Sentences with phrase «time religious programs»

Network religious programs are frequently aired in more favorable time - slots than the paid - time religious programs and have usually drawn comparable or larger audiences than even the most popular of the paid - time religious programs.

The research indicates that after a decade of steady growth, audience sizes for most major paid - time religious programs reached a plateau in 1977 and have been fluctuating since then.

Evangelicals in general, who comprise the majority of the audience of the paid - time religious programs, are more generous givers to religious organizations than other church members.

The debate in the church over the growth of paid - time religious programs has centered on several major issues.

This characteristic is illustrated further by comparing the syndication patterns of three of the major paid - time religious programs with three major sustaining - time syndicated programs during the Nielsen sweeps period in November of each year.

Central to an understanding of what will be the future of religious television in America is the fact noted in the research on audience sizes: that the audiences for paid - time religious programs as a whole reached a plateau around the year 1977.

(8) Paid - time religious programs, by accumulating the financial resources to pay for their air - time, were conceived as one possible way of securing more favorable air - time for religious broadcasts.

All of the major paid - time religious programs have a central charismatic figure or host such as Robert Schuller, Oral Roberts, Rex Humbard, Pat Robertson, Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, and so on.

Rarely a week passes on most paid - time religious programs without the viewer's being offered the opportunity to receive one of these gifts.

The recent eruption of paid - time religious programs on the modern scene has raised many questions about the audience of these programs.

Of interest also is the phenomenon already noted; the extent to which paid - time religious programs on television are bypassing reference to the group expressions and aspects of religious faith in favor of an individualized and privatized faith.

Chapter 7 will examine the research relevant to this issue, particularly as it addresses the questions: Have paid - time religious programs really displaced other types of religious programs?

Their displacement of network programs on affiliate stations began to be felt around 1976 - 77 as can be seen in NBC religious specials (see Table 8.5), Before this decline, many of these network programs were regularly attracting a larger audience than most of the paid - time religious programs.

The implications of this alternative counseling service provided for church members must be considered in evaluating the effect of paid - time religious programs on the life of the local church: is it a complementary service or a substitutionary one?

The increases in the audience for the paid - time religious programs in the early 1970s initially affected locally produced religious programs.

Paid - time religious programs are perhaps the finest example of sophisticated, market - researched consumer faith.

As can be seen, there has been a steady growth in the amount of time occupied by paid - time religious programs versus sustaining - time programs since 1959, with particularly rapid changes occurring from 1971 on.

In the light of these findings and the statistics on audience sizes for these programs, the paid - time religious programs appear not as a major thrust fully supported and influential on the evangelical movement as a whole, but as a rather small subculture within evangelicalism.

The effect of the growth in paid - time religious programs was felt not only by other syndicated religious programs but also by network religious programs.

However, for people who are dissatisfied with their local church, who have little established connection with a local church, or whose religious consciousness may be awakened by a viewed religious program, the research indicates that paid - time religious programs, by presenting themselves as competent alternatives to the local church, offering a range of services similar to the local church, and not referring respondents or enquirers to a local church, may be acting as a barrier to people's developing their faith most fully within this interpersonal context.

One interesting observation to be gained from these figures is that the paid - time religious programs had reached the peak of their influence, numerically at least, almost three years before most public attention was given to them in the election year of 1980.

NOTE: The drop in number of stations in 1977 is attributed primarily to substitution of these programs with paid - time religious programs by network affiliates.

The study found that in 1971, 88.9 percent of all paid - time religious programs were broadcast on Sundays, compared to 77.3 percent of sustaining syndicated programs and 73.5 percent of local religious programs.

Though their audience dropped in the late 1970s, in 1981 the NBC one - hour specials still had an average audience per program of 1,674,000.3 The weekly audience for the three network religious programs in mid-1982 was still close to three million, a fact which is frequently overlooked because of their lack of flamboyance, and the controversy that has surrounded the paid - time religious programs.

