A Q-analysis of television programmes

Int. J. Man-MachineStudies (1978) 10, 461--479

A Q-analysis of television programmes J. H. JOHNSON

International Television Flows Project Europe, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England (Received 8 August 1977, and in revised form 3 April 1978) This paper documents an experiment in the application of R. H. Atkin's methodology of Q-analysis in the field of television. Relations are defined between programme types and time intervals for each of three British television channels, Anglia, BBC1 and BBC2, and the associated simplicial complexes are compared by Q-analysis. Pairwise the structures are similar for each channel compared with itself over two consecutive weeks but are quite different when one channel is compared with another. A theoretical discussion attempts to illustrate the relationships between the programme-time interval backcloth and the viewing patterns it can support. The paper demonstrates how Q-analysis may be applied to programme schedules and suggests this may be a fruitful new area of application.

Introduction This paper describes an experiment investigating how Atkin's methodology of Q-analysis (Atkin, 1974, 1976, 1977a, b) might be applied in the field of television. For this purpose the Radio Times (BBC) and T.V. Times (Anglia) British programme schedules provided a ready source of data giving a brief description of programmes with their transmission times. The methodology requires that data be expressed in terms of relations between well defined sets, and for each channel for each broadcasting week (Saturday to Friday) a relation between a set of programme descriptors and time intervals may be defined as follows. Let the set T of T = {SA M, SA A, SA E, where S A M SA A SA E SUM

time intervals during a broadcasting week be defined as SU M, MOM, TU M, W E M , TH M, FR M, SU A, MOA, TU A, WE A, TH A, FR A, SU E, MOE, TU E, W E E , TH E, FR E }

represents represents represents represents

Saturday morning, 6.00-12.00 hours, Saturday afternoon, 12.00-18.00 hours, Saturday evening, 18.00--closedown, Sunday morning, 6.00-12.00 hours, etc.

To describe programmes a set, denoted D, of programme descriptors was constructed as shown in Table 1. This list was constructed as the data were coded and reflects the programmes being shown during the time under study. In most areas of Britain it is possible to receive three television channels, BBC1 and BBC2 from the British Broadcasting Corporation and at least one commercial independent television broadcasting company. In some areas it is possible to receive more 461 0020-7373178/040461+ 19 $02.0010 © 1978 AcademicPress Inc. (London)limited

462

J.H. JOHNSON

than one independent channel, but for the purposes of this paper we consider the three channels BBC1, BBC2 and ITV ( = Anglia, the East Anglian independent station based at Norwich). For each channel during a particular week let the relation between D and T be defined: 2o -- D × T for ITV with Dt 2o Tj if and only if there is a programme described by D~ shown on ITV during the time interval Tj; 2~ _~ D x T for BBC1 with Dt 21 Tj if and only if there is a programme described by D~ shown on BBCI during time interval Tj; 22 -~ D × T for BBC2 with Dt 22 Tj if and only if there is a programme described by Dl shown on BBC2 during time interval Tj. Some programmes are described by more than one member of D in which case all these descriptors are related to the interval in which the programme occurred. In the case that a programme overlaps two time intervals, say beginning at 11.30 a.m. and

TABLE 1

Programme descriptors Religion Politics National Culture Social Comment Current Affairs News National News Regional Weather Charity Appeal Consumer Programme Health/Welfare Travel Documentary Nature Programme Other Documentary Adult Education Child Education History Science Literature Reading Music/Art Criticism Film/T.V. Comment Book Programme Ballet/Opera/Concert Cartoon Puppet Show Child Adventure Child Comment Child Show Child Quiz Child Story

Farmers Programme Womens Programme Motorists Programme Cooking Programme Dancing Programme Sports/Games Programme Disableds Programme Minority Groups Programme Gardening Programme Domestic Drama Crime Drama Courtroom Drama Sci-Fiction Drama Historical Drama Romantic Drama Hospital Drama Political Drama Western Drama Business Drama Music Drama Classic Drama War Drama Spy Drama Pop Music Chat Show Quiz Family Show Domestic Comedy Other Comedy

