Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2008, Mass Communication (Communication)

Children's Television in Ghana: History, Policy, Diversity, and Prospects in a Changing Media Environment examines children's television in Ghana with the aim of exploring the different factors influencing the diversity and market structure of the industry. In order to better understand the diversity of children's television in Ghana Bryant's (2007) children's television community; Industrial Organization Model (Scherer and Ross, 1990); and government and market failure theory (Weisbrod, 1975, 1977) are adapted as the theoretical foundations needed to navigate the answers to the research questions the dissertation sets out to answer. The three theoretical frameworks provide a direction for exploring the political and economic factors influencing the diversity of television programs forchildren in Ghana. The dissertation utilizes three methods to obtain and analyze information and data for the dissertation. Content analysis was used to obtain children's television data from television schedules for the three largest television stations in the capital of Ghana. The schedules for the three television stations are published in Radio & TV Guide which is a monthly entertainment magazine published in Ghana. One-on-one semi-structured interviews with a number of core open-ended questions based on the functions of interviewees were used with station managers, media professionals, government organization officials, content creators and non-government organization officials. Finally secondary sources such as relevant industry documents from broadcasting stations,nongovernmental organizations, and government sources were reviewed to gain data on the provision of children's television programs and to corroborate information gained from the interviewees and content analysis data. In order to obtain both an objective and subjective determination of the diversity of children's television in Ghana it was important to use multiple methods. Findings from the dissertation showed that t (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2013, Popular Culture

When The Golden Girls premiered in 1985, the show helped usher in a new era in American situation comedy television. American audiences had never seen a situation comedy where a group of adult women were the focal point of each episode. There had certainly been programming prior to the show where women held starring roles, but never before had anything like The Golden Girls been shown in American prime time television. The show left an indelible mark and millions of Americans have followed the adventures Dorothy, Rose, Blanche, and Sophia, both in its original run from 1985 to 1992, and in its current syndication status on several cable television networks. Sex and the City, Platinum Edition: How The Golden Girls Altered American Situation Comedy explores several of the ways in which the program effected American culture in terms of television as well as away from the television screen. The first chapter of the project explores how the show laid the groundwork for several other programs followed the show's lead by installing a group of adult women at its center. Comparisons between The Golden Girls and several of these shows (including Sex and the City, Designing Women, and Hot in Cleveland) are made in terms of character types and plotlines. The conclusion is drawn that The Golden Girls was the first adult female ensemble in situation comedy television and these shows were inspired by the program. The second chapter of the project examines how each of the characters through the performance of age and sexuality were actively fighting denigrating stereotypes often associated with older females in American society. The chapter contains specific examples from several episodes involving each of the series four main characters and how each of these portrayals stands in direct contrast to the beliefs typically attributed to older American women regarding the intersection of age and sexuality. The third and final chapter of the project explores how the series was abl (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2008, Graduate School

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2012, Popular Culture

In the fragmented post-network era of television, networks are looking for any advantage in attracting audiences. One way networks try to draw attention is through branding. Branding helps networks stand out among the hundreds of other choices, but can also link all of a network's programming under one carefully-crafted theme. When viewers access a network's content from numerous devices, it is crucial that each experience evokes similar images, styles and themes. It is my assertion that cable giant USA Network has succeeded with its branding campaign like no other contemporary television network. By combining a programming formula of blue skies, cool cases and pretty faces with thematically-connected branding under the “Characters Welcome” label, USA Network and its structurally formulaic programs are activated into a new genre of television. This activation from formula into genre is accomplished narratively, thematically and aesthetically within the programs themselves, but is primarily driven by the commodification of those narratives, themes and aesthetics through an overarching branding campaign (television spots, on-screen chyrons, print ads, web sites, Tweets, various other intertextual directives) that promises diverting, but not mindless, fare. The brand emphasizes escapism and inclusivity through sunshine-drenched imagery and a laid-back, summertime ideology. Using Jason Mittell suggestion television genres exist as “cultural categories” created through discourse, this thesis discusses how USA Network exists as a generic category shaped by branding and how critics and audiences embrace and acknowledge that generic category.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, English

The makers of commercial popular culture often incorporate folklore into their works. Although their definition of folklore is generally restricted to pre-modern narratives and beliefs that form only a small part of what folklore is, their works relate to traditional content in a more expansive way. This dissertation examines a contemporary television genre that not only incorporates traditional content but, I argue, functions as folklore in its own right by negotiating truth and belief, constructing social Others, and, at the meta-level, constituting an archive. Since the 1990s, serial narratives in which everyday people investigate and solve supernatural disturbances in a procedural format have become a mainstay of North American television and streaming media. Such programs, including The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, have generally lacked a cohesive genre designation. I argue for “supernatural procedural” as the genre's preferred term and trace its history from predecessors in Victorian-era occult detective fiction to early forms in 1970s television, through solidification in the 1990s into its current permutations. I outline conventions that include, among others, realistic worldbuilding, a blend of episodic and serial storytelling, and, notably, a tendency to engage with folklore. Employing an approach blending folkloristics and popular culture studies, I argue that specific characteristics of the supernatural procedural allow series to function as televisual folklore: folklore not just adapted by, but actually occurring within the television medium. This emphasis contributes to newer avenues in folklore studies, which has only recently begun seriously analyzing television, and popular culture studies, where folkloristic perspectives are often overlooked. This work considers the abovementioned series at length alongside subsequent programs like Supernatural and Grimm, using supporting analysis from Lucifer, Evil, SurrealEstate, and Wellington Pa (open full item for complete abstract)

PHD, Kent State University, 2020, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Foundations, Leadership and Administration

