If you’re in the business of advertising – especially TV advertising – you might be keen to identify the driving factors behind so-called ‘zapping’ (viewers changing channels with the specific intent of avoiding commercial breaks) A 2017 study in the Journal of Advertising Research presents an extensive analysis of the subject and pinpoints a ‘significant […]
Tag: TV
Is your dog watching TV?
If you’d like to scientifically determine whether your dog (or any other dog) is watching TV, you could try using a high-quality method of face tracking (from a Human Computer Interaction [HCI] standpoint) as suggested by PhD researcher Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas and Prof. Janet C Read from the Animal Computer Interaction Design (ACID), a research group […]
‘Pigness’ (Cinematic and Televisual) – a thesis
One of academia’s most prominent accounts of ‘Pigness’ in motion pictures was authored in 2010 by Dr. Mark von Schlemmer (University of Central Missouri, Department of Communication and Sociology) in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, With reference not only to leading examples of cinematic pigs (like Babe and […]
Murder, murder, murder in the UK, real and imagined
The number of murders on British television murder shows is to die for, if you are the sort that lives for that variety of entertainment. This study takes a narrow, sharp plunge into the relevant facts: “Misrepresentation of UK homicide characteristics in popular culture,” J. Brown, N.S. Hughes, M.C. McGlen, and J.H.M. Crichton, Journal of […]
The chemistry of Breaking Bad, analyzed
Almost anyone who has seen the TV series Breaking Bad craves (or should crave) more knowledge of the chemistry presented there. This study helps supply some of that knowledge: IN ENGLISH: “The Chemistry of Breaking Bad,” Falk Harnisch [pictured here], Tunga Salthammer, Chemie in unserer Zeit, vol. 47, December 3, 2013, pp. 214-21. IN GERMAN: […]
Concerns about watching TV while driving: then and now
NOW: Stuff reports: The [UK] Department for Transport has acted to ban drivers from using Google Glass – even before Google’s smart eyewear launches to the general public. Stuff has learned that the government department is concerned about the potential for distraction that could result from using Google Glass while driving, and has taken pre-emptive action ahead […]
What’s on TV: The NYT recommends the Ig Nobel Documentary
The New York Times today recommends this TV program: 1 P.M. (TV5Monde) QUAND LA SCIENCE FAIT RIRE (2012) What effect do roller coasters have on asthma treatments? Does swearing ease pain? Do we swim more quickly in water or in syrup? The director of this program, Roland Portiche, whose title translates as “When Science Is Funny,” […]
Ig Nobel program premieres Friday night on France 5 TV
A reminder: Quand la Science Fair Rire, a television program about the Ig Nobel Prizes and Ig Nobel Prize winners, premieres on France 5, on Friday night, September 28. Produced by Frederic Lepage and directed by Roland Portiche for Paris-based FL Concepts, this and subsequent episodes will later also be shown on public television networks in […]
Ig Nobel TV program premieres in France on Sept 28
Quand la Science Fair Rire, a television program about the Ig Nobel Prizes and Ig Nobel Prize winners, premieres on France 5, on Friday night, September 28. Produced by Frederic Lepage and directed by Roland Portiche for Paris-based FL Concepts, this and subsequent episodes will later also be shown on public television networks in other countries […]
Ig Nobel Prizes as a category on Jeopardy!
For the fifth or so time, The Ig Nobel Prizes was a category on the Jeopardy! TV game show. The J-Archive has details. Here are the questions—or, rather, the answers—used on the April 9, 2012 broadcast: (Thanks to Mike Leavell for bringing this to our attention.)