Primetime television viewership, political priorities, and HIV/AIDS health knowledge

Television media have enormous reach and primetime shows on major broadcast networks can reach over 20 million viewers in a single hour, unmatched in any other medium. Health information delivered through engaging storytelling—often involving characters viewers already “know” and care about—is more likely to be attended to than traditional health information sources. Does the influence extend to more than just health information? What role does television viewing play in shaping the public's political priorities? How do opinions about global health and domestic policy relate to health knowledge? This study seeks to answer those questions by examining how political priorities are related to HIV/AIDS knowledge among viewers of primetime television.

Participants were recruited through a private research company and were solicited to participate in an electronic survey. The sample (N=512) was predominantly white (85.2%), married (62.7%), and female (72.5%). Multiple linear regression and ANOVA tests were used to conduct this analysis.

Regular viewing of top rated primetime shows was significantly associated with both global (b=0.10, p<0.05) and domestic priorities (b=0.11, p<0.05) and showed a trend towards significance with HIV/AIDS knowledge (b=0.08, p=0.08). Domestic priorities were associated with watching more hours of television per week (F_4,602=3.47, p<0.01).

Findings suggest that people who watch more primetime TV could be more informed about political and health issues. Future investigations should look at the content of primetime television shows in regards to depictions of public health policy and health knowledge so messages can be tailored to reach and inform selected audiences about health issues.