THE CHANGING FACES ON TV - A DEMOGRAPHIC-ANALYSIS OF NETWORK TELEVISIONS NEW SEASONS, 1966-1992

Prior investigations of television's demography often relied upon prog rams sampled across varying periods of time to describe character popu lations. Results are sometimes conflicting and it is difficult to gene ralize these independent findings to longitudinal trends. This study e xamines a census of 1,757 major characters added to broadcast network lineups through new season programming from 1966 to 1992. New characte rs are examined in terms of gender, age, race/ethnicity, and occupatio nal patterns occurring across 27 years of network program activity.