Sociodemographic Analysis of TV Genre Preference: The Lebanese Case

Authors

  • Nadine A. Yehya American University of Beirut
  • Imad Bou-Hamad American University of Beirut

Keywords:

Arab World, audience analysis, genre studies, media preference, partisanship, religion, selective exposure, television

Abstract

Media studies have investigated the ability of audience’s sociodemographic variables to predict media preference and selective exposure. Yet the roles that religion and politics play in the Arab media scene has largely been overlooked in the literature, despite the importance of this market. Using stratified random sampling, we surveyed 784 Lebanese viewers who shared their level of interest in watching 8 different TV genres and subgenres. Through logistic regression models, we analyzed eight sociocultural variables and their ability to predict the audience’s genre preference. The findings clearly showed that religion and political affiliation are strong predictors of genre preference in a diverse partisan context. Our exploratory empirical work provides critical contribution to media preference research and genre studies and provides insights to help media producers schedule the best mix of programs anchored in audience analysis.

Author Biographies

Nadine A. Yehya, American University of Beirut

Assistant Professor of Marketing and Communications at Suliman Olayan School of Business, American University of Beirut, Riad El Solh 11-0236, Beirut, Lebanon; Email: ny17@aub.edu.lb; Work Phone: 9611350000 ext. 3712.

Imad Bou-Hamad, American University of Beirut

Associate Professor of statistics and data mining at Suliman Olayan School of Business, American University of Beirut, Riad El Solh 11-0236, Beirut, Lebanon; Email: ib12@aub.edu.lb; Work Phone: 9611350000 ext. 3790

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Published

2019-03-28

Issue

Vol. 13 (2019)

Section

Articles

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