Program Entropy and Structure: Two Factors in Television Viewership.

The objective of this study was to compare an information processing based measure of television program form to a measure of form based on the perception of the organization of program production elements. Three hypotheses were set up to test the presumption that the two program measures are related to the same underlying dimension: show scores for entropy and structure were expected to be correlated, viewing and liking of both measures of program form was expected to be non-random in the same way, and differences in viewing and liking patterns were expected to be similar. The DYNUFAM scores for program form entropy and the Structure measures of program organization were found to be correlated at a statistically significant level, and it appears that two measures of program form are tapping the same underlying dimensions. One hypothesis failed to receive support: although liking of both measures of program form was expected to be non-random so that programs were tightly clustered, the data indicate that the opposite is true. (RB)