Thesis on Mtv

CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM, BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE

INTRODUCTION

In our generation today, “music television or MTV” has gained considerable audience in the music and television industry. During the last two decades since its conception in 1981, MTV channel has dramatically increased its share of viewers. Before MTV, music was just for the ears, only to be heard… it did not matter what the artists look like just as long as they sounded good. But the emergence of MTV changed the concept of “talent, to be “talented”. First one must perform well, sound good and most importantly, look great.

Nowadays, MTV has not just become part of TV programming. It has become the format of several TV stations and has become big business through music videos. They have become part of reality shows, community service shows, etc. And because of that, today’s young people are increasingly becoming early adopters of MTV. One TV channels the carries mainly music video is the MTV Channel both on local and Cable TV. They watch the MTV channel for entertainment, news, general information, or just plain ambience.

There are good and bad aspects of music videos or MTV. If, there are positive and negative sides why do young people enjoy watching MTV?

Something draws young people to it. The researcher decided to make a study regarding MTV to find out the reasons of the college students for watching it.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Why do the selected Communication Arts students of Angelicum College watch MTV channel?

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To describe the selected Communication Arts students of Angelicum College.

2. To know the TV viewing habits of the selected Communication Arts students of Angelicum College related to MTV channel.

3. To determine why the selected Communication Arts students of Angelicum College watch MTV channel.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This study is based on two Mass Communication Theories: Cultivation Theory and Uses and Gratification Theory.

Cultivation Theory

This theory will serve as one of my bases for my study. Cultivation theory was developed by George Gerbner. Because television has become the main source of story telling in today’s society, he studied the audience’s life with television, its effects and the television viewers themselves.

According to George Gerbner, Cultivation theory claims that television cultivates, or promotes, which a viewer nonetheless assumes reflects real life. And he and his colleagues stated that “Television is a centralized system of story telling…Television cultivates from infancy the very predispositions and preferences that used to be acquired from other primary sources…Television has become the primary common source of socialization and everyday information (mostly in the form of entertainment) of an otherwise heterogeneous population. (Wood, 1997, p. 291)

Gerbner’s assessments for those who watch television four hours or more a day are labeled “heavy television viewers”, where in they are the ones who are experiencing “mean world syndrome”. Mean World Syndrome is the belief that the world is a dangerous place, full of selfish, mean people who cannot be trusted and who are likely to harm us. By these, the researcher understands that it is us, the television viewers, who decide whether we are affected by media violence or not.

Uses and Gratification Theory

Uses and Gratification Theory was developed by Jay G. Blumler and Elihu Katz. This theory is about their study of the media users that play an active role in choosing and using the media.

According to Blumler and Katz, there is no merely one way that the populace uses media. Instead, they believe there are as many reasons for using the media, as there are media users. Blumler and Katz’s values are clearly seen by the fact that they believe that media consumers can choose the influence media has on them as well the idea that users choose media alternatives merely as a means to an end.

[http://www.uky.edu/~drlane/capstone/mass/usesandgratification.htm]

Based on what the researcher understood, this theory shows how useful is the media to the media users. It also gives the media users alternate choices to satisfy their needs. They have a free will to decide how they will use the media and