The Remote Control in the New Age of Television

by James Robert Walker

Remote control tuning encourages a form of interactive television using a technology already available in 80 percent of American households. Editors Walker and Bellamy have compiled the first book of state-of-the-art research on a topic of growing interest to media researchers, practitioners, and students. Chapter authors combine survey measurements with recorded observations of viewing behavior, an analysis of the program sources accessed during grazing, experimental studies of remote control use, and historical and critical analyses. Specific topics include: the history of the remote control device, gender differences in its use, family communication and parental control of the device, remote controls and selective exposure to media messages, the impact of remote controls on programming and promotion, remote controls and critical perspective on television, and future technologies. This volume is rooted in social scientific research, but theoretically and methodologically broad in scope.

288 pages, Hardcover

First published August 30, 1993

About the author

I am an emeritus Professor in the Department of Communication at Saint Xavier University in Chicago.

I began my career as the producer/host of a daily television program at Penn State University's PBS station. My Ph.D. is in Communication Studies from the University of Iowa. I started my teaching career at the University of Northern Iowa, moving to the University of Memphis in 1983, and to Saint Xavier University in 1993.

I have authored six books and over thirty articles on baseball and the electronic media, and the television industry and its audiences. I also enjoy playing fantasy baseball (with considerable success, I might add).