This book is based on extensive field research conducted by the investigators of Social Research Inc., interpreting the result of over 13,000 individuals. Members of TV audiences were studied to analyze their reactions to what TV offered them, in relation to their age, sex, social class, and personal characteristics. This information is here applied to understanding what television programs, performers, and commercials--by general type and also with illustrative case histories--are being watched.

This book on first publication in 1962 provided the first clear image of the people...

"The authorsahave analyzed the television problem brilliantly. They had come up with a whole set of new insights, and their backup research always is fascinating to read."-Saturday Review"A cautious, research-based bookahopefully it will set a trend."-Ithiel de Sola Pool, Public Opinion QuarterlyAfter more than forty years of studying its political implications, Kurt and Gladys Lang put the power of television into a unique perspective. Through carefully compiled case studies, they reveal surprising truths about TV's effect on American political life, and explode some...