Research Note 93, November, 1996
An Exploration of Television Documentaries
Television viewers say through a number of surveys that public television provides high quality programming. What do viewers mean by qualitprogramming? CPB commissioned Norman Hecht Research to explore the meaning of quality programming with viewers.
This research project focused on documentary programs about topics such as nature, history, science, and biography and included focus groups with documentary viewers in Los Angeles, Baltimore, and Portland, Oregon. To stimulate discussion, viewers were shown a series of clips from a variety of documentary programs. Viewers were able to rate the programs as they viewed, using a special hand-held device with a dial they could turn up or down. This research technique is standard methodology used throughout the television industry to test programs.
Topics Matter
The first significant finding from this research is that it is difficult to separate the issue of quality from the program topic. When asked if they would prefer seeing a program on a topic of high interest with low quality versus a program of high quality on a topic of low interest, viewers overwhelmingly chose the high interest topic over quality
.Topics that held the highest interest for viewers in order of importance were the following: Nature, Biographies, Medicine, Science, History, Movie Making, Archeology, and Military.
However, there were some differences in topic interest by gender. While nature was number one with both men and women, women ranked medicine and biographies higher than men, while men showed greater preferences for science and military.
Participants also expressed an interest in seeing programs that were timely and new.
Storytelling Counts
The second most important element was storytelling. For viewers, this included both the quality of the writing and the quality of the narration.
Documentary viewers said they watch documentaries primarily because they seek information. When the writing conveyed information, they maintained interest. They wanted to know who, what, where, when, why, and howãthe elements in a good news story. They wanted to see the story advance. They also expected a high quality documentary to offer analysis with clear descriptions and explanations, and opinions that were well-informed. However, they also wanted to know, "How does this affect me?" When viewers felt a personal connection to the topic, their interest increased. For example, viewers expressed greater interest in film clips showing the effects of a deadly virus upon its victims and the contagious nature of the virus, than in the clips showing discussions of the problem by doctors.
An important part of the storytelling is the narration. When viewers were asked what makes a high quality documentary, narration was one of the first elements mentioned. They especially liked a recognizable voice and claimed that a well-known voice often stopped them when channel surfing. In one of the tested programs, Savage Skies, the program scores went up when the film identified Al Roker as narrator.
When scenes were dramatized or re-enacted, viewers had differing views. Some viewers thought it helped moved the story along. Other viewers felt it was less factual.
Production Elements Follow
As mentioned above, production is perceived to be the servant of the story and not vice-versa. Viewers generally favored a strong topic with weak production over a weak topic with strong production. Nonetheless, viewers commented upon cinematography, editing, sound, and music.
In the documentary film clips shown, viewers always noticed if the pictures did not match the words. While they recognized that film footage is not always available for historical subjects, they preferred that the visual image be closely tied to the script.
When the film showed "talking heads," the scores often dropped. A particular complaint was that the talking head was not always identified. People often tune in to a program after the beginning, so a person who appears later in the program may need to be labeled again. Even famous people are not always recognizable to the viewer. Viewers suggested that after the talking head started talking it was better to show what they were talking about, rather than keeping the camera on the narrator.
As much as possible, viewers liked seeing real places, people, and things. Viewers preferred motion and action to still shots or to the talking heads. Viewers also preferred color to black and white where possible.
In terms of sound and music, viewers liked hearing the natural sounds to convey a sense of reality. Adding sound in the post-production made sense to viewers as long as the sound did not get too cluttered. Background music was seen as an effective addition. However, the use of music was ranked by viewers well below the natural sounds or the narration.
Overall Perceptions
Public television documentaries continue to be highly-rated with viewers. Participants in this study praised public television stations for presenting programming with multiple perspectives and for covering topics that other channels often ignored. They also noted the importance of the local presence of the station in the community and some of the particular programs with local interest.
Some participants expressed concern that public television, with its dependence upon viewer contributions may not have the money to provide the"newest" documentaries. This suggests that caution should be taken in trying to convince viewers of stations' dire needs in fund drives. In addition, promotion of "new" programs or "timely" topics should emphasize these points.