e l,J r « ............................................................DeaSi.............. D ate

.............. Max„125.Q.

Faculty Comprfftee

Chairman

TABLE OP CONTENTS CHAPTER I.

PAGE

THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITIONS OP TERMS USED The problem

* • •

• • • • • • • • • « • • . • • • •

3

S ta te m e n t o f th e p rob lem • -............................ • • •

3

Im p ortan ce o f th e stu d y * » . .

3

D e f i n i t i o n s o f term s u sed

• « • • • • .............................

O r g a n iz a tio n o f th e rem a in d er o f th e t h e s i s II#

PREPARING AND CONDUCTING THE PILOT STUDY . . .

• .

6 8 8

The in t e r v ie w s • • • • • • • • * • • • • • • •

9

• • • • • • • • • • •

ORGANISING AND CONDUCTING THE MAIN SURVEY

11

. . .

12

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • .

12

The te le p h o n e s u r v e y • • • • • • • • • • • • .

14

The q u e s t io n n a ir e

15

Sam ple s i z e

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

C h oice o f r e s p o n d e n ts The in t e r v ie w IV .

5

P roced u re o f p r e p a r a tio n • • • • • « • • • • •

P i l o t s tu d y c o n c lu s io n s III#

1

• • • • • • • • • • • •

16

• • • • • • . • • • • • • • • •

17

RESULTS OP THE S U R V E Y .........................................

20

R e s u lt s o f t h e r a d io i n v e s t i g a t i o n . • • • • •

21

The p r e f e r r e d h o u rs o f l i s t e n i n g • • • • • •

23

The l o c a l s t a t i o n p r e fe r e n c e • • • • • • • «

26

The p r e fe r r e d s t a t i o n o u t s id e th e c o r p o r a te l i m i t s o f t h e C it y o f San B ern a rd in o

. . .

30

iii CHAPTER

PAGE The p rogram s, b o th b y name and t y p e , p r e fe r r e d

•• • • » • • • # • • • • • • •

34

The d e g r e e o f in f l u e n c e t e l e v i s i o n i s h a v in g on

r a d io l i s t e n i n g •

• • • • • *

38

The e f f i c i e n c y w ith w h ich r a d io i s d o in g i t s jo b a s a medium o f e n te r ta in m e n t in th e home

• • • • • » • •

R e s u lt s o f t h e t e l e v i s i o n i n v e s t i g a t i o n

38

• • •

43

The number o f homes eq u ip p ed w ith t e l e v is io n r e c e iv in g s e t s

.

• .............

46

An a n a l y s i s o f le n g t h o f t e l e v i s i o n ow n ersh ip and h o u rs p er day s e t i s u se d T e l e v i s i o n v e r s u s r a d io

. • • • • • • • • •

O ther r e s u l t s o f th e su r v e y V.

•

• • •

SURVEY CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

47 48

•

50 52

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . ................................. • • •

57

APPENDIX

60

.........................................................

LIST OP TABLES TABLE I.

PAGE P e r c e n ta g e s In r e l a t i o n t o p r e fe r r e d l is t e n in g hou rs

II*

* • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

P e r c e n ta g e s in r e l a t i o n to s t a t i o n p r e fe r e n c e l o c a l l y • • . . . • • . . • • • • •

III.

28

P e r c e n ta g e s in r e l a t i o n to f o r e i g n s t a t io n p r e fe r e n c e • • • • • • • • • • • • • *

IV .

24

32

Program l i s t e n e r p e r c e n t a g e s and t o t a l program group mean in p e r c e n ta g e f i g u r e s • . •

36

LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE I* II*

PAGE O r ie n t a t io n p i c t u r e o f r a d io s t a t i o n s • • • • • D is p e r s io n p i c t u r e o f c o n ta c te d r e sp o n d e n ts and a r e a b o u n d a r ie s In c lu d e d i n th e s tu d y • •

III*

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • •

29

....................

• • • • •

53

G raphic r e p r e s e n t a t io n o f program p r e fe r e n c e b y ty p e

V II*

25

G raphic r e p r e s e n t a t io n o f f o r e i g n s t a t i o n p r e fe r e n c e

V I.

• •

G raphic r e p r e s e n t a t io n o f l o c a l s t a t i o n p r e fe r e n c e

V*

22

G raphic r e p r e s e n t a t io n o f a r e a l i s t e n i n g p r e f e r e n c e s in p e r c e n ta g e o f su r v e y mean

IV*

4

......................................

37

P e r c e n ta g e c u r v e s o f t h e s a t i s f i e d and th e n o t s a t i s f i e d r e s p o n s e s a c c o r d in g to i n d iv i d u a l s t u d i e s

V III.

• • • * • • • • • • • • •

40

O r ie n t a t io n p i c t u r e o f t e l e v i s i o n t r a n s m it t e r s t o su r v e y a r e a

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • *

44

CHAPTER

I

THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USED S u r v e y s a re made b y th e r a d io in d u s tr y b e c a u s e p e o p le form o p in io n s *

As a r e s u l t o f t h e s e o p i n io n s , t h e y r e a c t*

T h is r e a c t i o n i s e i t h e r f a v o r a b le or u n fa v o r a b le to c e r t a i n s t a t i o n s o r p ro g ra m s, and i s d e ter m in e d b y th e manner in w h ich th e l i s t e n e r c o n d u c ts h i s s e t tu n in g * R ad io i s u n iq u e i n th e e n te r ta in m e n t f i e l d

in t h a t

t h e r e i s s m a ll outw ard i n d i c a t i o n o f program or s t a t i o n p r e fe r e n c e * B r o a d c a s te r s m ust know how t h e i r programm ing e f f o r t s a r e b e in g r e c e iv e d *

