Political orientation and perceived quality of television channels

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the relationship between the political orientation of television viewers and their perception of television programming quality. Design/methodology/approach – Information from a sample of 2,843 viewers is used. Ordinary least square models are estimated to test the theoretical hypotheses. Findings – The results suggest that the ideological position of viewers has a significant bearing on their evaluation of the quality of television channels. They also point to the key role played by news programming in the audience’s general assessment of channels quality. Research limitations/implications – There are a number of limitations to this research, which are largely related to the data analyzed, since they are cross-sectional and measures based on a single item are used. Future research in this field ought to take the multidimensional nature of the concepts discussed here into greater consideration. Practical implications – If political orientation colors viewer perception of quality television, it seems worthwhile for television schedulers to have more information about the political-ideological profile of their audience, so as to design a more appealing programming range for their target viewers. Regarding the impact of the perceived quality of news programs on the perceived quality of the whole channel, it would make sense for television managers to invest in news programs not only on the basis of the size of the audience reached, but also as a way to build up a strong brand and to differentiate it from competitors. Originality/value – There is scarce empirical research on the perceptions of quality media and television by viewers. This paper develops and tests hypotheses that contribute to a better knowledge of the mechanisms that generate the perceptions of consumers about the quality of television channels.