The purpose of this humanities-based study is to evaluate how the American public broadcasting system has traditionally served children, how it currently fulfills that role, and finally to propose a new approach to children's public broadcasting that is more democratic and attentive to children's interests. American broadcasting developed as a series of compromises amongst ideologically-opposed voters and organizations. Further, public broadcasters are reliant on private donors, thus diluting the democratic quality of their programming. The author argues that this paradigm violates children's rights. The unsatisfied adult consumer of public broadcasting has political recourse by which they can attempt to influence regulations that affect public broadcasting. Children lack such political agency, so extra care must be taken to protect their interests; public content generated for them should be as free of market influence as possible, until they gain the agency to decide for themselves their thoughts on the interplay of public and private goods. The current public broadcasting paradigm does not evidently or obviously seek out children's thoughts on the programming provided for them. The author argues that by allowing children a more direct voice in the shaping of programming created for them, public broadcasters may both serve their traditional, recognized function better by empirically demonstrating that their content matches their publics' interests while also helping to ensure that children's right to speak is being respected.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1987, Graduate School

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1973, Graduate School

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1967, Graduate School

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1959, Graduate School

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2008, Telecommunications (Communication)

This thesis examines the children's programming being aired by ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX owned and operated stations in Manhattan, New York in compliance with the Three-Hour Rule during the first quarter of 2008. A case study of WABC, WNBC, WCBS, and WNYW comparing children's programming before the Children's Television Act, after the Children's Television Act, and after the Three-Hour Rule revealed that the Three-Hour Rule has not brought significant changes in the amount of programming for children, but that more prosocial programming was produced as a result of the regulation. In addition, this research examines the Form 398 filings from each of the Manhattan stations. The theme of each core program was coded as social, emotional, educational, or other. In sum, this research discovered that stations are meeting the minimum amount of hours required of them by the Three-Hour Rule, but that the expectations of educational programming as defined by Action for Children's Television, those dealing with academic topics of literacy and mathematics, are not being met and are instead replaced with prosocial programming dealing with issues of friendship, honesty, and self-esteem.

PHD, Kent State University, 2007, College of Communication and Information / School of Communication Studies

In this study, I examined whether the extent to which television viewers are fans of sports and their motivation for viewing sports affected judgments of anti-social behaviors demonstrated by athletes. The uses and gratifications theoretical framework guided exploration of possible predictors. The sample (n = 347) consisted of undergraduate students from two midwestern universities. Several instruments were used in this study. The questionnaire included measures of fandom, motives for watching televised sports (i.e., entertaining relaxation, etc.), affinity for watching televised sports, intention to watch televised sports, activities during exposure to televised sports, involvement with televised sports, exposure to televised sports, parasocial interaction with athletes, identification with athletes, and judgments of athlete behaviors (i.e., violent crime, drug use, forging checks/failing to keep promises, and uncharitable/dishonest behaviors). Results showed that fandom correlated significantly with affinity, motives, intention, involvement, exposure, parasocial interaction, and identification. Fandom was negatively related to judgments of violent crime behaviors and uncharitable/dishonest behaviors. Fandom was not related to judgments of drug use or forging checks. Results suggested that people who reported greater fandom were less likely than their counterparts to judge violent crime and uncharitable/dishonest behaviors negatively. Separate multiple regression analyses were conducted to assess the contribution of the antecedent variables to predicting each behavioral judgment factor. Results of the regression analyses suggested that women who were engaged in other activities while viewing televised sports content were more likely to judge violent crime behaviors as most wrong, or negatively. Additionally, women were more likely to judge drug use and uncharitable/dishonest behaviors as most wrong, or negatively. Path analyses provided further evidence for links b (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2009, American Culture Studies/Popular Culture

In conversations concerning American television abroad, conflict arises regarding the impact of American culture on countries without a strong means of autonomous media production. These discussions are usually confined to developing nations; however, Americanization still remains relevant to those nations who have a developed media industry. This thesis further examines the dynamic relationship between two media powerhouses, the United States and Great Britain. The purpose of this project is to explore how British television works with American television and popular culture in ways that do not interrupt the cultural education television provides. Beginning with a short history of the importation of programs between both countries, the thesis elaborates on the significance of television and comedy to culture. This history of media importation helps to set up how particular programs play with Americanness in ways that help to reassert a sense of Britishness. Using Andy Medhurst's A National Joke, this project examines how television comedy is able to communicate, reassert, and redefine British identities. The shows chosen, Peep Show (2003- ) and Goodness Gracious Me (1998-2001) are two comedies that play such a role in renegotiating and redefining Britishness, by deconstructing the notion of identity as well as emphasizing Britishness through the representation of Americanness. Between Peep Show's utilization of an American character as a means to differentiate British from American and Goodness Gracious Me's use of familiar American formats to emphasize the impact of American television on British culture, both pinpoint the issues relevant to discussing contemporary British identity and through the lens of comedy provide a space for these issues to be deconstructed and challenged.

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2007, Popular Culture

This thesis offers a genre analysis of North American television sketch comedy. While aiming to offer a proper characterization of the genre as a whole, it is specifically concerned with discussing and analyzing ways the genre negotiates power relationships, especially in its use of political and racial humor. The paper's initial focus is establishing a history of the development and conventions of television sketch comedy. Overall, the genre, with its mixture of parody and irreverent humor, is positioned as an example of Bakhtin's carnivalesque. The remainder of the paper examines the genre's use of political and racial humor and how power is resisted within these comedic topics. Ultimately, despite continuing struggles with institutional limitations, resistant humor is possible in television sketch comedy through the liberating powers of the medium and an active audience's quest for such humor. Sketch shows discussed include Saturday Night Live, In Living Color, and Chappelle's Show.

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1967, Graduate School

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1962, Graduate School

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1969, Graduate School

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1968, Graduate School

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1966, Graduate School

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1967, Graduate School