The growth of paid - time religious programs had

There are several other syndication characteristics in religious programing which indicate that though the commercial emphasis of paid - time religious programs was designed to help them buy their way out of the ghetto, it may have forced them more deeply into it.

The figure of 15 million was the estimate given by Ben Armstrong in private correspondence with the author for the total audience of paid - time religious programs.

In particular, local programming was the hardest hit by the increase in paid - time religious programs.

A content study of 15 paid - time religious programs by Hilton in 1980 found that in none of them was the local church ever mentioned.

Women 18 - 49 and men over 50 formed approximately equal proportions of the audience for most of the major paid - time religious programs.

The author examines the debate in the church over the growth of paid - time religious programs which has centered on several major issues, including the nature of the church, its mission, evangelism, pastoral care and counseling, and the social and political impact, and also the communication aspects: one way versus interactive communication.

The dominance of paid - time religious programs on television at present is possibly creating a substantial status - conferral effect.

Given the specific characteristics of current paid - time religious programs, determined to a large extent by their need to elicit financial support from viewers, they attract people who are already familiar with and in agreement with the theological and organizational goals of the program.

Another effect of the growth of paid - time religious programs is the steady increase in the number of stations that now see religion primarily as a commercial venture and for which payment for air - time has become the dominant principle in the broadcasting of religion.

To understand fully the implications of the characteristic audience of paid - time religious programs, one must consider the historical context of the changes that have taken place in religious broadcasting over the past 15 years.

These figures, while only tentative, surest that paid - time religious programs are more concentrated in the religious - ghetto hours of Sunday morning because broadcasters who purchase time for their programs actively seek out the Sunday morning time - slot.

To what extent are paid - time religious programs consistent with traditional Christian thought, and to what extent are they shaped by the environment in which they have been cast?

Despite the large amounts of money invested in paid - time religious programs and the purchase of air - time for these programs, the available research suggests that with only a few exceptions paid - time religious programs have not succeeded in breaking out of the religious ghetto period.

This trend is likely to have been more accentuated since 1971 with the increase in the number of stations finding paid - time religious programs acceptable: a significant consequence of the economic motivation of the general television industry.

Though they spend a part of each program soliciting funds for their organizations, the FCC has ruled that paid - time religious programs are not commercial - length programs.

Viewers of sustaining - time religious programs have never been as loyal or demonstrative, nor has this aspect of viewing been cultivated.

The use of paid - time religious programs offered the opportunity to make a profit on the sale of air - time, particularly on Sunday mornings, which were normally a slow audience period.

The growth of paid - time religious programming and its adaptation to and endorsement of the economic competitive basis of American broadcasting represents in many ways the final takeover by television of the last of its programming to be independent of its economic intentions.

The fears that emerged during the 1980 national elections were understandable: Was paid - time religious programming the correct model for electronic communication, destined to become the new form of Christianity in the modern age?

Contrary to what paid - time broadcasters maintain, research suggests that in addition to the displacement of other types of programming, the recent growth of paid - time religious programming may have resulted in less rather than more religious programming on television.

NOTE: Those stations which stated they had a policy of not selling time for religious broadcasts still reflect a level of paid - time religious programming.

Paid - time religious programming has justified its dominance of the religious television field in recent years by suggesting that with its independent financial resources gained through audience cultivation and support it has been able to overcome the limitations experienced by mainline broadcasters as they worked with the local stations and networks on a public service basis.

As a consequence of the displacement of these other types of religious programs, the growth of paid - time religious programming in the 1960s and 1970s has resulted in a marked movement in religious television away from representating a range of U.S. cultures and traditions toward representing mainly the Protestant evangelical and fundamentalist traditions, particularly the independent broadcast organizations.

The plateau reached in 1977 and the demographic characteristics of the audience attained at this point provide a different picture and a different perspective: that paid - time religious programming on television is not a universal model of religious faith for the future but is primarily a specialized programming service for a specialized audience.

Prior to this, paid - time religious programming had been growing without interruption not only from the early 1970s but also from the beginning of television itself.