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The Effects of Creeping Commercialism on Children's Public

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The Effects of Creeping Commercialism on Children's Public THE EFFECTS OF CREEPING COMMERCIALISM ON CHILDREN’S PUBLIC TELEVISION PROGRAMMING ON THE STRENGTH OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PBS AND PARENTS OF CHILD VIEWERS By CHRISTINA REGAN A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN MASS COMMUNICATION UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2005 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I thank my parents for supporting me both emotionally and financially throughout my college career. Without their love and encouragement I would not be where I am today. I also thank my advisor and committee members for their guidance and responsive assistance, no matter how short notice the request. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................ ii LIST OF TABLES.......................................................v LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................... vi ABSTRACT.......................................................... vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................1 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ..............................................3 Critique of Commercialization ......................................... 7 Defense of Commercialization ........................................ 13 Theoretical Framework .............................................. 16 Research Questions ............................................. 23 Hypothesis .................................................... 23 3 METHODOLOGY ..................................................24 Sample ........................................................... 25 Measurement ...................................................... 25 Analysis .......................................................... 27 Limitations ........................................................ 27 4 RESULTS.........................................................28 Description of Sample ............................................... 28 Results That Test the Hypothesis ...................................... 29 Additional Analysis ................................................. 35 5 DISCUSSION......................................................43 6 CONCLUSION.....................................................48 iii APPENDIX A SURVEY .........................................................51 B ORIGINAL SCALE OF RELATIONSHIP STRENGTH INDICATORS . 55 REFERENCES ........................................................57 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ..............................................60 iv LIST OF TABLES Table page 1 Factor analysis of the instrument used to measure relationship strength . 30 2 Factor analysis of the instrument used to measure level commercial perception . 32 3 Correlation analysis between perceived commercialism and intimacy . 33 4 Correlation analysis between perceived commercialism and partner quality . 34 5 Correlation analysis between perceived commercialism and commitment . 35 6 Descending mean scores of the 16 relationship strength survey questions . 36 7 Child viewing frequency ............................................37 8 Parent viewing frequency............................................37 9 Frequency data of overall attitude toward PBS . 37 10 Frequency table for question 22.......................................38 11 Frequency table for question 23.......................................38 12 Frequency table for question 24.......................................38 13 Frequency table for question 25.......................................39 14 Analysis of variance of the three relationship strength factors and question 22 . 40 15 Analysis of variance of the three relationship strength factors and question 23 . 40 16 Analysis of variance of the three relationship strength factors and question 24 . 41 17 Analysis of variance of the three relationship strength factors and question 25 . 41 v LIST OF FIGURES Figures page 1 Conceptual Model of Relationship Strength . 22 2 Ethnic Frequency ..................................................28 3 Gender Frequency .................................................28 4 Income Frequency .................................................29 5 Age Frequency ....................................................29 vi Abstract of Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Mass Communication THE EFFECTS OF CREEPING COMMERCIALISM ON CHILDREN’S PUBLIC TELEVISION PROGRAMMING ON THE STRENGTH OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PBS AND PARENTS OF CHILD VIEWERS By Christina Regan May 2005 Chair: Churchill Roberts Major Department: Mass Communication Over the years corporate sponsor messages before and after children’s public television programming on PBS have begun to look increasingly more commercialized. In this multi-channel media environment, a competitive edge is necessary for survival. In order to compete with cable and other commercial networks, PBS has adopted a more market-driven business model. Critics argue this decision weakens PBS’ position in the market and essentially goes against its mission of noncommercial public service broadcasting. The purpose of this study was to first determine if parents perceive this increased commercialization and second to see if that perception had any effect on their strength of relationship with PBS. The data collected from the survey research demonstrated no significant correlation between perceived commercialism and PBS/parent relationship strength. vii This result supports consumer brand relationship theory which suggests that brand images are able to withstand acts of transgression (increased commercialism) as long as they possess positive brand qualitites. In the case of PBS, their high quality educational children’s programming outweighs any detrimental effects increased commercialism may have on their relationship with parents of child viewers. viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION One day an Arab and his camel were crossing the desert. At night the Arab pitched his tent and the camel asked the Arab if he could put his nose in for warmth. The Arab agreed. So the camel's nose became warm and after a while the temperature dropped. This time the camel asked the Arab if he could put his fore legs in because they were very cold. The Arab reluctantly agreed. After sometime, the camel told the Arab that if he did not warm his hind legs he would be unable to walk the next morning. Again the Arab agreed. But once the camel’s hind legs were in there was no room for the Arab and he was kicked out. (Singh, 2000) “The Camel and the Arab”, a fable from Ancient India, serves as a cautionary tale shedding light on the issue of “creeping commercialism” currently facing public television in the United States. The once absolute laws written into the Communications Act of 1934, banning all forms of advertising on public stations, have been tweaked and stretched to the point where euphemisms like “enhanced underwriter acknowledgments” are now commonplace. They are used to disguise the distinctly commercial presence of advertiser messages that has recently invaded the public airwaves. However, euphemisms cannot hide their true nature forever and people are finally starting to wonder whether or not the legendary camel’s nose has officially slipped under the tent (Redmont, 2000). This past December, the University of Chicago held a conference titled The Future of Public Television. The purpose of the conference was to stimulate a discussion on ways to secure public television’s future. Industry professionals such as John Lawson, president and CEO of the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS), and academics such as Dale Kunkel, professor of communication at the University of 1 2 Arizona, assembled to discuss this pertinent topic. During the “open mike” section of the seminar devoted to children’s public television programming, the one same question seemed to be common amongst the audience; where will PBS draw the line in regards to the commercialization of its coveted children’s programming? At the threshold of this new digital era, PBS, and the local stations that support it, have come to a crossroads; should public television be allowed to continue down commercial lane and hope for the best, or should funding strategies be revised to allow for a truly noncommercial public network to pave the way into the 21st century of digital communication? This line of questioning seems to be continually directed at children’s programming due to children’s massive media consumption and susceptibility to the pitfalls of increased commercialism. The image of child as consumer is one that many have problems with, especially when in reference to supposedly noncommercial PBS programming. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW PBS KIDS is the branch of PBS that is specifically devoted to children. It promises to broaden children’s horizons through learning, discovery and play. The PBS web site assures viewers and parents that PBS programs are designed to help children develop cognitive, social, emotional and physical skills. PBS KIDS is dedicated to producing high quality educational programming and therefore, makes sure that experienced educational television producers involve children, educational researchers, parents, teachers, day care providers and subject-matter experts during development and production of all programs. PBS producers are also required to provide educational support materials for children and their parents. This supplemental material encourages
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