TABLE 2

Dimensions of programme descriptors by channel and week Dimension A

r

Religion Politics National Culture Social Comment Current Affairs News National News Regional Weather Charity Appeal Consumer Programme Health/Welfare Travel Documentary Nature Programme Other Documentary Adult Education Child Education History Science Literature Reading Music Art Criticism Film/T.V. Comment Book Programme Ballet/Opera/Concert Cartoon Puppet Show Child Adventure Child Comedy Child Show Child Quiz Child Story Farmers Programme Womens Programme Motorists Programme Cooking Programme Dancing Programme Sports/Games Programme Disabled's Programme Minority Groups Programme Gardening Programme Domestic Drama Crime Drama Courtroom Drama Sci-Fi Drama Historical Drama Romantic Drama Hospital Drama Political Drama Western Drama Business Drama Music Drama Classic Drama War Drama Spy Drama Pop Music Chat Show Quiz Family Show Domestic Comedy Other Comedy

ITV1A

ITVIB

BBC1A

BBC1B

BBC2A

BBC2B

6 2 0 0 2 12 9 11 0 0 2

7 4 2 0 3 12 9 12

2 I 2 5 5 14 7 14 0 0 2 1 2

2 3 2 2 4 13 8 13

0 1 1 4 5 6

1 2 3 5 6

1 1 5

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7 10

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0

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T~LE 3

Eccentricities of programme descriptors

:

ITVIA Religion 0.167 Politics National Culture Social Comment Current Affairs News National 0.083 News Regional Weather 0.091 Charity Appeal Consumer Programme Health/Welfare Travel Documentary Nature Programme Other Documentary Adult Education Child Education 5.000 History Science Literature Reading Music Art Criticism Film/T.V. Comment Book Programme Ballet/Opera/Concert Cartoon 1.000 Puppet Show Child Adventure 0.200 Child Comedy Child Show 0.200 Child Quiz Child Story Farmers Programme Womens Programme Motorists Programme Cooking Programme Dancing Programme Sports/Games Programme 0.167 Disabled's Programme Minority Groups Programme Gardening Programme Domestic Drama 0.083 Crime Drama Courtroom Drama Sci-Fi Drama Historical Drama Romantic Drama Hospital Drama Political Drama Western Drama Business Drama Music Drama Classic Drama War Drama Spy Drama Pop Music Chat Show Quiz Family Show Domestic Comedy Other Comedy

ITV

BBC1

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~r

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,t

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BBC1B

0"143

0"500

0"500

0"500

0"500

0"500

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BBC2B

0"250

0"083

0"167

0-083 0.333

4.000

1.000

0"333 0"571

0"143 0.375

0"125 0.200

0"286

2-167

2"167

0-167 0"167 0.500

0.400 0"167 0"500

0.200 0"143

0"250

0"167

0.083 0.250 0.500

1"000

0"250

0"500

1.000 0"250

Q-ANALYSIS OF TELEVISION PROGRAMMES

465

ending at 12.15 p.m., the descriptors are related to both time intervals, here morning and afternoon. Having defined three distinct relations between the sets D and T for each broadcasting week there are six associated simplicial complexes, the three conjugate pairs KD(T,2x) and KT(D,27¢1) for x = 0,1,2. The reader is warned of a possible confusion in the different status of the symbol D~ (or Tj) when they represent different simplices in different complexes. For example, D~ may be one simplex for ITV in KD(T,20), a different simplex for BBC1 in KD(T,2~), and yet a different simplex for BBC2 in KD(T,22). However, assuming the broadcasting week and channel the status of D~ and Tj becomes clear from context and no special notation will be introduced to remove the ambiguity.

