The pursuit of knowledge, identification or entertainment? An exploration of political call-in program content and audiences` viewing motives

Abstract

Developing usage and gratification theories, this paper explored the content of political call-in shows and audiences` viewing motives. The content analysis indicated that call-in programs in Taiwan exhibited the following aspects: (1) they discussed more breaking news than general public policies; (2) they contained party biases; and (3) they framed topics in a negative light. With regard to these findings, we propose that there are three major motives for watching political call-in programs: seeking knowledge, looking for party identification and serving as entertainment. A telephone survey found that seeking knowledge was a significant predictor of viewing frequency. In addition, age and education predicted the degree to which viewers sought knowledge from watching call-in programs. Party identification forecasted the degree to which viewers sought identification from watching these programs.