Audience reach of science on television in 10 European countries: An analysis of people-meter data.

Beginning with a differentiation of science programmes into five different editorial concepts, this article explores the audience reach of science on television in 10 European countries with a special emphasis on young audiences aged between 14 and 29 years. In relation to the share of this age group in the entire population, science programmes in all countries reach a considerably smaller proportion of younger viewers. Specific preferences for science content on television do not seem to be relevant in explaining aggregated viewing behaviours especially of young audiences. Unlike all other segments, the young science viewer segment is almost intangible as an aggregated group, as a definable segment of a mass audience that can be targeted by science programme makers.

Scheduling science on television: A comparative analysis of the representations of science in 11 European countries.

This article explores the factors that influence the volume and structure of science programming by European television broadcasters, focussing on differences among channel patterns. It proposes three factors as relevant to understanding differences in science programming: A) the segmentation/fragmentation of television markets; B) the presence of middle sized commercial channels; C) the dependency of public service TV channels on commercial income (trading/advertising). We identified countries whose channel patterns encourage a varied picture of science - namely Sweden, Finland and Germany. They are distinguished from those which show a less differentiated picture and present a smaller volume of science content on television - such as Great Britain and Ireland. Finally, we identified countries whose channel patterns don't encourage a varied picture of science - namely Spain, Greece, Bulgaria and Estonia - and these countries present their small volume of science content at off-peak hours, in contrast to patterns in Great Britain and Ireland.