Q-analysis of the data files The relations 20, 21 and 2z were coded for the two broadcasting weeks 23-29 April and 30 April-6 May during 1977 to give six data files denoted ITV1A, BBC1A, BBC2A for the first week and ITV1B, BBC1B, BBC2B for the second week. Each of these files was Q-analysed and the structures of the six pairs of conjugate complexes compared. KD(T,2) Table 2 lists a comparison of the dimensions of the programme descriptors for each of the six data files while Table 3 lists a comparison of eccentricities. These tables show a greater similarity of structure for the same channel over two weeks than between the different channels. This is more clear from Table 4(a) which lists dimensions in decreasing order, and as far as comparison is possible, the relative importance placed by each channel on different programme types is similar to that of 1973 suggested by Table 4(b), based on Goodhardt et M. (1975). The descriptor of outstanding dimension, q = 18, is Adult Education for BBC2 where this of course reflects the showing of Open University programmes. ITV and BBC1 both have News National and Weather with dimensions between q = 11 and q = 14 while these only attain a dimension of q = 5 or 6 for BBC2. A striking feature of 1TV is the high dimension, q = 12, of Domestic Drama compared with q = 5 or 0 for BBC1 and q = g or 3 for BBC2. Child Education has outstanding dimension of q = 10 for BBC1 reflecting the showing o f schools programmes both before and after noon. For BBC1 Child Show has dimensions q = 7 and 9, while Cartoon has dimension q = 8. The showing of Open University programmes by the BBC is again reflected, BBC1 having Adult Education with dimension q = 7. Domestic Comedy has relatively high dimension for ITV at q = 5 compared with q = 2 for BBC1 and q = 1 or 0 for BBC2. Sports/Games has dimension q = 5 or 6 for all channels. Given this similarity of dimensions between consecutive weeks for the same channel, programme descriptor connectivities are only considered for the week 23-29 April and the Q-analysis is given in Table 5. The simplices News National and Weather dominate the ITV and BBC1 structures while Adult Education dominates the BBC2 structure. For ITV at q = 5 there appear what might be called child's viewing components (Child Adventure), (Child Show), (Child Education) and an adults entertainment component (Religion, Sport/Games, News National, News Regional, Weather, Domestic Drama, Domestic Comedy). For BBC1 at q --= 5 the component (Music/Arts Critic, Social Comment, Cartoon,

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Q-ANALYSISOF TELEVISIONPROGRAMMES

467

Child Adventure, Child Show, Adult Education, Child Education, News National, News Regional, Weather, Current Affairs) shows child and adult viewing to be more highly connected with less emphasis on entertainment. For BBC2 at q = 5 the component (Disabled, Sports/Games, Adult Education, News National, Weather, Current Affairs) is essentially adult viewing catering for minority interests. The connectivity structures of the complexes for the week 30 April-6 May are similar to those described here. Gould in his study of Brazilian television (Gould & Johnson, 1978) also found a similarity of structure for the same channel over different weeks while different channels had different structures, and it has been shown that the percentage of different types of programmes broadcast may vary significantly from country to country (Nordenstreng & Varis, 1974). TABLE 4(b)

A comparison of broadcasting times for British Television, 3-9 March 1973 (based on Goodhardt, Ehrenberg & Collins, 1975) time 29 25 23 20 17 13 12 11 10 8 7

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5 4 3 2 1

0

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BBCI

BBC2 Education

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Features and Documentaries Sport

News and Public Affairs Children's Programmes

Series and Serials General Entertainment General Entertainments Features and Documentaries Childrens Prograrnmes Movies Sport Plays

Plays Publicity (internal) Religion Arts and Music

Total hours

103

Movies

Publicity (internal) Religion Arts and Music Commercials 100

Plays Series and Serial Arts and Music Sport Publicity (internal)

