Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television (1941)

Viewers Rate Television Programs Studio Audience Sola Reactions nitli Hund-hcid Indicators — At Home, Criticism la Rcj^istered by Cues on I \' Images the likes and dislikes of up to 80 individuals a t t e n (I i n >r an NBC "Television Review Time" session. Each audience member moves the instrument's knob to indicate "Good," "Fair" or "Poor". Each movement of the instrument is re- corded by automatic pen, resulting in an individual and collective "pro- file" of the video show. The inauguration of regular (|ualitative testing of TV shows here at NBC is another indication of the speed with which television is pushing to the fore as a com- munications medium. It is a further step in XRC's T\' research program which now includes such features as regular monthly estimates of TV set ownership by cities and surveys in places and periods not covered Ijy syndicated services. Questions Raised By Television Some of the old and new ques- tions raised by television, according to Horace Schwerin. president of the research organization, are: What do audiences think of programs now on the air? How should se(|uencing of jiro- grams be arranged? Which camera techniciues are mo.st acceptable? How long can scenes be held before liking diminishes? By Hugh M. Beville. Jr. Director i>i livsvarcli Satiunal Broadcasting Comitany NVtC television is pioneering the field of television research with audience reaction tests, work- ing in cooperation with the Horace Schwei-in Research Foundation. The Schwerin System of (jrogram- testing utilizes electrical recorders that measure not only immediate individual and collective audience reaction to program content, but also study such related factors as size of viewing screen, film versus live presentation, viewer fatigue, and many others. In setting up the test situations. NBC exhibits kinescope recordings of its top shows in the RCA .Johnny Victor Theatre two or three times a week. Audience reaction is taken with the Schwerin "TV Test-Trig- ger", an instrument which records Are film presentations better liked than live shows, or vice versa, and why? How long will an audience spentl in front of a T\' set? What .shows can be effectively b road c a s t simultaneously on radio and television? How effective are various types of TV commercials? Who is available to see day- time programming, and what kinds of programming have greatest appeal for this group? How can specific programs be slanted toward their primary market audience? On May 17, NBC and Schwerin Research tested simultaneous home reactions of 1."?.000 midwest tele- viewers to "Quiz Kids." Reactions of the huge home sample, largest ever obtained in qualitative tele- vision or radio research, were matched with reactions of two dif- ferent types of studio "control" audiences in New York in the most comprehensive and far-reaching program-testing project ever at- tempted. Revolutionary feature of the home-viewer test was Schwerin's ap|)lication of the "number-cueing" l)rinciple, basis for his organiza- tion's AM radio testing, to tele- vision. Set-owners in the three TV areas viewing "(Juiz Kids" also saw small numbers, flashed for .'i seconds each at approximately -lO-second intervals, superimposed on the pic- ture which appeared on their screens. As they watched the show, they indicated on ballots, which were mailed to them prior to the THE POPl'I.AR "Ql'IZ kids" PROGRAM WAS ONE OF THOSE Jl'miEP BY A SECTION OF THE TELEVISION AUDIENCE rSISr, THE SCHWERIN SYSTEM OF ANALYSIS.