ELECTRONIC MONITORING OF IN-HOME TELEVISION RCD USAGE

This study electronically-monitored in-home RCD activity. The frequenc y of channel changing and other RCD behaviors were recorded and discre pancies between self-reported and actual RCD use are examined, This is one of a few academic studies of RCDs that does not rely on a survey (respondent recall) or on observation, but rather records actual behav iors in the participants' home. This study also examines viewers' uses of RCDs within the framework of selective exposure. Slightly over 374 hours of television viewing by 44 participants yielded 13,680 channel switches. it was found that viewers made an average of 36.6 channel c hanges per hour. In other words, they watched channels for an average of one minute and 38 seconds between switches. Further analyses reveal ed an audience of ''rapid-fire'' channel grazers as 80% of the switche s took place after a channel was on for less than five seconds.