Commercials Religion 62

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472

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TABLE 6

Dimensions of time intervals

$A M SA A SA E SUM SU A SU E MO M MO A MO E TU M TU A TU E WE M WE A WE E TH M TH A THE FR M FR A FR E

ITV1A

ITVIB

BBCIA

BBC1B

BBC2A

BBC2B

2 4 9 4 9 8 0 12 7 0 9 10 0 9 10 0 10 9 0 12 8

3 5 10 3 10 6 0 14 7 0 12 8 1 12 10 1 14 10 0 12 11

4 6 7 6 11 11 1 9 8 1 8 9 3 9 10 2 9 10 3 9 12

5 6 7 5 9 10 4 7 7 1 11 9 3 10 10 2 7 9 2 9 7

0 1 10 0 2 8 1 0 10 1 3 10 2 0 12 1 0 13 1 0 12

0 1 10 0 1 8 I 0 12 1 3 8 3 2 11 1 1 13 1 0 11

BBC2A

BBC2B

1.000 0.833

1.000 0-833

0"500 0"800

0"500

0"222

0"300

0"333 0"375 0"500

TABLE 7

Eccentricities of time intervals

SA SA SA SU SU SU MO MO MO TU TU TU WE WE WE TH TH TH FR FR FR

M A E M A E M A E M A E M A E M A E M A E

ITVIA

1TVIB

BBC1A

BBC1B

0.500 0.250 1.000 0"667 1.500 0"800

I'000 0"200 0"571 1"000 1"200 0"750

0.250 0"400 0.600 2"500 1"400 I'000

0"625 0"333

0.364

0"429 0"500

I'000 0"167 0.600 1.000 1.000 0"833 0"250 0"143 0"143

0"250 0"571

0"571 0"429

0-300 0-500 1"000 0"4~ 0"375 1.000 0"364 0"222

0-625 0"500

0"300 0"333

0-250 0"833

0"125 0"429 0"111 0"375

0-333 0"250 0"333 0"57• 0"375

0"625

0-333 0-125 1"000 0-500 0"333

0"250 0"571

0"333 0"429

0"556

0"400

0"111 0"625

0"111 0.600

0"625

0"333

Q-ANALYSIS OF TELEVISION PROGRAMMES

473

KT(D,2 -1) Table 6 lists the dimensions of the time intervals in KT(D,2 -~) for each of the six data files while Table 7 lists eccentricities. For all channels, weekday mornings have relatively low dimension associated with these intervals being more or less devoted to educational programmes. Weekend mornings have higher dimensions and eccentricities for BBCI and ITV as more non-educational programmes are shown. Weekday afternoons have similar dimensions for ITV and BBCI where these are similar to the evening dimensions for all channels. The relatively low dimension of afternoons for BBC2 is due to closedowns of approximately 1-1½ hours duration. In general, the weekend time intervals have the highest eccentricity apart from Saturday and Sunday mornings on BBC2 which shows only Open University programmes. Table 8 compares the Q-analysis of data files ITVIA, BBCIA and BBC2A. For ITV at q = 6 and 7 there are components of weekday afternoon viewing intervals while all the weekday afternoons and evenings are 5-connected. The weekend afternoons and evenings join this component at q = 3 and all these have eccentricity not less than 0-500 except Saturday afternoon with its emphasis on Sport/Games. In the BBC1 structure there are distinct afternoon and evening components at q = 5 and q = 6 where these form one component at q = 4. The distinction between weekday mornings and afternoons is more marked for BBC1 than for ITV, these forming two 5-components for BBCI while they are connected as one component for ITV. Weekend mornings have higher dimension for BBCI than ITV while Saturday and Sunday afternoons belong to the morning-afternoon component at q = 4 for BBC1 compared with q --- 3 for ITV. In the BBC2 structure, the relatively high dimension evenings form a component at q = 4 which loses Sunday evening at q = 5 and Saturday evening at q = 6. The lower dimension mornings and afternoons join this component at q = 0,1,2. The analysis of KT(D,2 -1) shows significant differences between the three channels. In general, weekday mornings have low dimension, there are significant connectivities between weekday afternoons and between weekday evenings, while weekend time intervals tend to have relatively high eccentricities.

