COUNTERING THE NEW MEDIA - THE RESURGENCE OF SHARE MAINTENANCE IN PRIME-TIME NETWORK TELEVISION

Despite recent interest in the new technologies, media researchers have only begun to examine the impact of remote control devices, VCRs, and cable television on inheritance effects. In this study, share maintenance in network primetime programming was found to have decreased in the 1983, 1984, and 1985 seasons. This was predicted from the rapid growth in cable television, VCR, and remote tuner penetration during this time. But, surprisingly, these decreases were reversed between 1986-1988. These results are discussed in the context of the changing composition of the network primetime television audience and possible adjustments in network promotion and scheduling practices. © 1990, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.