Abstract:

This report offers a new approach to the question of behavior patterns in television viewing, which we term TELEMODES. The approach involves a typology consisting of six types (or modes). The typology was developed in 1988 in the framework of research concerned with the influence of current changes in the audiovisual landscape on French TV viewers. A detailed questionnaire made it possible to delineate six major behavior pattern types; these were corroborated, in turn, by qualitative in-depth research in the form of family monographs. Now, three years later, we are in a position to state that a greater availability of programs, as well as a wider variety of equipment to choose from, does affect viewer behavior patterns in the direction of increased mobility. The second part of the report shows how this typology may be applied within the framework of ongoing audience measurement based on an audiometric panel. Our typology proves to allow for a broader range of fine distinctions in regard to behavior patterns than do the usual socio-demographic criteria.