reception analysis: Morley 2

Mass media: effects research - reception analysis

Reception studies - Morley

Family Television

Morley followed his study of the Nationwide audience with another very distinguished and influential study of TV audiences, entitled Family Television: Cultural Power and Domestic Leisure (Morley (1986)). In 1958, Bogart had suggested three stages of television use:

the tavern stage, where television is a public spectacle, where people actually go out of the house to some public area to take a look at it;
the pioneer stage, where TV begins to be domesticated, is still an expensive good, but is bought by the innovators who can afford it; those people become the focus of increased social activity as other people visit them to take a look at the new medium;
the mature phase, where television is taken for granted, is usually viewed within the family and is a focal point for the family's activities.

(Bogart 1958) cited in Gunter and Svennevig (1987))

Bogart also suggested that there might well be a fourth stage, where TV use becomes more individualistic. It could be that we are at that stage now, where multi-TV and even multi-VCR households are very widespread (though evidence seems to suggest that, although individual viewing has increased, family viewing still is the norm). Certainly, however, at the time that Morley was writing, the third stage had been reached.

The unknown audience

We know from BARB's research how many people are 'watching' TV programmes and, from their audience appreciation surveys, we know what people think of them. What we don't really know much about is what people do while they're 'watching' TV. Morley quotes approvingly Peter Collett's & Roger Lamb's study of viewing behaviour conducted at Oxford Polytechnic: Watching People Watching Television, Report to the IBA, 1986:

People spend hours on end doing all kinds of things that have absolutely nothing to do with TV viewing while the set is on.

Patriarchal power

Morley's own research was very revealing about the way that television is used in the family, so revealing that it's worth quoting in some detail. From his interviews with members of eighteen working class families in London, Morley concluded that the one 'structural principle' which operated across all the families was gender.

The essential point here is that the dominant model of gender relations within this society ... is one in which the home is primarily defined for men as a site of leisure - in distinction to the 'industrial time' of their employment outside the home - while the home is primarily defined for women as a sphere of work (whether or not they also work outside the home). This simply means that in investigating television viewing in the home one is by definition investigating something which men are better placed to do wholeheartedly, and which women seem only to be able to do distractedly and guiltily, because of their continuing sense of their domestic responsibilities. Moreover, this differential positioning is give a greater significance as the home becomes increasingly defined as the 'proper' sphere of leisure, with the decline of public forms of entertainment and the growth of home-based leisure technologies such as video, etc.

Morley (1986) p.147

According to Morley, those gender relationships are evident in a variety of uses of TV. A number of his findings are summarized below using the same categories as in his study:

Power and control over programme choice
In most of the families investigated the final decision on which channel to watch was taken by the father, though, if he were absent, it would more often than not be taken by the son. This was particularly evident if the family had a remote control, which was firmly in the male domain. Interestingly, if the man was unemployed and the wife employed, there would be concessions. This appeared to be partly due to the fact that the husband, having a more flexible timetable, could videotape programmes and watch them the following day. In part, however, it seemed to be due to the conventional social definition of the man of the family as the 'breadwinner', whether the wife worked outside the home or not. In those families where the man was not employed, that definition could not be sustained and so the power relationships were open to redefinition.
These observations are supported by other research, such as that conducted by Bower (1973), which showed the norms of society reflected in control over channel choice: male dominates female, older dominates younger etc., though Bower did observe that it is not uncommon for parents to defer to children. Lull's study (Lull (1982)) had also shown that fathers were more than twice as likely to control programme decisions than their female partners:
fathers decided on 36% of the channel choices, acting without consultation in more than 90% of their decisions
children decided 30% of the channel choices, acting without consultation in 93% of their decisions
mothers decided 15% of the channel choices

cited in Gunter and Svennevig (1987)

Much has been shown to depend on the characteristics of the individual or group of people using the medium. Some researchers have, for example, distinguished between
socio-oriented family groups, where parents encourage their children to maintain a harmonious climate of personal relationships and avoid arguments and any form of controversial expression or behaviour (more typical of working-class family groups);
concept-oriented family groups, where children are invited to express their ideas and feelings, even if controversial, and to challenge the ideas of others (more typical of middle-class family groups).

