Nationwide Television is Not Always Beneficial: Some Data from Sri Lanka

Abstract

Two hundred people were individually interviewed in a suburb of Colombo and around the rural city of Galle in Sri Lanka, to establish mass media consumption habits and opinions and attitudes to a variety of issues. Nationwide television was introduced in Sri Lanka in 1983 and this survey was conducted in late 1984. The sample was divided in terms of those who watched television daily, and those who watched less often. Heavier viewers were more educated, wrote more languages, more frequently read newspapers, and were more mobile than lighter viewers. While downgrading the importance of radio, heavy viewers were attracted to news, education and sports programs on television. Heavy viewers thought the USA more murder- and divorce-prone, and yet more religious than light viewers. However, heavy viewers were significantly less aware than light viewers of the names of political parties in opposition in Sri Lanka, and were less happy with their existing lifestyles.