Predicting Audience Exposure to Television in Today's Media Environment: An Empirical Integration of Active-Audience and Structural Theories

The Most Social Games

“…The sum was defined as ''audience availability to watch the Rio Olympics on TV.'' Previous research suggests that this measurement is more precise than asking respondents to recall the estimated number of hours a day they were available to watch TV, but less cumbersome than asking respondents to list all times they were available (see Cooper & Tang, 2009). …”

“…Audience availability was based on the respondent's selection of time periods she or he was available to watch the Olympics on TV on a typical day during the Rio Games (see Cooper & Tang, 2009). The periods listed for the selection included 6-8 a.m., 8-10 a.m., 10 a.m.-12 p.m., 12-2 p.m., 2-4 p.m., 4-6 p.m., 6-8 p.m., 8-10 p.m., 10 p.m.-12 a.m., 12-2 a.m., 2-4 a.m., and 4-6 a.m.…”

“…More than half of the media behaviors are habitual (Wood, Quinn, & Kashy, 2002). When facing endless content choices, media users increasingly lapse into habitual media consumption patterns to save time and mental effort (Cooper & Tang, 2009;Diddi & LaRose, 2006). What audiences use becomes part of the routine and repertoire.…”

“…This perspective highlights the proclivity towards active choice in convergent media environments while also acknowledging the continuing influences of habit and structure. As Cooper and Tang (2009) suggested, With hundreds of television channels and millions of websites currently available to many media users, individuals may even seek structure as a way to deal with the vast multitude of content and media options available. This may be manifest in decisions to pay for one type of content or delivery system over another, or to self-impose limits on media use.…”

“…Thus, structure should not be viewed as a ''passive'' characteristic of media use, but rather as one of several valid influences on media use. (p. 416) Rooted in Cooper and Tang's (2009) conceptualization of ''active within structures,'' and responding to Billings and Hardin's (2013) call for further understanding ''the interplay among new media forms and shifting social, cultural, and geopolitical dynamics'' during sport mega-events (p. 849), this study aims to use a systemic, integrated approach to examine social media uses for Olympic content by putting both individual factors and structures into consideration.…”