Chaffee, McLeod and Wackman (1973), cited in Gunter and Svennevig (1987)
Socio-oriented families have been shown to be more likely to use TV as a resource for the accomplishment of interpersonal objectives at home, whereas concept-oriented families see television as not being useful to them as a social resource.
Lull's research (1980- cited in Gunter and Svennevig (1987)) showed the following correlations:
Concept-orientation:
lower amount of television viewing (see 'amount of viewing' below)
greater sensitivity to others in the programme selection process
higher selectivity (see 'planned and unplanned viewing' below)
lower tendency to watch programmes not selected by the individual ('watching TV' rather than particular programmes)
low satisfaction with television as a form of family entertainment
higher satisfaction with the way decisions are made in the home
Socio-orientation:
lower sensitivity to others in the programme selection process
lower selectivity
greater argumentation accompanying the selection of TV programmes

Viewing style
Many of the women watched television while performing some domestic task. This seemed to reflect a feeling that merely watching television would be a waste of their time which 'should' properly be devoted to their domestic duties. Similar results were also reported in a BBC study (BBC (1984)), which showed that about fifty per cent of adults reported that they watched TV while doing something else. regardless of the time of day or week. Another study showed 64% (Svennevig (1987)) (Both sources cited in Gunter and Svennevig (1987))

Planned and unplanned viewing
Women were aware of the scheduling of their favourite programmes which they watched on a regular basis. It was mostly only the men who spoke of pre-planning their viewing with reference to the newspaper or teletext. This probably reflects the secondary rôle which women play in determining choice of programme.

Amounts of viewing
Generally women tended not to attend fully to TV programmes. Morley describes their dominant viewing practice as 'bitty', which results from their tendency to attend to their domestic obligations while the set is on, but is partly due also to the fact that there are relatively few programmes which they claimed to really like. Mainly, their preference was clearly for soap operas, which, of course, are designed so that the viewer can drop in and out of them.

Television-related talk
Men were quite willing to 'admit' to discussing TV sport and some factual programmes with their friends and colleagues, but were generally reluctant to admit that they discussed any other TV output, almost as if talk about TV would undermine their masculinity. As Morley points out, TV meanings are not generated in the moment we watch TV, but emerge out of and are modified by the ensuing social processes where the TV material is a matter for discussion. If men are not doing this and their wives are, then their experience of TV must be very different from their wives'.

Use of video
Like the remote control, the video recorder is the responsibility of the males in the family. This is a reflection also of the power enjoyed by the males, as well as probably of the wives that they don't understand machinery. Consequently, the women rarely participate in the choices of hired video tapes, rarely visit the video shop and, where members of the family have their own blank tape, it is usually the woman who lets others tape over her tape when theirs is full.

Programme type preference
The men preferred factual programmes, the women fictional.

Channel preference
Men frequently claimed a preference for BBC rather than ITV and women seemed to prefer TV. Morley suggests that this relates to the perception of the TV as providing somehow 'educational' fare.

National versus local news programming
Men generally claimed a preference for news programmes, which normally did not interest women; however, where local news was concerned, it was the women preferred it. Their explanation was that they did not understand economics as discussed in national news, but needed to know if there was a child molester or murderer on the loose in their vicinity. This was reflected also in their liking of Police Five (an early version of Crimewatch UK), which connects in a similar manner with what they see as their domestic responsibilities.

de Certeau's views

Fiske's views

Ang on Dallas

Brown on soap operas

Fiske on Madonna

Hermes on women's magazines

Reception studies - Morley

Family Television

The unknown audience

Patriarchal power

Related articles:

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	Power and control over programme choice In most of the families investigated the final decision on which channel to watch was taken by the father, though, if he were absent, it would more often than not be taken by the son. This was particularly evident if the family had a remote control, which was firmly in the male domain. Interestingly, if the man was unemployed and the wife employed, there would be concessions. This appeared to be partly due to the fact that the husband, having a more flexible timetable, could videotape programmes and watch them the following day. In part, however, it seemed to be due to the conventional social definition of the man of the family as the 'breadwinner', whether the wife worked outside the home or not. In those families where the man was not employed, that definition could not be sustained and so the power relationships were open to redefinition. These observations are supported by other research, such as that conducted by Bower (1973), which showed the norms of society reflected in control over channel choice: male dominates female, older dominates younger etc., though Bower did observe that it is not uncommon for parents to defer to children. Lull's study (Lull (1982)) had also shown that fathers were more than twice as likely to control programme decisions than their female partners: fathers decided on 36% of the channel choices, acting without consultation in more than 90% of their decisions children decided 30% of the channel choices, acting without consultation in 93% of their decisions mothers decided 15% of the channel choices cited in Gunter and Svennevig (1987) Much has been shown to depend on the characteristics of the individual or group of people using the medium. Some researchers have, for example, distinguished between socio-oriented family groups, where parents encourage their children to maintain a harmonious climate of personal relationships and avoid arguments and any form of controversial expression or behaviour (more typical of working-class family groups); concept-oriented family groups, where children are invited to express their ideas and feelings, even if controversial, and to challenge the ideas of others (more typical of middle-class family groups). Chaffee, McLeod and Wackman (1973), cited in Gunter and Svennevig (1987) Socio-oriented families have been shown to be more likely to use TV as a resource for the accomplishment of interpersonal objectives at home, whereas concept-oriented families see television as not being useful to them as a social resource. Lull's research (1980- cited in Gunter and Svennevig (1987)) showed the following correlations: Concept-orientation: lower amount of television viewing (see 'amount of viewing' below) greater sensitivity to others in the programme selection process higher selectivity (see 'planned and unplanned viewing' below) lower tendency to watch programmes not selected by the individual ('watching TV' rather than particular programmes) low satisfaction with television as a form of family entertainment higher satisfaction with the way decisions are made in the home Socio-orientation: lower sensitivity to others in the programme selection process lower selectivity greater argumentation accompanying the selection of TV programmes
	Viewing style Many of the women watched television while performing some domestic task. This seemed to reflect a feeling that merely watching television would be a waste of their time which 'should' properly be devoted to their domestic duties. Similar results were also reported in a BBC study (BBC (1984)), which showed that about fifty per cent of adults reported that they watched TV while doing something else. regardless of the time of day or week. Another study showed 64% (Svennevig (1987)) (Both sources cited in Gunter and Svennevig (1987))
	Planned and unplanned viewing Women were aware of the scheduling of their favourite programmes which they watched on a regular basis. It was mostly only the men who spoke of pre-planning their viewing with reference to the newspaper or teletext. This probably reflects the secondary rôle which women play in determining choice of programme.
	Amounts of viewing Generally women tended not to attend fully to TV programmes. Morley describes their dominant viewing practice as 'bitty', which results from their tendency to attend to their domestic obligations while the set is on, but is partly due also to the fact that there are relatively few programmes which they claimed to really like. Mainly, their preference was clearly for soap operas, which, of course, are designed so that the viewer can drop in and out of them.
	Television-related talk Men were quite willing to 'admit' to discussing TV sport and some factual programmes with their friends and colleagues, but were generally reluctant to admit that they discussed any other TV output, almost as if talk about TV would undermine their masculinity. As Morley points out, TV meanings are not generated in the moment we watch TV, but emerge out of and are modified by the ensuing social processes where the TV material is a matter for discussion. If men are not doing this and their wives are, then their experience of TV must be very different from their wives'.
	Use of video Like the remote control, the video recorder is the responsibility of the males in the family. This is a reflection also of the power enjoyed by the males, as well as probably of the wives that they don't understand machinery. Consequently, the women rarely participate in the choices of hired video tapes, rarely visit the video shop and, where members of the family have their own blank tape, it is usually the woman who lets others tape over her tape when theirs is full.
	Programme type preference The men preferred factual programmes, the women fictional.
	Channel preference Men frequently claimed a preference for BBC rather than ITV and women seemed to prefer TV. Morley suggests that this relates to the perception of the TV as providing somehow 'educational' fare.
	National versus local news programming Men generally claimed a preference for news programmes, which normally did not interest women; however, where local news was concerned, it was the women preferred it. Their explanation was that they did not understand economics as discussed in national news, but needed to know if there was a child molester or murderer on the loose in their vicinity. This was reflected also in their liking of Police Five (an early version of Crimewatch UK), which connects in a similar manner with what they see as their domestic responsibilities.