| Summary: | This study explores the responses of a selected group of female teenage
viewers to the Ricki Lake Show. Although a number of studies have been done in
the area of audience, very few of them have considered teenage and young adult
audiences. Most of the current research to date has focused on either how
television affects viewers' behaviour, primarily children, or in the field of reception
research, where studies have explored how viewers respond to various television
programs, primarily soap operas, where the subjects were mostly adult women.
This study uses the reception research methodology of visiting participants in
their homes. A total of seventeen teenage women were interviewed in ten
sessions. Interviews covered the following areas: a) why they watch television talk
shows; b) their perceptions of the components of the genre, i.e., host, topics,
guests, studio audience members, expert, and visual style; and c) their overall
perceptions of the genre of talk TV. Each session involved a different episode of
the Ricki Lake Show, except for one repeat. Each session lasted for between two
and three hours, one hour of which was spent watching the show. The remainder
of the time was spent in discussions. A list of questions was used to guide
discussions. Interviews and discussions were fully transcribed prior to analysis.
The overall results strongly suggested that age and socio-economic status
influenced the responses of the study participants. The results also made it clear
that these viewers were active participants of media in the sense that they could
critique and interpret the genre in a personal manner. However, the participants
seemed to lack media awareness skills essential for critical viewing, such as an
understanding of the techniques used in creating media images, awareness of
the distinction between the view of the world presented on television and the real
world, and awareness of the commercial motivations for creating these programs. === Education, Faculty of === Educational Studies (EDST), Department of === Graduate
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