P a t t e r n s on the b a c k c l o t h The structural observations of the previous section, while of interest in their own right are particularly significant in the consideration of such numerical data as viewing patterns, demand patterns, expenditure patterns, income patterns, etc. Let our backcloth contain the three pairs of conjugate complexes KD(T,2x) and KT(D,2~I), x = 0,1,2, for a particular broadcasting week. Let us define a viewing pattern v(i,x) = v(i,x)°+ v ( i , x ) 1 + v ( i , x ) 2 "at- . . . + v(i,x) dimr~ for each channel and each time interval T~ by letting ((D=0, D=~. . . . . D ~ ) , v(i,x) ~) be the number of people watching programmes described by D=0,..., D~ during time interval T~ on channel x. This definition gives a value to each face of T~ for channel x and takes zero value on all other simplices in KT(D,27,1) since they have as vertices at least one descriptor which cannot be viewed during T~ on channel x. There are 63 viewing patterns so defined for a viewing week, one for each of 21 time intervals for three channels. Although the notation v(i,x) makes it explicit which of these patterns is being referred to, when we are considering the viewing pattern on T~ e KT(D,2]~) the repetition of the i and x will be omitted and the viewing pattern written v --- v ° + v t + v ~ + . . . . +v dlmTl.

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476

J. H. JOHNSON

To see the significance of the grading o f this pattern consider a person who considers the news, sport and a crime film to be a "good evening's viewing". Although he may be able to view each of these programme types on different evenings he is unlikely to get the satisfaction watching them separately that he would if he watched them together: ( N e w s ) + (Crime F i l m ) + ( S p o r t ) ~ (News, Crime Film, Sport). This observation suggests a practical distinction between the questions "which programme types do you watch (or wish to watch)" and "which sets of programme types do you watch (or wish to watch)". The viewing pattern is considered sutticiently important by both BBC and ITV to devote considerable resources to its study. Through its Audience Research Department, the BBC collects viewing data by a quota sample of 2750 people per day from the entire U.K. population of five years old and over. In processing this data the audience overlap (the number of people watching more than one programme) is explicitly considered: "The audience overlap analysis gives estimates of the numbers of people who have listened to or viewed all possible combinations of up to 8 broadcasts on any one day" (BBC Audience Research, 1976b) so that in principle the BBC collected the graded pattern v = v ° + v l + . . . + v 7. A private company through the Joint Industry Committee for Television Advertising Research, JICTAR, collects viewing data by electronic meters attached to a representative sample of 2655 homes receiving ITV, and diaries giving details of those viewing (IBA, 1978). A recent study of this data (Goodhardt, Ehrenberg & Collins, 1975) tended to compare programmes pairwise and thus restricted itself to the pattern v = v° + vL However, that study states an interesting "duplication of viewing law", which it is claimed is empirically valid in many cases, as r~t = r~r,k/lO0

where r~t = ~o population viewing during both time intervals s and t, re = ~o population viewing during time interval s, rt = ~o population viewing during time interval t and k takes the values:

ITV to/from ITV BBC1 to/from BBC1 BBC2 to/from BBC2 ITV to/from BBC1 ITV to/from BBC2 BBC1 to/from BBC2

1971

1974

1.7 1.8 1.9 0.8 0.9 1-1

1.8 1.8 2.2 0.9 0.9 1.1

)Lower than above )due to "channel )loyalty" effects

This can be interpreted as a pattern relationship on the complex KD(T,2). Let ((T~0), T t l } , . . . , T(p}), w p) be the number o f people watching (for simplicity one channel) during all of the time intervals T(0 , i = 0,1 . . . . , p. Then w = w°+ wl+ . . . + w aim KD is a graded pattern on KD(T,2). The above empirical law may be stated as

((T,,Tj), w~) = k.((T,), w°).((Tj), w°).

