HOW OLDER-PEOPLE WATCH TELEVISION - TELEMETRIC DATA ON THE TV USE IN GERMANY IN 1996

This study has been prompted by the relatively small body of knowledge on the media use of the elderly. The aim of this study was to show ho w people 50 years and older use the medium television in Germany. Ther efore, the 1996 television usership data collected in a representative 'peoplemeter' panel of about 4,800 German television households have been surveyed, processed and analyzed using standard audience research software. In 1996, Germans 50 years and above watched on average 233 min television per day. The older a person, the longer he or she watch es television. Individuals 65 years and older watch television for 253 min per day. This subgroup appears to comprise the most intensive use rs of the medium. Men 65 years and above may be depicted as the heavie st weekend TV watchers, older women as the medium's closest followers from Monday to Friday. Television program broadcast late in the aftern oon and early in the evening have by far the best chances to be chosen by seniors. The affinity of the elderly for the medium can be explain ed by its potential for offering entertainment, information, and compa nionship, being a substitute for primary interpersonal communication, a tool for structuring time patterns and keeping up the rhythms of lon g-established everyday rituals. On the one hand, television can be a ' lifeline' and a 'windou to the outside world' for people with little o pportunity for direct, unmediated social contact, thus possibly raisin g their satisfaction of life. On the other hand, prolonged TV use may be seen as an indicator for the degree of loneliness and neglect of th e elderly.