(Reilly, 1980) The program had the highest per episode viewer ratings of any before it and the plot has been called "the shot cheered round the world." (Reilly, 1980) Another great example is the M.A.S.H. season finale, as the program held a huge record for most viewers of any finale in television history and the viewership record has served as an enduring benchmark in television until the Super Bowl XLIV, in 2010, when the battered city of New Orleans LA sent the Saints to the super bowl and the whole nation was rooting for triumph for the city, and the team. Many contend that the viewership rating was skewed in large part due to the expansion of the Nielsen system as well as the vast number of televisions in homes today, as compared to the M.A.S.H. finale in 1983. According to the record the M.A.S.H. finale had 105.97 estimated viewers and the super bowl was 106 million, the staggering number is substantial in large part because the M.A.S.H. rating has proven an enduring marker for viewership standards. (NFL Wire Reports, 2010) M.A.S.H's finale success was probably largely due to the fact that the program had an enduring and endearing quality that had both constant and occasional viewer following and the characters within the work held both these characteristics to an extreme....
With this appeal, the proof can be seen when the record gets broken, as the Super bowl example above gives proof that people must have an emotional attachment to seeing plots and people through the long-term. The U.S. had an enduring desire to see New Orleans as a place and the Saints as a team triumph over adversity following Katrina, and viewers of M.A.S.H, a long running sitcom, still in syndication left viewers hoping for emotional and physical resolution for endearing characters. (NFL Wire Reports, 2010)
It seems that violence on television does contribute to aggressive behavior, yet it is important to note that television is only one of many causes of aggression (Gunter and McAleer, 1990). Many other factors unrelated to television influence violence, and the specific impact of televised violence is dependent upon age, sex, family practices, and the way violence is presented. One statement is often repeated: television has major effects on
Television and Child Literacy Ever since it became a household fixture more than fifty years ago, parents and educators have asked the same question - is there such a thing as too much television? Can television interfere with a child's desire to learn to read? When television first debuted, it was touted as the wonder of the age, a miracle of technology that would bring the world into everyone's living rooms.
In fact, the relationship between academic performance and television is not clear cut. Research has shown that children who watch a large amount of television typically do poorly in school, yet those who spend a moderate amount of time in front of the television do better than non-viewers. There is a small negative relationship between television viewing and a child's IQ. However, there are significant subgroup differences. There are
It said that most parents would support new limits to be established on content of television programs and shows. Approximately half of the surveyed parents and their peers expressed concern that their own children saw what they saw on TV. More Black and Hispanic parents expressed this concern than did white parents. More than three-fourths of them said that inappropriate television and media material worried them the most. Two-thirds
Cable television also opened up the medium to numerous types of television programming that had previously been excluded, simply because it could never have competed with the demand for mainstream types of programs during the same time slot. Initially, cable television was only available in the largest markets like New York and Los Angeles and it was priced out of the range of most consumers. The technology also required a cable
Scaflik makes the claim that these types of tactics from networks mean that the network believe that violence is what attracts viewers the most. Finally, shows such as Law and Order and Dark Shadows manage to show minimal amounts of violence and in inappropriate context, while they ultimately showcase the violence in a de-contextualized manner in the promos (Scaflik 2004). Scaflik points out that this is a serious problem for
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