THE OUT-OF-CLASSROOM AUDIENCE OF WGBH--A STUDY OF MOTIVATION IN VIEWING.

THIS REPORT REVIEWED THE RESEARCH CONDUCTED, 1960-61, IN METROPOLITAN BOSTON ON THE AUDIENCE OF AN EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION STATION. THE DESIGN OF THE STUDY WAS A TWO-WAVE SURVEY--THE FIRST WAVE BY 9,140 TELEPHONE CALLS IN EARLY 1960, AND THE SECOND WAVE 1 YEAR LATER BY PERSONAL INTERVIEWS WITH SOME OF THE SAME PEOPLE. THE INTEREST IN THE PERSONAL INTERVIEWING SESSIONS WAS FOCUSED PRIMARILY ON THE ETV VIEWERS. OF 511 INTERVIEWS, 222 WERE WITH ETV VIEWERS, 83 WITH "MARGINAL CASES," AND 137 WITH A REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE OF NONVIEWERS. BY EVALUATING AND COMBINING THESE THREE SAMPLES, IT WAS POSSIBLE TO OBTAIN A CROSS SECTION OF BOSTON METROPOLITAN AREA ADULTS. THE 20 PERCENT OF THOSE WHO WATCH ETV IN BOSTON WERE DESCRIBED AS PERSONS OF A SPECIAL KIND--ALERT, ASPIRING, AND INTELLIGENT. DESPITE A NUMBER OF CONSIDERATIONS, THE POTENTIAL FOR INCREASING THE AUDIENCE OF THE BOSTON ETV STATION WAS SMALL SINCE THERE WERE FEW PROSPECTIVE RECRUITS AMONG NONVIEWERS. IT WAS RECOMMENDED THAT ATTEMPTS BE MADE TO INCREASE THE THREE-QUARTER HOUR PER WEEK VIEWING TIME OF THE POPULATION WHO WATCH ETV. (JC)