PTV Programming

From the audience’s perspective, public television is its programming. The programming attracts and creates the audiences and that in turn creates members. Given this import, the research in this area is surprisingly incomplete and ad hoc. Through the years, there has been a continuous study of very general programming trends and some fairly thorough branding research. Beyond that, complete and up-to-date research on PTV programming is difficult to find.

Much of the research listed below is password protected, if you are unable to access the content, please contact Kristen Kuebler or Craig Reed at TRAC Media Services or call 520.299.1866.

Fall 2003 Audience Review
A review of the Fall season and series (2004).

Are Genre Changes Driving Down the NPS?
This study looked at content changes in the NPS prime time schedule and how they affected ratings. The proliferation of news and public affairs in the prime time schedule prompted programmers to request the analysis (2003).
 
Children's Programming Panel
This Power Point highlights the trend in children's programming (2003).

Prime Time Report Card
A look at Prime Time programming (2002).

The Shrinking & Aging PTV Audience: Are Boomers the Cause?
This CPB/TRAC Media study examined the role of the Baby Boom generation in PTV's audience trends (2001)

Carriage Report 2000
The 2000 “Carriage Report” was the fourteenth biennial installment of a study which has been conducted since 1974. Data for the report were compiled using a two-phase approach: a content analysis of a sample of programs, and a survey of station programmers. For the first phase, TRAC sampled programming from 175 public television stations for 14 randomly-selected days. The sample period represented two constructed weeks (i.e., two Mondays, two Tuesdays, etc.). These programs, totaling more than 75,000, were coded for a variety of characteristics, including length and time of telecast, content, producer, distributor and presenter. TRAC also surveyed programmers to ascertain special station characteristics, such as sign-on and off times, broadcast capabilities, etc (2000).
 
Audience Fragmentation
Audience Fragmentation has Arrived: The Emergence of Powerhouse PTV Stations (1996)
 
How Public TV's Audiences Gather- Part 1
Examines the amount of time devoted to individual program types in the public TV schedule (1991).

How Public TV's Audiences Gather - Part 2
For most viewers, the heart, mind and soul of public TV rest in its schedule. The schedule’s programming
priorities tell our audience who we are. It’s useful, now and then, to look at the pieces of the schedule and
contemplate them in terms of viewers’ preferences (1991).

Saturday is an Unknown Hit
Saturday is under-appreciated at many public TV stations. But audience research indicates that in
February or July, at Little Rock, Ark., or Philadelphia, Saturday is the most viewed day of the
week for local public TV stations (1990).

How Program Schedules Affect Audeince Size
Does a station's schedule affect the size of its audience? Clearly, it must; because what is broadcast
determines what is available to view. From the scheduling smorgasbord, the viewer chooses programs.
To continue the analogy, the schedule becomes the menu from which the viewer plans his diet. Some
viewers will eat only sweets, others will prefer more substantial fare; some will nibble, some will gorge.
But the diet is determined by the menu, and the menu is the public TV schedule(1988).

Programming for Flow
Do viewers stick with public TV from one show to the next? Do Nature fans stay tuned for Masterpiece Theatre? Or NOVA viewers keep their seats for Frontline (1988)?

Ethnic Research
Market Similarity Research
Member Research
Pledge Research
Programming Concepts
Programming Research