477

Q-ANALYSIS OF TELEVISION P R O G R A M M E S

Following Goodhardt's statistical derivation of the "law" we can obtain the result (~,,wP) = k ' (

II

((T,),w0))

and it is of interest to ask if this is empirically valid. The patterns v and w are related by the expression (Tl, eaw) = ((Ti >, v°) where Tt is a simplex with vertices descriptors on the left-hand side and e a is the exponential coface operator (Atkin, 1977). Thus while the programme content of a time interval will effect its rating, w°, the relationship between the ratings, wp, would appear to be independent of any further influence of programme content for p > 0. To consider viewing demand, note that people may wish to view programmes which are not shown so that the structures KD(T,2)and KT(D,2 -1) are not adequate to support a demand pattern. In general, there could be a demand for any of the set of programme descriptors, so let the relation F c D x T be defined as D~ F T~ for all i and j. Thus each time interval is a 58-simplex since each T~ is F-related to all the 59 elements of D. On the complex KT(D,F -x) define for each time interval Tj a viewing d e m a n d pattern d = d ° + d ~ + . . . + d 5s as follows. Let ((D~ 0, D ~ x , . . . , D~,>, d ~ ) be the number of people wishing to view all of the descriptors D,~, i = 0,1 . . . . , p during time interval Tj. Thus for each viewing week there are 21 such patterns, one for each of the 21 elements of T. Since the particular T~ under consideration is usually given by context we use the symbol d instead of the more explicit d ( j ) . (Note: the use ofsymbol D for descriptor and the symbol d for demand are distinct, one referring to sets and elements while the other refers to a graded pattern.) The patterns v and d cannot be directly compared because they are defined on different complexes. However, each KT(D,2~x) is a subcomplex of KT(D,F -1) so for each channel x = 0,1,2, and a given T~ the equality v = d can be defined as v = d i f f ( t r , v ) = (a,d[ zT~t~,~-1~)

and (tr,t0 = 0 for treKT(D,F- 1)_KT(D,;t71) i.e. the value of v on each simplex of KT(D,2~a) is the same as the value of d on that simplex, and d takes value zero on all other simplices. For some fixed time interval, T j, let a * be the simplex Tj in the complex KT(D,;t~1) for x = 0,1,2, i.e. a ° has vertices those descriptors seen on ITV during Tj, a I has vertices those descriptors seen on BBC1 during T~ and a 2 has vertices those descriptors seen on BBC2 during Tj. Let K ' be a new complex defined to contain a °, a 1, a s and all their faces so that we can consider connectivities between the different channels. Let us suppose that a part of programme schedule planning involves attempting to make the viewing pattern v as close as possible to the demand pattern d. A simplistic interpretation of this might involve scheduling for Tj the simplex which takes the greatest value of d summed over all its faces, in order to provide a structure capable of supporting the greatest summed viewing pattern (in terms of the number of people viewing the channel during Tj). If each channel adopted this strategy of satisfying the greatest demand (so defined) it would be shared between them and the viewing pattern would not be maximized. Thus even if the scheduling policy were based only on maximizing

478

s.H. JOHNSON

the number of viewers (which in Britain it is not) some degree of complementary programming between the channels would be desirable. Suppose then that a ° and a 1 are not identical, but share the 2-dimensional face o2 = (News, Domestic Drama, Sport). This means that the value of d e must be shared between ITV and BBC1 for the simplex tr2. The competition to get the greatest share of this demand might stimulate the competing channels to improve the "quality" of the associated programmes, presumably to the satisfaction of those wishing to view 02 and its faces. However for viewers not interested in tr~ this duplication might be seen as undesirable because it denies them the viewing structure they require.

