Abstract:

The present monograph on "media moments" objectively confirms that media contact depends in part on life-stvle. Preferred media moments with the press, television and radio are arranged differently according to the days of the week and how the various categories use their time. A few simple examples taken from the Tables illustrate well the cause and effect relation of the different targets' preferred media moments and the time they have available: - Employed people naturally prefer watching television after 10 pm during the weekend. - Women of the house with children listen to less radio on Wednesdays and Sundays. - People living in households of three or more have shorter and more sporadic media moments. All three behaviours are related to one and the same need: individual management of time. How much candle can be burned at each end varies from one person to the next, but choices still have to be made. This media decision-making depends, and will do more and more, on how well, or badly, they fit in with people's lives. This is especially TRUE for television, time-guzzler par excellence. The audiovisual media must pay attention to people's timetables and integrate target availability into their programming strategies now: it is not simply necessary, it is vital. When the targets are compared among themselves, the behaviour proves very similar for television, less so for radio and somewhat different for the press.