I t i s i n c r e a s i n g l y im p o r ta n t to them

t o keep in form ed a s to how p e o p le f e e l a b o u t program ty p e s w h eth er i t b e m u s ic , n ew s, drama, or v a r ie t y *

They m ust

know how w e l l t h e i r c o m m ercia ls a re b e in g r e c e i v e d , and i f t h e y a r e ta k in g f u l l a d v a n ta g e o f t h e p o t e n t i a l a u d ien ce * The b r o a d c a s t e r c a n n o t know, w ith o u t i n v e s t i g a t i o n , i f h i s a u d ie n c e i s m e n t a lly b o o in g and h i s s i n g h i s program , or i f i t i s a p p la u d in g him*

H is l i f e

in th e b u s i n e s s depend s on

h i s a b i l i t y to draw a s much a p p la u s e and a s l i t t l e b o o in g and h i s s i n g a s p o s s i b l e *

In o th e r w o r d s, h e m ust c u r r y th e

fa v o r o f p u b lic o p in io n * W a lter Lippman d e s c r i b e s th e c a p a c it y o f p u b lic o p in ­ io n i n c a u se and e f f e c t *

H is d e s c r i p t i o n i s q u o ted b e lo w *

2 The r o l e o f p u b lic o p in io n i s d e te r m in e d b y th e f a c t t h a t i t s r e l a t i o n t o a p ro b lem i s e x t e r n a l . The o p in io n e f f e c t s an o p in io n , b u t d o e s n o t i t s e l f c o n t r o l th e e x ­ e c u t i v e a c t . A p u b lic o p in io n i s e x p r e s s e d b y a demon­ s t r a t i o n o f p r a i s e o r b la m e , a f o l l o w i n g or a b o y c o t t i n g . 1 H e r e , Lippman i s s p e a k in g in term s o f p u b l i c o p in io n and g o vern m en t, b u t th e same t h in g h o ld s tr u e i n r a d io or t e l e v i s i o n a s an e n te r ta in m e n t medium.

I t i s an i n d i r e c t

i n f l u e n c e w h ich a f f e c t s th e p rob lem under c o n s i d e r a t i o n . In t h i s c a s e , i t i s r a d io ; i t s program s and d e s i r e t o p l e a s e . The s a l v a t i o n o f r a d io l i e s

in i t s a b i l i t y t o p l e a s e

and e n t e r t a i n , and th e s u c c e s s o f i t s e f f o r t r e s t s i n th e a p p r o v a l o r d is a p p r o v a l o f p u b l i c o p in io n .

The d e g r e e o f

t h i s s u c c e s s i s d e te r m in e d b y s u r v e y . When one p la n s a s tu d y su ch a s t h i s , one i s b y t h e number o f t o p i c s w h ich n e e d i n v e s t i g a t i o n .

im p r essed There i s

a lm o s t no end to th e q u e s t io n s w h ich a r i s e when an a p p r a is a l o f th e m edia o f r a d io and t e l e v i s i o n i s m ade.

T here m u st,

o f c o u r s e , b e a d e f i n i t e l i m i t t o th e i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f any one s u r v e y .

For t h i s r e a s o n , th e p u r p o se s o f t h i s s tu d y

a r e l i m i t e d t o th o s e s e t f o r t h b e lo w under lfS ta te m e n t o f The Problem 11.

^W alter Lippman, The Phantom P u b li c , (New Y ork: H a r c o u r t, B race and Company, 1 9 2 5 ) , p . 55

3 I*

THE PROBLEM

S ta te m e n t o f th e p r o b le m *

I t was t h e p u rp o se o f t h i s

s tu d y t o m easure (1 ) th e p r e f e r r e d h o u rs o f r a d io l i s t e n i n g ; (2 ) th e l o c a l s t a t i o n p r e f e r e n c e ;

( 3 ) th e p r e f e r r e d s t a t i o n

o u t s id e th e c o r p o r a te l i m i t s o f th e c i t y o f San B e r n a r d in o ; ( 4 ) th e program s p r e f e r r e d , b o th b y name and ty p e ; (5 ) th e d e g r e e o f i n f l u e n c e t e l e v i s i o n i s h a v in g on r a d io l i s t e n i n g ; and ( 6 ) th e a c c e p t a b i l i t y w h ich a u d ie n c e s a r e a c c o r d in g r a d io a s a medium o f e n te r ta in m e n t i n th e home* A l l o f t h e s e m easurem ents w ere made in r e l a t i o n to th e p e o p le o f th e C it y o f San B ern ard in o* Im p ortan ce o f th e s t u d y *

The r e s i d e n t o f San B ern a r­

d in o h a s a c h o ic e o f fo u r l o c a l s t a t i o n s ,

in c lu d in g two n a­

t i o n a l n e tw o r k s , p oor t o good r e c e p t i o n o f th e o th e r two m ajor n e tw o r k s , and s e v e r a l o t h e r s t a t i o n s i n th e S o u th e r n C a l i f o r n i a a rea *

FIGURE I p r e s e n t s an o r i e n t a t i o n p i c t u r e

o f t h e s t a t i o n s w h ich came in t o th e s u r v e y , and t h e i r l o ­ c a t i o n in r e s p e c t to San B ern ard in o* T e l e v i s i o n r e c e p t i o n v a r i e s from p o o r t o good on a l l s e v e n c h a n n e ls* I f r a d io and t e l e v i s i o n program s a r e a s o c i a l i n f l u ­ e n c e , and t h e i r in tim a c y a r g u e s t h a t t h e y a r e , a p r e f e r e n c e s tu d y i s im p o r ta n t.

The b a s e s o f th e i n v e s t i g a t i o n a r e s e t

o u t a b o v e , and th e s u r v e y i s o b j e c t i v e r a t h e r th a n s u b j e c t i v e *

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