t - f o r c e s on t h e backcloth Programme scheduling is very much more complicated than suggested in the previous paragraph, many of the details are not published but an outline can be found in (BBC, 1976a), (IBA, 1978)while Green (1972) provides a useful global context. The demand pattern, only one of many considerations, is not static so that over time changes in the demand pattern (as t-forces) will be experienced over the simplex a 5a which has all programme descriptors as vertices. Some of these t-forces will be beyond human control, for example, rain during a summer weekend might induce repulsive t-forces on outdoor pursuits and attractive viewing demand t-forces. Other t-forces might have causes outside the television backcloth. As an example suppose a new hobby became very popular. This might require the introduction of a new programme descriptor to classify the hobby and the definition of a new simplex, a ~° with all programme descriptors including this new one, to support the changed demand pattern. It might then be the case that people would like to see programmes on the new hobby which we interpret as an attractive force d~d on a 5a. On noting this demand the programme schedulers might introduce a new series of programmes on the hobby and by so changing the backcloth enable it to support the new viewing pattern as 0v. It is now possible that people not originally interested in, or perhaps even unaware of, the new hobby might see the programmes, take up the hobby and wish to see more programmes, i.e. an increase in 0d. In this case changing the backcloth has induced t-forces by changing the demand pattern as illustrated in the circular diagram below:

changeI

I Schedulers the backcloth

Schedulersnote ,-fo~es

I<

IIChangeto backcloth I ,-fo~ I i.d,,~s

As an example, the game of snooker was rarely shown on British television some years ago, although there was presumably a small demand. After a series of programmes on the game it became better known and more popular. Thus the demand for snooker programmes increased, which all three channels now provide for.

Q-ANALYSISOF TELEVISIONPROGRAMMES

479

Apart from trying to provide a service by giving viewers what they want and earning or justifying their income and expenditure in terms of audience size, all the British channels attempt to use television as a creative medium with new or experimental programmes. The success or otherwise of such programmes is not judged solely on the basis of the viewing pattern: "The public do not always like those broadcasts which, on the basis of informed professional judgement are agreed to be first class of their kind, nor always dislike the merely meretricious" (BBC, 1976b). This creative effort of television can be literally interpreted as an attempt to add more dimensions to the individual's life.

Conclusion This paper has demonstrated how the simplicial complexes defined in the first two sections may form a natural backcloth for patterns of viewing and viewing demand, and for changes in these patterns as t-forces. The broadcasting companies invest a great deal of effort into determining the viewing pattern, and in the case of the BBC, this data is partially graded. It is likely then that such studies of the structure of television schedules by Q-analysis will give further insights into the viewing pattern data already obtained and could be of practical help in constructing schedules for the future. This demonstration of how Q-analysis may be applied to programme schedules suggests this may be a fruitful new area of application.

References ATKIN, R. H. (1974). Mathematical Structure in Human Affairs. London: Heinemann. ATKIN, R. H. (1976). A general mathematical approach in physical, urban and social systems. LM.A. Bulletin, June 1976. ATKIN, R. H. (1977a). Combinatorial Connectivities in Social Systems. Basel: Birkhauser. ATKIN, R. H. (1977b). Research Report X. Regional Research Project, University of Essex. BBC (1976a). A - Z of the BBC. London: British Broadcasting Corporation. BBC (I 976b). Audience Research in the U.K., Methods and Services. London: British Broadcasting Corporation. BBC (1977). Annual Review of BBC Audience Research Findings. No. 3, 1975/6. London: British Broadcasting Corporation. Cmnd 6753 (1977). Report of the Committee on the Future of Broadcasting. Lord Annan. London: H.M.S.O. GOODnARDT, G. J., EHRENBERG,A. S. C. & COLLINS,M. A. (1975). The Television Audience: Patterns of Viewing. Saxon House. GOULD, P. & JOHNSON, J. H. (1978). The structure of television programming: some experiments in the application of Q-analysis. LT.F.P. Discussion Paper No. 1. Department of Geography, Penn State University, Pa. 16802, U.S.A. GREEN, T. (1972). The Universal Eye, World Television in the Seventies. London: The Bodley Head. IBA (1978). Television and Radio 1978. London: Independent Broadcasting Authority. JOHNSON, J. H. (1977). An Introduction to Q-analysis and Related Topics. Mimeo, University of Essex. NORDENSaXE~, K. & VAals, T. (1974). Television traffic---a one-way street ? Reports andPapers on Mass Communication, No. 70. UNESCO. UNESCO (1975). Worm Communications, a 200 Country Survey of Press, Radio, Television, Film. Unesco Press.